Somali pirates have seized a Liberia-flagged and Greek-owned ship with 26 crew members aboard in the Gulf of Aden, both EU naval force and regional maritime officials confirmed.

EU Naval Force spokesman John Harbour said Somali pirates seized Eleni P, about 250 nautical miles off the coast of Oman early Wednesday.

He said the bulk carrier of 72,119 deadweight and 26 crew members including 23 Filipinos, two Romanian and one Indian was on route to Kandla in India when taken by pirates. "The crew are reported to be safe and EU Naval force Somalia is monitoring," Harbour said.

East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) also confirmed the seizure.? "The bulker was once attacked last year and hijacked this year. The vessel has changed names under World Food Program control," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

The Horn of Africa nation has been without an effective government since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed the pirates to thrive.

Efforts to stop the raiders have so far had only limited success, with international naval patrols struggling to cover the vast areas of ocean where the gangs operate.

Kenya's proximity to Somalia prompted insurance companies to hike up their premiums for ships traveling to Kenyan ports to mitigate the increased insecurity.

This led shipping companies to take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope while traveling to the Kenyan ports, with cost of doing business on the Kenyan coast going up by over 40 percent.

To date more than 100 suspects have been transferred to Kenya by the Western warships patrolling the Indian Ocean to combat piracy.

It is only Kenya and the Seychelles in the region that have agreed to take in suspects for prosecution, but both have recently complained about the burden of trying and jailing pirates in their countries.