NAIROBI, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Somalia pirates have hijacked a St Vincent & Grenadines flagged cargo ship in the Indian Ocean waters near Seychelles with unknown crew members, the EU Naval Force said on Sunday.

Naval Force Commander John Harbour said the MV Rak Afrikana was hijacked early on Sunday approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles.

Harbour said Rak Afrikana with deadweight of 7,561 tons has currently stopped due to engine problems. "The cargo vessel is owned by Rak Afrikana Shipping Limited from Seychelles. The nationality of the crew is at this moment unknown, " he said. Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into millions. The Horn of Africa nation is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.