The Aisha was carrying 144,464 tonnes of Nile crude from Bashir port in Sudan and was in a shipping lane subject to international monitoring, independent daily Oea said, citing a Libyan shipping official.

A boat stopped in the Aisha’s path at 2:35 a.m. and its occupants opened fire, the paper said.

“About five more boats arrived to support the first boat and shot at the tanker to force it to stop,” Oea quoted the head of operations at Libya’s Maritime Transport Company, Abdulhakim al-Ghazzawi, as saying. “The captain ignored their orders to stop and accelerated until he entered safe waters.”

Oea did not give the nationality of the Aisha’s crew.

Somali pirates have increased their activities in recent months even after foreign navies boosted their presence in the Gulf of Aden to protect ships travelling between Europe and Asia.