Somali pirates have captured a tanker carrying 28 North Koreans - but failed in an attack to seize a Ukrainian vessel following a firefight, dpa quoted the European Union"s anti- piracy mission off Somalia NAVFOR as saying today. NAVFOR said that Virgin Islands-owned chemical tanker MV Theresa VIII was attacked 180 nautical miles northwest of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean on Monday. The ship was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa, but has been turned north and is presumably heading for the Somali coast. Ukrainian craft MV Lady Juliet was attacked by pirates firing Kalashnikovs and rocket propelled grenades, but were repelled by a Vessel Protection detachment (VPD) from NAVFOR. "The attack commenced when two small skiffs detached from a mother ship and made a fast approach towards the MV Lady Juliet," NAVFOR said in a statement. "The VPD returned fire and the skiffs broke off their attack." No casualties were reported.
