Pirates seized a ship carrying UN food aid to north-east Somalia when it was delivering its cargo, a statement from the World Food Program said today.
Somali gunmen boarded the MV Semlow, registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, on June 27th and took the crew of 10 hostage, the statement said.
The captain of the vessel is Sri Lankan, the engineer is Tanzanian and the remaining eight crew are Kenyan.
The ship was carrying 850 tonnes of rice donated by Japan and Germany for tsunami victims in Somalia.
Piracy along the Somalia coast is common. Several ships a month are attacked, if not actually hijacked; valuables are usually stolen and the crews held for ransom.
This is the first time the United Nations has reported a ship hijacked by Somali pirates. World Food Program officials have contacted clan elders to negotiate the release of the ship and its cargo and crew, the statement said.