Two South Korean fishing boats have been captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia, officials informed.

The Mavuno 1 and Mavuno 2 vessels have been seized Tuesday, when armed men fired from speedboats towards the ships and eventually took control of the two ships and the multinational crew.

"The crew are safe. The ship is anchored some 400 kilometres north of the Somali capital Mogadishu and the ship-owner is expected to arrive this evening from South Korea for negotiations," an official from the East African Seafarers Assistance Program stated.

Only four of the 24 crew members were South Koreans, the rest being Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Indian citizens. The pirates haven’t made any demand yet, as the local authorities contacted them and try to negotiate the release of the crew.

Somalia is passed on a daily basis by ships heading for the Middle East, a determinant fact that gave birth to such terrorist groups. The two seized vessels were coming from Kenya and were on-route for Yemen.

According to recent reports, the number of armed groups that prowl Somali waters has increased in the past period, favoured by the instability of the government.