Two ships carrying a total of 22 Indian crew members have reportedly been hijacked by armed pirates in separate incidents near Yemen and Somalia. According to a senior official from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the oil tanker MT Sibu 1, sailing under the Eritrean flag, was hijacked on August 20 in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen. The tanker had 20 crew members on board, including 16 Indians. The remaining crew members were from Syria, Sudan and Iraq, while the nationality of one person is not yet known. According to information provided by SKS Krishi Marine Services Pvt. Ltd., six armed pirates boarded the tanker and took control of the vessel. The latest information indicates that all the Indian crew members on board are safe. In a separate incident, the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship Lutoup was hijacked on August 17 near the Puntland coast of Somalia. The ship had 10 crew members, including six Indians. Eight pirates armed with AK-47 rifles reportedly approached the vessel in two small boats, boarded the ship and took control of it. No injuries have been reported so far.
