FACTBOX: Ships held by Somali pirates

FACTBOX: Ships held by Somali pirates

(Reuters) - A Virgin-Islands owned chemical tanker has been hijacked by Somali pirates off the Seychelles, the multinational naval force operating in the area said on Tuesday.

Somali pirates are also leaving the Alakrana, a tuna fishing boat hijacked last month, after the Spanish government promised a ransom of $3.5 million, a pirate said on Tuesday.

Here is a list of ships under the control of Somali pirates:

WIN FAR 161: Taiwanese tuna boat, seized on April 6, 2009.

ARIANA: Seized on May 2, 2009. Ariana was seized north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil. The 24 Ukrainian crew were said to be unhurt. The ship, flying a Maltese flag, belongs to All Oceans shipping in Greece.

CHARELLE: Seized on June 12, 2009. The 2,800-tonne cargo ship carrying about nine crew was attacked south of Oman.

ALAKRANA: Seized on October 2, 2009. The 3,716-tonne fishing vessel has a crew of 36 and a home port in the Spanish Basque Country. The Seychelles coastguard said the ship was seized 400 nautical miles northwest of Mahe. The vessel had previously escaped an attempted hijack on September 4.

KOTA WAJAR: Seized on October 15, 2009. The 24,637-tonne container ship, seized 300 nautical miles north of Seychelles, was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa from Singapore. It had 21 crew on board.

DE XIN HAI - Seized on October 19, 2009. The Chinese bulk vessel carried about 76,000 tonnes of coal and there were 25 Chinese crew aboard when it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean 550 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia. The vessel is owned by the Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co.

AL KHALIQ - Seized on October 22, 2009. The Panamanian-registered ship carried 26 crew, 24 of whom are Indian. The ship is owned and operated by SNP Shipping of Mumbai. The 1984-built, 38,305 dwt bulk carrier was seized around 180 nautical miles west of Seychelles.

LYNN RIVAL - Seized October 2009. A British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, were sailing to the east African country of Tanzania when they were seized on their 38-ft yacht.

THAI UNION 3 - Seized on October 29, 2009. Pirates on two skiffs boarded the tuna fishing boat with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two Ghanaians on board about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles and 650 miles off the Somali coast.

DELVINA - Seized on November 5, 2009. The 53,629 dwt bulk carrier had 21 crew on board from the Ukraine and the Philippines. The vessel was seized 250 nautical miles northwest of Madagascar and was laden with wheat.

ALMEZAAN: Seized on November 8, 2009. The Panama-flagged cargo ship is being held near the northern Somali town of Garacad. Maritime sources say the craft is believed to be carrying light arms and ammunition, as well as rockets and rocket-propelled grenades. The Almezaan carried 18 people aboard with a crew of 15 Indians and 2 Pakistanis.

AL HILAL/AL HALIL: Seized on November 9, 2009. Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program named the Yemeni fishing vessel as the Al Hilal or Al Halil.

FILITSA: Seized on November 10, 2009. The 1996-built, 23,709 dwt cargo-ship had a crew of around 24 including three Greek officers and the remainder Filipinos. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been heading from Kuwait to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked 513 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles.

THERESA VIII: Seized on November 16, 2009. The chemical tanker was hijacked in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles northwest of the Seychelles. The 22,294 deadweight tonnes tanker was carrying 28 North Korean crew members.

* PIRACY FACTS:

-- Piracy attacks around the world numbered 324 during the year to October 20, with 37 vessels hijacked and 639 hostages taken. In the same period in 2008 there were 194 attacks, 36 ships hijacked and 631 hostages, according to the latest figures from the ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center (IMB).

-- Of the 324 incidents, attacks by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia, numbered 174, with 35 vessels hijacked and 587 crew taken hostage .

-- Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal.

Sources: Reuters/Ecoterra International/International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Center/Lloyds List/Inquirer.net