Somali pirates have hijacked United Arabia Emirates-owned oil tanker with 16 crew members in the northern Indian Ocean, European Union anti-piracy taskforce said on Monday.

EU Naval Force Spokesman Paddy O'Kennedy said the laden UAE- flagged tanker, MV Jubba XX was seized on July 16 on her regular route from the United Arab Emirates to the port of Berbera, Somalia.

"On the morning of July 17, the vessel was located by a Maritime Patrol aircraft 100 nautical miles north-west of Socotra Island, heading to the northern Somali coast," O'Kennedy said.

He said little information is available at present but it is reported that nine suspected Somali pirates are on board MV Jubba XX.

The MV Jubba XX has deadweight of 4,831 tonnes, with a crew of 16 (one Sri Lankan, five Indian, three Bangladeshi, one Sudanese, one Myanmar, one Kenyan and four Somali).

According to the Somalia Report, Maritime Editor, Andrew Mwangura, the vessel is managed and owned by the Sharjah of UAE based Jubba General Trading Company. "She is currently heading towards Somali coast under control of the gun men but a military chopper is monitoring the situation," Mwangura told Xinhua in Mombasa.

The vessel, according to the official, is a regular caller to Berbera sea port and operates between UAE and Berbera.

There is no information on the condition of the crew and the vessel was not registered with Maritime Security Centre for Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) at the time of the pirating.

The pirates have intensified their action in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and most of hijackings end without casualties when a ransom has been paid, but often after several months of negotiations.

The Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Somalia and Yemen, is the main sea route between Europe and Asia. Tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass first through the Gulf of Aden.