Somali pirates hijack Iran cargo ship in Maldives

Somali pirates seized an Iranian-owned cargo ship and its 23-strong crew in the first hijacking within Maldivian territory, a senior security official said. The vessel identified as MV. Eglantine, had been seized off the north-western Hoarafush island in the Indian Ocean atoll nation of the Maldives, the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) said.
"The incident is seven miles inside our Exclusive Economic Zone," MNDF chief spokesman Colonel Abdul Raheem Latheef told AFP. "The ship appears to be drifting and we are sending our vessels to the area." He said the Maldivian authorities were co-ordinating their efforts with the naval authorities of neighbouring India.