Virgin-Islands tanker's captain dies of wounds

The captain of a Virgin-Islands owned chemical tanker hijacked earlier this week has died from gunshot wounds sustained when the ship was attacked, a Somali pirate said today.

"The captain of the chemical tanker died last night from gunshot wounds he got during the hijack," a pirate who gave his name as Mohamed told Reuters. "The ship is headed for Haradheere with the dead captain."

The MV Theresa VIII was seized on Monday with its 28 North Korean crew members.

The European Union naval force EU Navfor force operating in the area said yesterday that pirates had seized the 22,294 DWT tanker 180 miles northwest of the Seychelles.

The ship that is operated from Singapore had been sailing to the Kenyan port of Mombasa but had turned round after being seized near the Indian Ocean archipelago.