BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) – A ship laden with cement was hijacked in the pirate-ridden waters between Somalia and Yemen, a government official said on Friday.

The panama-flagged Wail was en route to Bosasso from Oman and was attacked between the Yemeni Island of Socotra and Bosasso just hours after Somali pirates received a $1.6 million ransom to release the MT Irene, a Japanese chemical tanker.

“A Panama-flagged ship, Wail, was hijacked on Thursday night between Socotra Island and Bosasso,” said Ali Abdi Aware, state minister for northern Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.

He told Reuters the crew of 11 consisted of nine Syrians and two Somalis.

Piracy is rife off Somalia, which has been mired in anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

The vital sealane in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia links the Middle East Gulf and Asia to Europe and beyond via the Suez Canal and is critical to Gulf oil shipments.

Gunmen have boarded more than 30 vessels this year and received ransoms totalling between $18-30 million, according to British think-tank Chatham House.

The NATO military alliance decided on Thursday to join anti-piracy operations along Somalia’s 3,300 km (2,060 mile) coastline.

One of the highest-profile pirate attacks off Somalia this year involves the MV Faina, which has been held since the end of September with 20 crew members on board. Its cargo includes 33 T-72 tanks which were en route to Kenya’s Mombasa port.

(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; writing by Abdi Sheikh; Editing by Matthew Jones)