STORY:

An American-operated container ship has been seized by pirates according to the coordinator of Seafarers' Assistance Program.

The ship is named “Maersk Alabama” and was captured on Wednesday off the coast of the Somali capital of Mogadishu far out in the Indian Ocean.

[Andrew Mwangura, Seafarers' Assistance Program]:
"The ship was on the way heading to Mombasa. On board are about 20 American crew members and they were expected to dock at Mombasa port on the 10th of this month, April.”

According to the U.N.’s World Food Program over two hundred containers of relief food for Somalia and Uganda are in the cargo of the hijacked ship.

Last year, heavily armed Somali pirates hijacked dozens of vessels. They took hundreds of sailors hostage and ended up pocketing millions of dollars in ransom money.