Machine guns-wielding 'pirates' spark major alert as they 'open fire and board tanker'

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency has issued an alert to warn ships off the coast of Somalia over the attack launched by "pirates". The men used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to attack and board a tanker in the Indian Ocean just off the East African countries' coastline.

This attack comes during a resurgence of "pirating" in the area, with this Maltese-flagged ship being shot at around 560 nautical miles away from the town of Eyl. Armed men are thought to have approached the ship on a small skiff before opening fire on the vessel, which did not have a security team on board. THE UKMTO has warned other ships in the area to stay vigilant.

In a statement, they added: "The Master of a vessel has reported being approached by one small craft on its stern. The small craft fired small arms and RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] towards the vessel."

Private security firm Ambrey also reported on the attack, stating that the pirates were actually able to board the ship. Ambrey and Vanguard Tech say that the attacked ship was the Hellas Aphrodite, which was diverted off course and slowed down during the incident.

The vessel was working its way across the Indian Ocean and down the African coastline en route to the port of Durban in South Africa. This attack comes just days after a separate hijacking of an Iranian fishing boat, the Issamohamadi, that the pirates are reportedly using as a base.

Maritime Security firm the Diaplous Group claims the Hellas Aphrodite's 24-person crew locked themself within the ship's citadel during the attack. An EU operation aimed to tackle piracy is in action around the Horn of Africa, but has yet to comment on the attack.

However, the force has been in action in recent weeks, reporting on another attempted attack on the Cayman Islands-flagged Stolt Sagaland, where its armed security and the attackers traded shots.

That EU force added that assaults were "almost certain" to happen as it issued an alert to captains in the area.

Somalian piracy peaked in 2011 when, in one year, more than 237 ships were attacked while travelling through the busy trading route.

The attacks in the region are estimated to have cost $7 billion (£5.3 billion) to the world economy, with hundreds of millions more paid out in ransoms to the groups.