Somali pirates seize fertiliser ship Blue Star near Bab al-Mandab

This could be real bad if they know what they have on board!!!

Somali pirates have hijacked a cargo ship with a crew of 28 Egyptians near the coast of Somalia.

The Egyptian foreign ministry said yesterday that about 15 pirates, some of them heavily armed, attacked the Blue Star, which carried 6000 tonnes of fertiliser, near Bab al-Mandab as it was headed east.

"The crew are hostages ... there are efforts under way to conduct the necessary talks to free the ship," foreign ministry official Ahmed Rizq said in a statement.

The Blue Star was flying the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mr Rizq said. He had initially identified the ship as Egyptian.

More than 100 attacks occurred in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa country last year.

Pirates had captured an Egyptian ship with a crew of 25 in September, holding them for almost a month before setting them free. Egypt said it refused to pay a ransom for the crew and ship.

The pirates have been undeterred by the presence of foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean to secure one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

[link to www.news.com.au]