Somali pirates seized a Danish-owned, US-operated container ship on Wednesday with 21 American crew on board in the latest of a sharp rise in attacks off the Horn of Africa nation, a maritime group said.
Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said the 17,000 tonne vessel was hijacked in the Indian Ocean 400 miles off the Somali capital Mogadishu.
He said all the crew were believed to be safe, and that the vessel had been tentatively identified as the Maersk Alabama.
