Somali pirates on Tuesday hijacked a merchant tanker with 18 crew, including seven Indians, off Oman coast. With the latest attack, the total number of Indians held hostage in Somalian waters has gone up to 43.
The Merchant Tanker (MT) Enrico Ievoli, an Italian-flagged vessel, was hijacked on Tuesday at 4.03 am GMT. “The vessel was in position Lat. 18°18’ N Long: 059° 36’ E,” read a statement released by the director-general of shipping.
The vessel that has seven Indians, six Italians and five Ukranians was carrying approximately 15,000 metric tonnes of caustic soda. It was on a voyage from B.I.K. in Iran to Yumurtalik in Turkey.
The Italian captain of the vessel has informed the shipowners that the crew is safe and that there are Somali pirates onboard. As per available information, the merchant tanker is heading towards an unknown destination in Somalian waters.
This is the fourth Italian vessel to have been hijacked by the Somali pirates. The earlier three Italian ships have already been released, some after payment of ransom and others by use of joint naval force. This year itself, there have been as many as 652 incidents of piracy and armed robbery of vessels around the globe out of which 231 incidents are related to Somali pirates.
In all, 68 ships were hijacked around the world in 2011 including 26 in Somalia.
Till date, a total of 450 sailors have been held hostage and 15 crewmembers have been killed by Somali pirates.