Pirates Hijack Ship in Gulf of Aden

Pirates hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia in the early hours of Monday, August 2. The Panamanian flagged ship, MV SUEZ, reported being under small arms fire from a pirate attack and minutes later she reported pirates on board.

Attempts were made to make contact with the MV SUEZ but with no success. MV SUEZ was travelling in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) when attacked. Immediately after the first report a helicopter was directed to the ship but pirates had already taken over the command of the vessel.

The merchant vessel has a deadweight 17, 300 tonnes with a crew of 23 (Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India Nationalities) and was carrying a cargo of cement bags.

The MV SUEZ was traveling in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) when she was attacked.