Sana'a, Yemen - Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni cargo ship in the Arabian Sea and demanded 2 million dollars as ransom for its release, maritime sources said on Tuesday.

The sources in the south-eastern Yemeni port of Mukalla told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the vessel, Erina, was attacked as it sailed from Mukalla to the Indian Ocean island of Socotra on November 19.

Armed pirates took the ship to the port of Eyl in the semi- autonomous Puntland region in northern Somalia, they said.

The ship is carrying 570 tons of steel and construction equipment belonged to the Juraiba and Bin-Makhzoum Construction company in Mukalla.

A source in the company told dpa that negotiations between the ship's owner, who is a Yemeni of Somali origin, and the pirates were ongoing.

This was the largest Yemeni ship to be hijacked by Somali pirates. In the past few months pirates attacked fishing boats owned by Yemeni fishermen in the Gulf of Aden. (dpa)