NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Two commercial vessels carrying a total of 22 Indian nationals have been hijacked by pirates in separate incidents off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia, a senior Shipping Ministry official said on Friday.
An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, M T Sibu 1, carrying 20 crew members, including 16 Indians, was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden on August 20. The vessel was reportedly seized around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen.
In a separate incident, a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship carrying 10 crew members, including six Indians, was hijacked off Somalia’s Puntland coast on August 17.
Officials said the latest information indicates that all the Indian crew members are safe.
Authorities are monitoring the situation and efforts are underway to ascertain further details regarding the incidents.
