By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI, June 25 (Reuters) - A Danish cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates earlier this month has run out of food and fresh water at sea, a Kenyan maritime official said on Monday.

The MV Danica White and its five Danish crew members were carrying building materials from Dubai to Kenya when it was seized off Somalia in the world's most dangerous waterway.

"The news we are getting is that food has run out in that ship and there is no water," said Andrew Mwangura, director of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.

The vessel's generator had apparently broken down, Mwangura told Reuters, so its water purification equipment also failed.

Just days after the Danica was captured, a U.S. Navy warship destroyed three small pirate boats being towed behind it, but was forced to abandon the chase after it entered Somali waters.

Such attacks have increased since a Somali Islamist movement that brought a semblance of order for six months was ousted in January. Three other ships -- a Taiwanese fishing boat and two from Tanzania -- are currently being held by Somali pirates.

The captors killed one Taiwanese sailor this month after his vessel's owners refused ransom demands, Mwangura has said.

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