A Spanish warship is heading full speed towards a cargo ship possibly hijacked by pirates, EU NAVFOR operation ATALANTA, the European Union’s anti-piracy force off Somalia, said.

“Based on the available update on MV Ruen, the Spanish ship Victoria of EU NAVFOR operation ATALANTA heads full speed towards the suspected piracy ship to gain more knowledge of the situation and evaluate next actions”says the announcement of the European power.

The announcement clarifies that there is coordination with the wider international Combined Maritime Force.

Earlier, the British UKMTO (United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations) announced that it had received information from a vessel security officer that the crew is no longer in control of the ship and is headed for Somalia.

MV Ruen is operated by Navigation Maritime Bulgare of Bulgaria, according to data from the Equasis database.

The ship was last spotted on the open sea en route to Somalia at 11:17 GMT.

If confirmed, it will be the first seizure of a ship by Somali pirates in years, since coordinated international naval anti-piracy operations had halted such actions in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.