Somali pirates have hijacked a Bulgarian chemical tanker carrying a crew of 15, all Bulgarians, in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, the European Union Naval Force said Wednesday.

The naval force said in a statement that the Bulgarian-flagged tanker, the MV Panega, was seized about 100 nautical miles east of Aden, Yemen, en route from the Red Sea to India.

"As long as the pirates are on board the ship, we are just monitoring the situation," said Anders Kallin, a Swedish navy commander for the EU naval force. He said he had no reason to believe that anyone had been hurt.

The force's Operation Atalanta focuses on escorting merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid for the World Food Programme and those of the African Union Mission in Somalia, protecting vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, and deterring and disrupting piracy.

The Horn of Africa nation's coastline is considered one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy.

Somalia is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.