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| Somali pirates hijack Danish ship | Somali pirates hijack Danish ship |
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| Somali pirates have hijacked a Danish-owned container ship with a 21-strong American crew on board, officials say. | Somali pirates have hijacked a Danish-owned container ship with a 21-strong American crew on board, officials say. |
| The US-operated 17,000 tonne vessel, named as Maersk Alabama, was seized in the Indian Ocean about 400 miles (645 km) east of the capital, Mogadishu. | |
| The crew members are believed to be safe, the European Union's maritime security force said. | |
| It is the sixth seizure by pirates in recent days, including a British ship and Taiwanese ship taken this week. | It is the sixth seizure by pirates in recent days, including a British ship and Taiwanese ship taken this week. |
| Before Wednesday's attack, pirates had boarded a British-owned ship, the Malaspina Castle, in an area heavily patrolled by a European Union taskforce. | |
| The taskforce, consisting of six ships and two planes, is among almost a dozen anti-piracy patrols in the area. | |
| But pirates managed to seize 15 ships last month - a large increase on the two taken in January and February. | |
| One expert believes the weather had a bigger impact on pirates than the patrols. | |
| Rashid Abdi of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said: "It was all down to the fact that the weather did not favour them. | |
| "And now the weather has improved, they're back in business again." |