Ship with 20 Indian crew members hijacked, freed
January 10th, 2012 - 7:20 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )Mumbai, Jan 10 (IANS) A Norwegian ship, with 20 Indian crew members, was hijacked by Somali pirates Tuesday morning off the coast of Nigeria but freed from their control soon after by security forces, a maritime authority said here.
The crew members of the ship, MV Spar Rigel, locked themselves in the citadel - a safe house - on board and sent an SOS to the security forces patrolling the area, according to the directorate-general of shipping (DGS).
The ship was now free of the pirates and the crew, which also included a Ukrainian, were safe, the DGS said.
On Feb 8 last year, a ship, MT Savina Caylyn, with 17 Indian crewmen was hijacked. The ship has now been released and the crew members returned home via Fujairah after an 11-month ordeal.
Besides these incidents, another 36 Indians are on board four hijacked ships. MV Iceberg-1 of Panama hijacked Mar 3, 2010 has six Indians abroad, MT Fairchem Bogey of Marshall Islands hijacked Aug 20, 2011 has 21 Indians among its crew, MV Al Bedo of Malaysia hijacked Nov 26, 2010 has two Indians and MT Enrico Ievoli of Italy hijacked Dec 27, 2011 has seven crew members from India.
Another seven Indian crew members from ship MV Asphalt Venture are being held hostage on land.
- Ship with 21 Indian crewmen aboard released - Jan 14, 2012
- Tanker with 21 Indians hijacked off Oman - Aug 20, 2011
- Italian cargo ship with seven Indians hijacked - Dec 27, 2011
- Ship owners ask Somali pirates to release seven Indians (Lead) - Apr 17, 2011
- 53 Indian sailors still under Somali pirates captivity - Mar 10, 2011
- Somali pirates free 8 Indian crew, 7 still held hostage (Lead) - Apr 16, 2011
- Indians freed by Somali pirates reach Kenya - Apr 28, 2011
- 53 Indian sailors in pirate-custody, back-channel talks on (Lead) - Mar 10, 2011
- MV Suez runs out of fuel, stranded off Oman - Jun 18, 2011
- Trying to contact pirates with 7 Indians: Ship owners - Apr 17, 2011
- Back channel efforts on for Indian sailors' release (Second Lead) - Mar 10, 2011
- Ship with nine Indian crew hijacked, proceeds to Somalia - Feb 14, 2011
- Hijacked British ship with 8 Indians freed - May 14, 2010
- Hostage crisis: Navy rushes warship to Somali coast - Apr 18, 2011
- Ship with 11 Indian crew hijacked off Seychelles - Apr 12, 2010
Tags: asphalt, bedo, being held hostage, bogey, citadel, crew members, dgs, fujairah, indian crew, indians, maritime authority, marshall islands, mv, norwegian ship, ordeal, safe house, savina, security forces, somali pirates, tuesday morning
