Two vessels with 22 Indians on board hijacked by pirates in Yemen, Somalia

NEW DELHI: (Aug 21) Two commercial vessels carrying a total of 22 Indian nationals have been hijacked by pirates in separate incidents off Yemen and Somalia, a senior shipping ministry official said on Friday.

He said that according to the latest information, the Indian crew members are safe. An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, M T Sibu 1, with 20 crew members — 16 Indians, one Syrian national, one Sudanese national, one Iraqi national and one seafarer whose nationality is yet to be confirmed — was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on August 20, said an official.