A cargo ship and a chemical tanker have both been hijacked by pirates in the perilous waters off the coast of Somalia, bringing to four the number of ships seized in the past week.
The multiple hijackings indicate that piracy remains a serious problem a year after an international naval armada began deploying from Bahrain to protect shipping.
The British-flagged Asian Glory was taken late on Friday roughly 1,000km east of Somalia. The same day, the Singaporean-flagged Pramoni, a chemical tanker with a crew of 24, was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest waterways.
Harbour said the Asian Glory's crew of 25 - from Ukraine, Bulgaria, India and Romania - appeared to be safe and that the pirates had not yet made contact with the ship's owner, Zodiac Management Agencies.
Pirates have hijacked more than 80 ships in the past two years.