Pirates have seized a sugar cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and steered it towards the Horn of Africa. Navfor, the EU naval task force combating piracy off Somalia, said it had received a distress signal from the mainly Syrian-crewed MV Syria Star. Helicopters sent to the scene found an abandoned pirate skiff nearby. Navfor said when warships arrived, they saw the cargo ship sailing south-east towards the Horn. Navfor said Pirates were in control of the vessel and refused to respond to radio contact. The 18,838-tonne MV Syria Star, flagged in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, had been sailing west in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden. The crew comprise 22 Syrians and two Egyptians.According to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau, last year Somali pirates carried out more than 200 hijackings.