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SOMALIA: SOMALI PIRATES SIEZE JAPANESE VESSEL OFF SOMALI COAST Tue. July 22, 2008 07:56 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. - (SomaliNet) A Kenyan maritime official said Tuesday that Somlai pirates have seized a Japanese-owned vessel transporting lead and zinc off the Somali coast. Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme said the Panama-flagged MV Stella Maris was seized on Sunday near Calula, a port town in Somalia's breakaway northern region of Puntland. "Thirty eight heavily-armed pirates stormed the ship sailing in the international waters in the Gulf of Aden," Puntland presidential advisor Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade said. "So far we are tracking them down. We want to know where they are going to stay with the ship," Qabowsade told AFP. "We have been told that 18 crew members are also on board. Speed boats used by the pirates are also following the ship." The hijackers of the 52,000-tonne freighter are yet to make any demands, Mwangura told AFP, adding that no information about its port of origin and destination as well as the nationalities of the crew had been received. The vessel is owned by Turtel Marine Shipping and managed by MMS Company of Japan. The waters off Somalia, which has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years, are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world. According to the International Maritime Bureau, more than 25 ships were seized off Somalia's 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of coastline last year despite patrols by an international force based in Djibouti. -AFP News Category: Somalia Latest Headlines Latest News Somalia: 5 killed in fighting in Mogadishu Somalia: 6 more months approved for U.N. Somalia pe... Somalia: Clashes claim dozens in south Somalia West Africa: Floods displace over 150 000 people Chad: President Deby’s forces, rebels clash <... Egypt border killings 'unacceptable'- Amnesty Intern... Sudan: Genocide claims nonexistent-president al... Zambia mourns death of president Mwanawasa Egyptian police shoots dead Sudanese man ... U.S: Thousands of Iraqi refugees arrive in U.S More News...