FACTBOX-Ships held by Somali pirates

Here are details of ships held by Somali pirates:

* SOCOTRA 1: Seized on Dec. 25, 2009. Yemeni-owned ship was captured in the Gulf of Aden after it left Alshahr in Yemen. SixYemeni crew.

* ICEBERG 1: Seized on March 29, 2010. Roll-on roll-off vessel taken 10 miles from Aden. 24 crew.

* JIH-CHUN TSAI 68: Seized on March 30: A Taiwan-flagged and owned fishing vessel. 14 crew -- Taiwanese captain, two Chinese
and 11 Indonesians.

* RAK AFRIKANA: Seized on April 11. The St Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged 7,561-dwt cargo ship was taken 280 miles west of Seychelles. Owned by Seychelles' Rak Afrikana Shipping Ltd.

* Three Thai fishing vessels -- PRANTALAY 11, 12 and 14 -- hijacked on April 17-18. 77 crew.

* TAI YUAN 227: Seized on May 6: Taiwanese fishing boat. 24 crew -- nine Chinese, three Vietnamese, three Filipinos, seven Kenyans and two from Mozambique.

* AL-DHAFIR: Seized on May 7. Yemeni fishing boat seized off Yemen. Seven Yemeni crew.

* MARIDA MARGUERITE: Seized on May 8. The chemical tanker en route from Kandla in Gujarat, India to Antwerp, Belgium hijacked in Gulf of Aden. 22 crew -- 19 Indians, two Bangladeshis, one
Ukrainian.

* MOTIVATOR: Seized on July 4. Marshall Islands-flagged 13,065-dwt tanker hijacked in Red Sea. 18 Filipino crew.

* SUEZ: Seized on Aug. 2. Panama-flagged cargo ship hijacked in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden. Carrying cement. 23 crew from Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

* OLIB G: Seized on Sept. 8. Maltese-flagged merchant vessel seized in IRTC. 18 crew -- 15 Georgians, three Turks.

* ASPHALT VENTURE: Seized on Sept. 29: The 3,884-dwt bitumen carrier was heading to Durban from Mombasa. 15 Indian crew.

* GOLDEN WAVE: Seized on Oct. 9. South-Korean fishing vessel Golden Wave formerly known as Keummi 305. 43 crew -- 39 Kenyans, two Koreans and two Chinese.

* IZUMI: Seized on Oct. 10. Operated by NYK-Hinode Line Ltd, the Panama-flagged ship was en route to Mombasa with cargo of steel. 20 Filipino crew.

* YORK: Seized on Oct. 23: Singapore-flagged, Greek managed, LPG tanker seized 50 miles from Mombasa. The 5,076-dwt York was sailing empty after discharging her LPG cargo in Mombasa. 17
crew -- a German master, two Ukrainians, 14 Filipinos.

* CHOIZIL: Seized on Oct. 26. South-African owned yacht was hijacked after leaving Dar es Salaam. European Union anti-piracy task force in the area rescued one South African but two other crew members were taken ashore as hostages.

* AL-NASSR: Seized Oct. 28. Motorized dhow captured off Yemeni island of Socotra.

* POLAR: Seized on Oct 30: Liberian-owned Panama-flagged tanker 72,825 tonne tanker seized 580 miles east of Socotra. 24 crew -- one Romanian, three Greeks, four Montenegrins, 16 Filipinos.

* ALY ZULFECAR: Seized on Nov. 2. Comoran passenger boat was taken inside Tanzania's territorial waters. Nine crew -- one Tanzanian, four Comorian, four Madagascar. Also 12 Tanzanian and 8 Comorian passengers.

* HANNIBAL II: Seized on Nov. 11. Panama-flagged chemical tanker was taken 860 miles east of Horn of Africa, EU Navfor said. The 24,105 tonne vessel was sailing to Suez from Malaysia carrying vegetable oil. 31 crew -- 23 Tunisians, four Filipinos, a Croat, a Georgian, a Russian and a Moroccan.

* YUAN XIANG: Seized on Nov. 12. Chinese-owned cargo ship, was captured off Oman. 29 Chinese crew.

* ALBEDO: Seized on Nov. 26. Malaysian-owned cargo vessel was taken 900 miles off Somalia as it headed for Mombasa from Jebel Ali in United Arab Emirates. 23 crew -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.

* JAHAN MONI: Seized on Dec. 5. Merchant ship was 1,300 miles east of Somalia. En route from Indonesia to Greece via Singapore carrying 43,000 tonnes of nickel ore. 26 crew.

* PANAMA: Seized on Dec. 10: Liberian-flagged container ship operated by a U.S.-based company. En route from Tanzania to Beira. 23 crew from Myanmar.

* RENUAR: Seized on Dec. 11: Liberian-owned bulk cargo vessel, 70,156 dwt, captured en route to Fujairah from Port Louis. 24 Filipino crew.

* ORNA: Seized on Dec. 20: The Panama-flagged bulk cargo vessel, 27,915 dwt, owned by the United Arab Emirates, was seized 400 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles.

* THOR NEXUS: Seized on Dec. 25. The Thai-registered bulk carrier, 20,377 dwt, was hijacked 350 miles off Oman. 27 crew, all Thai.

Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

Sources: Reuters/Ecoterra International/International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre/Lloyds List/Inquirer.net/www.eunavfor.eu