NAIROBI - Somali pirates have hijacked a Malaysia-flagged and owned ship with 23 crew members on board about 900 nautical miles east of Somali capital Mogadishu, EU anti-piracy mission said on Monday.

Naval Force spokesman Per Klingvall said the MV Albedo was seized on Friday with a crew of 23 including Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Iranian.

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"The vessel was carrying containers and was bound for Mombasa from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Klingvall said in a statement.

Somali pirates are holding 22 vessels with 521 hostages, including the MV Albedo.

Most 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.

About four per cent of the world's daily oil supply is shipped through the gulf.

The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well-coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, maritime officials said.

The Horn of Africa nation has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world's most violent and lawless countries.

Combined Task Force 150, a naval alliance dominated by the United States and based in the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti, is patrolling an area within the Gulf of Aden to help protect ships from pirates.