A band of armed pirates seized a Greek-owned cargo ship off the coast of Somalia on Sunday, dpa quoted Greece's merchant marine ministry as saying. Officials at the Ministry of Merchant Marine told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa that the Maltese-flagged ship "Saldanha", with 22 crew, was loaded with coal and was heading towards Slovenia when pirates seized the ship off Somalia. Shipping routes off the coasts of eastern and western Africa have become increasingly dangerous in recent months, especially in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Cameroon and Nigeria. Dozens of ships seized by pirates have been eventually released after owners end up paying tens of millions of dollars in ransom.
