Pirates have hijacked a merchant ship off Somalia, kidnapping its 26 crew, in the fourth attack in as many days off its coastline.
The kidnap came as the UN Security Council this week urged regional powers to intervene.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said today a Thai-flagged ship carrying a cargo of sugar from Brazil to Yemen was hijacked close to the coast north east of Mogadishu early on Monday.
The IMB said 26 crew of mostly Thai origin had been kidnapped at gunpoint and a ransom demanded for their release.
The attack follows three at the weekend, including one with rocket-propelled grenades on a US-owned luxury cruise ship carrying holidaymakers.
Yesterday the UN Security Council scolded Somalia's squabbling government and urged rival factions to come together to confront the chaos and piracy plaguing the lawless northeast African nation.
The council expressed "serious concern" over a wave of pirate attacks off the Somali coast and called on regional powers and international bodies to urgently address the issue.
The IMB, which said the problem was completely out of control and very dangerous, revised up its attacks to 32 since mid-March after a two-year stretch of relative calm.