Malta-flagged ship remains hijacked off Somalia

A Maltese-flagged commercial ship hijacked two weeks ago in the Arabian Sea is anchored off Somalia.

Transport Malta said in a statement it was monitoring the situation aboard the Malta-flagged ship RUEN together with the Armed Forces of Malta and the European Naval Force Somalia Operation Atalanta.

The ship, hijacked on December 14, was being managed by a Bulgarian company and had a crew of 18 seafarers of Bulgarian, Angolan, and Myanmar nationalities aboard.

"The RUEN crossed the Arabian Sea initially headed towards the northeastern coast of Somalia and then navigating southwards towards Eyl.

"The military assets deployed from EU Operation Atalanta and the Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region continued to follow and monitor closely the RUEN vessel movements on her southbound heading," TM said, adding the ship was currently anchored at 2.5 nautical miles of the coast at Baqbaq Somalia.