Somali pirates are believed to have hijacked a Sri Lankan tanker in the Indian Ocean on Monday in what would be the first successful hijack of a commercial ship by Somali pirates since 2012.

News agency Reuters reported that the ship sent a distress call and then turned off its tracking system. It is  now reportedly at anchor near Puntland's Alula district in Caluula, Somalia.

The vessel is believed to be the Dubai-owned, Sri-Lanka-flagged Aris 13 with eight crew members on board. At least eight suspected pirates were involved in the attack.

At its peak in 2010/11, Somali piracy had an economic impact of around $7 billion, with more than 1,000 hostages taken captive. Pirates were receiving multi-million-dollar ransoms each month.