An Irish man is among six tugboat crew members who have been seized by
pirates off the coast of Somalia.

He was on board the Danish-owned Svitzer Korsakov, which was captured early
on Friday morning and is now at anchor in Somali waters.

The vessel also has a British captain and four Russian crew members.

The Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said it was offering
consular assistance to the Irish citizen's family.

"The department is aware of the incident and is monitoring the situation
closely," a spokeswoman said.

The newly built ship was travelling from St Petersburg to Sakhalin Island,
between north west Japan and Russia.

The Irish crew member is understood to be the chief engineer. It is not
known what part of the island he is from.

Patrick Adamson, of the ship's owners, Svitzer, said: "We have been in touch
with both the master of the vessel and the hijackers.