Brussels - A European Union surveillance aircraft was tracking on Thursday a Thai-flagged fishing boat headed towards the Somali coast, probably in the hands of pirates, the EU's naval mission said.
The vessel came under attack at 05.30GMT by two fast boats about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles. The naval mission, EUNAVFOR, was checking reports that Russian sailors were aboard, a spokesman said.
The plane "made visual contact with the fishing vessel and confirmed that pirates were on board. Skiffs used by pirates have been sighted onboard the fishing vessel," EUNAVFOR said.
It added that it "will continue to monitor the vessel that now appears to be heading towards the Somali coast".
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If the vessel was seized by pirates, it would bring to eight the total number of ships being held off the Somali coast, the statement said.
The incident came two days after Somali pirates said they had hijacked a small yacht with a British couple who were reported missing after leaving the Seychelles last week.
Ecoterra International, an environmental group closely monitoring maritime activity off Somalia, said the yacht was spotted on Tuesday around 30 kilometres south of Hobyo, a pirate town north of Harardhere, central Somalia.
Since last year a flotilla of foreign warships has been patrolling the piracy-plagued Gulf of Aden, one of the globe's busiest maritime trade routes.
Pirates have since redeployed to the Indian Ocean, a much wider area very difficult for naval forces to patrol effectively.
Since the start of October, subsiding monsoon winds have allowed pirates equipped with small skiffs to resume their operations in earnest after a lull that had seen the number of hijacked vessels drop.
Among their latest catches are an Indian cargo ship, a Spanish trawler with a crew of 36, a Singapore container ship with 21 crew members and a Chinese bulk carrier with a crew of 25. - Sapa-AFP
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