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KUALA LUMPUR: Another Greek chemical tanker with 19 crew on board has been hijacked by armed Somali pirates in the notorious Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog reported Saturday.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur said the tanker was hijacked on Friday while it was on its way to the Middle East from Europe.
"Somali pirates fired with machine guns and boarded the ship in the Gulf of Aden," Choong told AFP.
Last weekend a Greek-owned ship with 19 sailors on board, most of them Filipinos, was seized while a Malta-flagged Iranian oil tanker - a massive vessel the size of a football pitch - had a narrow escape after being pursued by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
On September 18 the Greek ship "Centauri," with 25 Filipino sailors on board was attacked off Somalia by pirates in a speed boat, armed with three rocket launchers.
Somali pirates, who are now holding a record 15 ships hostage, including Friday's hijacked tanker, are attacking further out to sea and on two fronts to evade international security, Choong had said.
"Despite the increase in security patrols by the coalition forces in the Gulf of Aden, we are still receiving reports of attacks and hijacks," Choong said, warning seafarers to be on alert even if sailing in the security corridor patrolled by US-led coalition forces.
Choong said since January Somali pirates have attacked 62 ships, with more than 300 crew held hostage on board the 15 ships under the pirates' control.
A Russian warship was headed for the seas off Somalia Saturday after pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter carrying 33 tanks, munitions and other weaponry, officials said.
The waters off Somalia - which has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years and is plagued by insecurity - are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world.
- AFP/yb
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