Pirates seize Italian oil tanker, mostly Indian crew

BRUSSELS: Pirates seized an Italian oil tanker on Tuesday with a crew of five Italians and 17 Indians east of the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, EU naval forces said.

The European Union's Atalanta mission to the seas off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden said the tanker was taken early on Tuesday 600 miles east of the island by a single skiff with five pirates.

Spokesman wing commander Paddy O'Kennedy told AFP that the Italian-owned and flagged Savina Caylyn was "confirmed" seized and "is currently sailing west," towards the Somali coast.