Andrew Mwangura, Maritime editor for Somalia Report said the Anema E Core was seized by the pirates early on Sunday with 23 crew members.
"The ship owned by Rizzo Bottiglieri De Carini of Italy was hijacked this morning in Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin in West Africa," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.
He said the crew is composed of two Italians, a Romanian and 20 Filipinos and the vessel was flying Italian flag when she was seized.
Last week, the pirates hijacked a Greek-owned Liberian flagged oil tanker Agean Star off Nigerian coast. However, Mwangura did not establish the nationalities of the crew members onboard.
(C003)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
