Indian and Bangladeshi crew still on board hijacked ship, but three British security guards jump into sea to be rescued

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Three British security guards on board a chemical tanker hijacked today by Somali pirates have been rescued by helicopter, after jumping into the sea to escape.

Diplomats who would not be identified said a warship on patrol nearby had sent helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived after the pirates had taken control of the Liberian-flagged ship.

The diplomats – who did not specify which country the warship came from – said that 25 Indian and two Bangladeshi crew members remain on board the vessel.

The ship was being operated out of Singapore, according to Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia.

The ship's master had sent a distress call to the centre, which relayed the alert to international forces that have been policing Somali waters this year, Choong said.

There were no immediate details about how the pirates attacked or the condition of the crew.

The hijack is the latest in a string of pirate attacks off the Somali coast in recent months.

Somalia's lawlessness has allowed its shoreline to become a haven for pirates. The country has been caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991.

There have been 96 pirate attacks and 39 ships hijacked in Somali waters this year, including Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker earlier this month loaded with $100m (£65m) of crude oil.

The latest hijack means that 16 ships and more than 300 seafarers are in the hands of Somali pirates, who dock the hijacked vessels near the eastern and southern coasts as they negotiate for their ransom.

Warships from Denmark, India, Malaysia, Russia, the US and Nato patrol the international maritime corridor off Somalia, escorting some merchant ships and responding to distress calls.