Heavily armed pirates from the lawless Horn of Africa nation have terrorised shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia through the Red Sea.

The gangs have made tens of millions of dollars from ransoms and a deployment by foreign navies in the area has only appeared to drive the attackers to hunt further from shore.

It is a lucrative business that has drawn financiers from the Somali diaspora and other nations — and now the gangs in Haradheere have set up an exchange to manage their investments.

One wealthy former pirate named Mohammed took Reuters around the small facility and said it had proved to be an important way for the pirates to win support from the local community for their operations, despite the dangers involved.

Naval spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour said that there are three Greeks and 19 Filipinos among the crew of the Greek-owned Filitsa. The ship is registered in the Marshall Islands.

A press release by the EU said the ship was taken 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the island nation of the Seychelles. It had been heading for the South African port of Durban but has now turned around and is heading north.