Pirates boarded and hijacked a merchant vessel and its crew of 24 in the Gulf of Aden before sailing it towards the Somali coast, Nato announced Monday. Nato's counter piracy operation, Ocean Shield, said in a statement that the ship had been just 10 nautical miles from Aden port when "pirates boarded and hijacked" the roll-on, roll-off vessel.
"They took hostage 24 crew and are now sailing the vessel towards the Somali coast," it added, after receiving a report from the ship's owners. A spokesman for the European Union's Navfor naval force, operating in the area, said the 4,500-tonne Iceberg, was Panamanian-flagged and owned by Iceberg International Ltd.