There are four Russian seamen in the crew of a merchant vessel captured by pirates off the shores of Somalia, Itar-Tass reports.
According to the latest data, the dry cargo ship, belonging to a Dutch company and carrying the Panamanian flag was on its way to the Romanian port of Constanta when it was attacked by pirates in the neutral waters of the Gulf of Aden.
Last year alone, more than 25 ships had been attacked by pirates in that part of the Gulf of Aden, the International Maritime Bureau reports. Piracy in Somalia, one of the poorest African countries, has become a lucrative business, for Western companies pay sizeable ransoms for seamen captured by pirates.