Two European owned chemical tankers have been hijacked by pirates off Somalia in the past two days, a European Union mission on fighting piracy in the Horn of Africa said on Thursday.  

"Two European owned chemical tankers have been hijacked in the Somali basin in the past 24 hours," the Maritime Security Center -- Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) said in a statement posted on its website.

A 9,000-ton Greek-owned and Panamanian-registered vessel, with its 19 crew, was attacked approximately 450 miles east of Kismaayoon Wednesday afternoon, the statement said.

On Thursday morning, a 23,000-ton Norwegian-owned and Bahamian-registered vessel was captured 250 miles east of Kismaayo, it added.

The Maritime Security Center has issued a warning notifying all vessels in this area to be aware of the sudden increase in pirate activity.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)