22 Indian sailors on two cargo ships hijacked off Yemen, Somalia are safe: Govt

India said on Friday that all 22 Indian seafarers on board two foreign-flagged merchant vessels hijacked by pirates off the coast of Yemen and Somalia are safe, and authorities are taking steps to ensure their welfare and safety.

The Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker MT Sibu 1, with 16 Indians among its 20-member crew, was hijacked by six armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, about 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen, on August 20.

The Cameroon-flagged cargo ship MV Lutuf, with six Indians among its 10 crew members, was hijacked by eight pirates off Somalia’s Puntland coast on August 17. Reports said the Lutuf was carrying Turkish weapons and was taken by the pirates towards the Nugaal coast.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing that the foreign-flagged ships had been hijacked.

“We are in touch with the authorities that are concerned in this and we have 22 Indian nationals – 16 on one and six on the other – and all of them are reportedly safe,” he said.

“We are looking into the matter. Let me tell you that the welfare and safety of our seafarers and seafaring community is something to which we attach very high importance.”

The Indian high commission in Kenya also said on social media that it had taken up the matter of Indian seafarers on board Sibu and Lutuf “with the concerned authorities in Somalia”.

The Lutuf, owned by Polar Movement Shipping, was carrying weapons bound for a Turkish military training facility in Mogadishu, as well as communications and satellite equipment. Its 10-member crew includes six Indians, a Turkish national, a Georgian and two Serbians.

The Sibu’s 20-member crew includes 16 Indians, a Syrian national, a Sudanese national, an Iraqi national and a seafarer whose nationality is yet to be confirmed.