Somali pirates have hijacked a Cambodian cargo ship early Wednesday off Somalia's Berbera port with unknown crew members from six countries, a regional maritime official confirmed on Thursday.

Andrew Mwangura, East Africa's Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program, said the MV Layla-S was seized after it unloaded at the port in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland.

"Crew members on board the ill-fated vessel are comprised of Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan, Somali and Syrian nationals," Mwangura told Xinhua from Mombasa.

"It is said that the vessel has link with Syrian and UAE business men. We are informed that she was taken by gunmen after discharging her cargo," he said.

According to Mwangura, details of the crew members are still awaited but the vessel is believed to be owned and managed by Al Hufoof, an agency based in either Syria or the United Arab Emirates.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into the millions.

The Horn of Africa nation is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.