Somali pirates have seized the MV Panama, a Liberian-flagged container ship operated by a US-based company, with a crew of 23 all from Myanmar, the European Union naval force said.

The ship was en route from Tanzania to the port of Beira in Mozambique when two armed skiffs with five pirates on board attacked her using a rocket propelled grenade.

The ship was about 80 nautical miles east of the Tanzania/Mozambique border, the EU naval force said. There was no news of the condition of the crew.

'This extreme southerly attack in the Somali Basin is a further example of the constantly expanding area of pirate activity,' said the naval force.

Somali pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing ships, including tankers and dry bulkers, in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, despite the efforts of foreign navies to clamp down on such attacks. – Reuters