From Tom Maliti, the AP:  NATO’s anti-piracy force has found no crew members or pirates onboard a Danish cargo ship that Somali pirates hijacked and then abandoned, officials said Friday.

The MV Leopard was attacked on Wednesday by pirates in two skiffs but since then the ship’s owner, Shipcraft shipping company, has lost contact with its crew of six, said the company’s managing director, Claus Bech, in a statement Friday.

Turkish warship TCG Gaziantep, the vessel nearest where the attack took place in the Arabian Sea, went to investigate Thursday, said Jacqui Sherriff, spokesman for NATO’s anti-piracy force. …

Sailors from the Gaziantep then boarded the MV Leopard and thoroughly searched the cargo ship but did not find any pirates or crew, she said. …

With the attack on the MV Leopard and the hijacking of its crew, Somali pirates currently hold 28 vessels and about 660 sailors and other crew hostage.  (photo: Dz K.K.)

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