Pirates hijack Iraqi ship stranded off Iranian coast

LONDON: Pirates have hijacked an Iraqi ship that was stranded outside the country’s waters and took it to an unknown location, the MP for the Basra governorate said on Sunday.
Kadhim Finjan Al-Hammami said he received “authenticated pleas from the private owner of Iraqi tugboat T-4, to free his ship from pirates. The attackers had taken it to an unknown location, and demanded in an audio recording that he pay a ransom of $80,000.