Pirates have seized control of the Bangladeshi-flagged ship MV Abdullah in the Indian Ocean, taking its 23 sailors hostage.

The vessel, owned by KSRM Group’s SR Shipping, was transporting coal from the African country of Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates when it was attacked.

The vessel is the latest to be targeted following a resurgence of attacks by Somali pirates in recent months although the maritime security firm, Ambrey, did not specify that the 20 armed people were Somali pirates who boarded the ship, Reuters report.

The incident happened about 600 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, it said.

A message was sent from the ship around 1:30pm on Tuesday Bangladesh time, said SR Shipping CEO Mohammad Meherul Karim.

“The pirates have taken control of the ship. Our sailors are being held hostage. We are trying to get more details.”

The sailors and crew on board include Master Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan, Second Officer Mozaherul Islam Chowdhury, Third Officer N Mohammad Tarekul Islam, Deck Cadet Sabbir Hossain, Chief Engineer ASM Saiduzzaman, Second Engineer Md Taufiqul Islam, Third Engineer Md Rokan Uddin, Fourth Engineer Tanvir Ahmed, Engineer Cadet Ayub Khan, Electrician Ibrahim Khalil Ullah, Crew Md Anwarul Haque, Md Asifur Rahman, Md Sajjad Hossain, Joy Mahmud, Md Nazmul Haque, Ainul Haque, Md Shamsuddin, Md Ali Hossain, Mosharraf Hossain Shakeel, Md Shariful Islam, Md Noor Uddin, and Md Saleh Ahmad.

Atique Ua Khan, the captain of a merchant ship, shared in a Facebook post that he had received messages indicating that about 50 armed pirates were aboard the ship.

“The vessel is currently near Somalia. Among the hostages are seven former cadets from Bangladesh Marine Academy.”

Atique posted a brief video on Facebook allegedly depicting the moment when pirates approached in small boats and hijacked the ship.

However, the authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or  UKMTO, agency also flagged the boarding incident and advised vessels to transit with caution. The UKMTO also did not specify that it was Somali pirates who boarded the ship.

Somali pirates caused chaos in important global waterways from about 2008 to 2018. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.

Data from the Maritime Security Centre - Horn of Africa, the planning and coordination centre for the European Union's anti-piracy operation EUNAVFOR, show there have been more than 20 hijackings or attempted hijackings of vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin since November, the report said.

Maritime sources say pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or may be taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group while war rages in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Security firm Ambrey said there were conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the crew of the boarded ship, according to Reuters.

UKMTO said authorities were investigating the incident, according to the report.