Pirates attacked a Greek tanker in the Indian Ocean with small arms, taking its crew hostage and directing the vessel towards Somalia, dpa cited the Merchant Marine Ministry as saying today. The hijacking comes days after another Greek-owned vessel, the Maltese-flagged Ariana, was erroneously reported to have been released by pirates at the Somali coastal town of Haradheere. On Sunday, nine pirates chased the Greek-flagged tanker Maran Centaurus as it was en route from Kuwait to the United States and boarded the vessel 750 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles. The tanker, owned by Athens-based Kristan Navigation, was carrying a cargo of crude oil. None of the ship"s 28 crew members, which include nine Greeks, one Romanian, two Ukrainians and 16 Filipinos was hurt in the attack, officials from Kristan Navigation told the German Press Agency dpa. "We have not heard from the pirates but only know that the crew is safe and are being led to the coast of Somalia," said a company official, who asked not to be named. Officials at the Ministry of Merchant Marine said the Greek frigate Adrias, part of an EU anti-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean, was alerted and shadowing the tanker. Piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia, which has not had an effective central government since 1991. Heavily-armed gangs from Somalia take to the seas in search of multimillion-dollar ransoms despite the presence of over a dozen international warships, which were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden last year to combat the piracy. The pirates have expanded their operations further out into the Indian Ocean to avoid the patrols.
