Two business vessels with 22 Indians on board have been hijacked by armed pirates in separate incidents off Yemen and Somalia, a senior transport ministry official stated on Friday, in keeping with a report by PTI. All Indian crew members aboard each ships are secure, the official added.
The primary vessel, a Cameroon-flagged M/V LUTUF, which had 10 crew members, together with six Indians, was hijacked on August 17 off Somalia’s Puntland coast. The second ship, an Eritrea-flagged oil-products tanker M.T. Sibu 1, carrying 20 crew members, together with 16 Indians, was hijacked within the Gulf of Aden three days in a while August 20, off the Yemeni coast, the official stated.
The official stated that six armed pirates had been aboard M.T. Sibu and had taken management of the vessel, whereas eight armed pirates with AK-47-type weapons boarded M/V LUTUF and had been working from two skiffs.
M/V LUTUF Hijacked Off Somalia
Eight armed hijackers steered M/V LUTUF in the direction of the Nugaal coast. The boys are suspected of being concerned in earlier hijacking too.
The ship was seized about three and a half nautical miles off Marraya in Puntland’s Eyl district and was subsequently taken towards Somalia’s Nugaal coast, in keeping with a Somali official cited by The Related Press.
The crew in M/V LUTUF “initially mustered within the citadel. Nevertheless, the pirates gained entry and subsequently introduced them to the bridge. The vessel is presently underneath pirate management. No accidents have been reported up to now,” the official stated.
The crew on the ship consisted of six Indians, one Turkish nationwide, one Georgian nationwide and two Serbian safety guards. In the meantime, the cargo ship was carrying Turkish weapons, communications, and satellite tv for pc gear and destined for a Turkish navy coaching facility in Mogadishu.
