JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday that it had received a report that a vessel had been boarded off Somalia by multiple people who were now in control of it.
UKMTO earlier flagged a boarding incident 600 nautical miles east of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
“Unauthorised persons now have control of the vessel,” UKMTO said in a statement, adding that the people who had boarded the vessel came from one small and one large craft.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said separately that a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier was reportedly boarded east of Somalia.
“Merchant vessels are advised to stay well clear of this position as this is assessed to be an ongoing incident with perpetrators attempting to take control of the bulker,” Ambrey said in a statement.
If the incident is confirmed as a pirate attack it could fuel concerns about a resurgence of Somali piracy in the Indian Ocean.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg, George Obulutsa in Nairobi and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai;Editing by Alexander Winning, Alexandra Hudson)
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