A European Union anti-piracy team working in the region claimed Thursday that alleged pirates have taken possession of a Chinese fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia.
According to a statement from the European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta, the suspected pirates, some of whom were equipped with AK-47s and machine guns, had taken control of the ship, which had up to 18 crew members on board.
It stated that no crew members had been hurt and categorized the incident as a robbery at sea.
According to its statement, the military was called in after authorities in the semi-autonomous Puntland area of northeastern Somalia reported that a Chinese ship had allegedly been hijacked off the coast.
