Somali pirates have taken the U.K.-flagged Asian Glory vehicle carrier with 25 crew members, including 10 Ukrainians, to a port in Somalia, the European Union Naval Force Somalia said on its website on Tuesday.
Asian Glory, with a cargo of cars bound for Saudi Arabia, was hijacked on Friday evening 600 nautical miles (1,100 kilometers) off the coast of Somalia. It was the second vessel hijacked this year.
"EU NAVFOR... can confirm that the M/V Asian Glory has now arrived off the coast of Somalia and is north east of [the port of] Hobyo," the naval force said in a press release.
The EU naval force said earlier in the day that a Pakistani-flagged fishing vessel Shahbaig, hijacked in early December last year, has been released. The vessel, with a crew of 29 Pakistanis, was apparently involved in the Asian Glory hijacking.
Somali pirates frequently hijack vessels with seamen from ex-Soviet states onboard.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Ukrainian delegation has set off to Salalah, a port in southern Oman, to take home 24 Ukrainian nationals from the Ariana cargo ship, released by pirates late last year.
The Greek-owned Ariana was hijacked by pirates 250 miles southwest of the Seychelles on May 2. The cargo ship was hijacked en route to the Middle East from Brazil and was carrying 35,000 metric tons of soya. The ransom was paid on December 10.
The pirates say they received a ransom of $2.5 million, with Ukrainian media saying the ransom was $2.8 million.
Somali pirates have scored a record number of attacks and hijackings for 2009.
The number of attacks by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia stood at 174, with 35 vessels hijacked and 587 crew taken hostage as of December 22, 2009.
KIEV / MOSCOW, January 5 (RIA Novosti)
