A South Korean container ship has been attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean and is believed to have been hijacked, Seoul officials said today.

The 75,000-ton Hanjin Tianjin with 14 South Koreans and six Indonesians on board reported an attack at 10.15pm on Thursday, Seoul-based Hanjin Shipping said in a statement.

"We believe that the ship has been hijacked," said foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae.

The South Korean destroyer Choi Young, part of a multinational force patrolling pirate-infested waters off Somalia, is racing towards the scene, he said without elaborating, the Herald Sun reported.

Hanjin said it had lost contact with the crew since the attack 400 kilometres east of the Yemeni island of Socotra near the Gulf of Aden.

The vessel, which can carry 6500 containers, was sailing from Europe to Singapore when it sent an emergency message, said South Korea's largest shipping operator.

The ship had been stationary since then and not responded to calls, a Hanjin spokesman said, adding the crew might have locked themselves in a special room known as a citadel and built to protect crewmen from attackers.

South Korean navy commandos in January staged a dramatic raid on a ship captured by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea and rescued all 21 crew.

Five captured pirates have been brought to South Korea and face charges of attempted murder and robbery in court hearings next month.

That raid came two months after a South Korean shipping firm reportedly paid a record US$9 million for the release of its supertanker and 24 sailors held by Somali pirates for seven months.

Piracy has surged off the lawless east African nation in recent years.

Despite the increased international naval presence, piracy hit an all-time high in the first three months of 2011 with 142 attacks worldwide, the International Maritime Bureau said in a report this month.

The attack on the Hanjin vessel comes just days after shipping bodies reported alarm at a change in tactics being employed by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

The International Chamber of Shipping, ITF, Indian National Shipowners' Association, NUSI, MUI, IMEC, InterManager, Intertanko and BIMCO said in a joint statement that they "deplored" the latest development in the piracy crisis.

The Asphalt Venture, a 1991 built asphalt/bitumen tanker was hijacked by Somali pirates on September 28 last year and, following a ransom payment, the ship was released on April 15.

"Despite the owners' concluding a dialogue with the pirates for the full release of 15 crew and vessel and payment of the ransom, the vessel was released, but the Master has reported that six officers and one rating were taken off the tanker and made to accompany the pirates ashore," the joint statement said.

"In subsequent press reports it is suggested that pirates in Harardhere have taken the decision not to honour the agreement made but to prolong the hostage ordeal of the seven seafarers in retaliation for the arrest of Somali pirates by the Indian Navy in recent weeks.

"This is a fundamental change to previous practice and moves the issue from being just between the shipowner and the pirates to being between the pirates and a government. It is a major shift in the pirate-hostage equation that will need to be considered and addressed by the international community. "

The shipping bodies believe that the breach of the ransom agreement "sets a precedent that is of the utmost concern".

Source: CargonewsAsia