Somali pirates seized a Danish-owned and US-flagged ship off Somalia on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board, the US Navy and the shipowner said, in the sixth maritime hijacking in five days.

“A US-flagged Danish-owned ship was attacked at around 7:30 local time this morning, 240 nautical miles southeast of the Somali town of Eyl,” Lieutenant Nathan Schaeffer, a spokesman for the navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet told AFP.

Maersk shipping line said the container vessel Maersk Alabama, belonging to the US subsidiary of Maersk, “was attacked by pirates and presumed hijacked” at around 0500 GMT.

“The US-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 US nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited in the US,” a statement added.

The vessel was en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it was attacked, Maersk said. The 155-metre-long (511-foot) vessel is carrying cereals and food supplies destined for, among others, the United Nations.

The United States underscored its concerns after the latest seizure.

“We’ve seen the reports,” said Megan Mattson, a State Department spokeswoman in Washington. “Recent acts of piracy off the Somali coast are a continuing concern.”

Only on Tuesday, the multinational naval task force working to protect shipping in the region warned merchant ships plying the waters off Somalia to increase their vigilance in the light of an increase in pirate attacks.

[ more here AFP ]