The Indian Navy on Thursday said the freed Egyptian merchant vessel MV Suez did not respond to communications from the Indian Navy ship INS Godavari after the naval ship reached the merchant vessel on Thursday to escort it.
The Indian Navy said it is now escorting two other merchant vessels besides monitoring the movement of MV Suez, which is being escorted by other foreign warships. There were reports that a Pakistani naval ship, along with two European warships, are escorting the MV Suez now or are in the vicinity of the Egyptian vessel.
The 22-member crew of the MV Suez includes six Indians. It is unclear why the Egyptian vessel did not respond to the Indian Navy and whether this should be interpreted as a refusal to accept help from the Indian Navy.
The Indian crew of the Egyptian vessel were earlier upset with the Indian Navy and had accused it of ignoring their pleas for providing security from pirates on the high seas.
The MV Suez had been hijacked by Somali pirates earlier before being released on June 13. The crew members of the MV Suez feared being taken hostage again in the event of another attack.