A Maltese-flagged chemical carrier, the MV Mississippi Star (13,054 tons) escaped an attack by pirates as it was sailing in waters off Tanzania yesterday, the European Union's anti-piracy force (Navfor) said.

The ship, with an 18-man crew on board, was approached by a pirate skiff some 70 miles off the southern Mtwara coast.

"The pirates fired automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades," Navfor said.

"Mississippi Star took evasive action and escaped the attack. It later continued its journey to Mombasa. No injuries were reported."

An Italian frigate, the Libeccio, went to the scene and monitored the ship.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.