Somali pirates hijack 1 more vessel; 11 Indians held hostage

“The Indian crew members include the Master of the ship,Second Officer,Third Officer and eight Cadets,” the official said. As per information received,the ship,owned by Rak Afrikana Shipping Ltd,United Arab Emirates and managed by Sinbad Shipping & Marine,UAE is being taken by the pirates to the Somali coast at a speed of 12 km per hour,he said.

“The Directorate of Shipping is in contact with the managers of the vessel for regular updates and measures initiated for the early and safe release of the crew and vessel,” the official said.

Sources last week said the government was keeping a close watch on the developments through the Indian missions in Seychelles and Nairobi,besides the seafarers’ bodies and is aware that negotiations are underway between associations of seafarers and pirates and hence government is not intervening for the moment.

Somali pirates had seized 11 dhows (slow-moving vessels) with over 120 Indians on board during the past fortnight. Of them,five vessels have been released along with 67 Indians while an Indian sailor had died during rescue operations by the navies of the US and Oman in which eight Indian sailors were rescued a few days back.

The government had said that the hijacked vessels had been traced to Mogadishu off Somalia. The spree of hijackings in the last week of March has triggered concerns as the incidents took place quite away from the Gulf of Aden near the Somalian coast which is notorious for piracy.

Repeated attacks on Indian vessels had also prompted the government to issue warning to dhows about the dangers in those waters,particularly along the sea-lanes of Salalah and Male. The merchandise conducted on seas is worth about USD 110 billion annually,with Indians being the major players.