Ambrey, a maritime security company, reported on Thursday pirates had boarded a tanker flying the Malta flag off the coast of Somalia.

Ambrey, in a statement, said that pirates had approached the tanker on a skiff. They then opened fire. The pirates operated from a hijacked Iranian flagged dhow.

Ambrey stated that the vessel was on its way from Sikka in India to Durban in South Africa.

In a separate press release, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO), said that unauthorised persons had boarded a ship southeast of Eyl in Somalia.

Ambrey's and UKMTO's statements did not seem to refer to the same incident. However, both stated similar distances away from the coast of Somalia.

(source: Reuters)