Suspected Somali pirates have hijacked a tanker with 21 Indian sailors on board near a port in Oman, India’s government shipping agency said.
The director general of shipping (DGS) said in a statement that the Fairchem Bogey was hijacked on Saturday while it was at anchor outside the port of Salalah.
Piracy for ransom is a well-organised and lucrative operation in Somalia that has expanded into a vast area off the coast. In 2010 a record 1,181 seafarers were kidnapped by pirates, according to marine safety experts.
The Fairchem Bogey, managed by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, was seized while it was waiting for berthing instructions.
“The Omani Coast Guard… were warned off by the pirates who asked them to move away to avoid casualties to the crew,” Anglo-Eastern Ship Management said in the statement.
Oman lies at the mouth of the Gulf, a strategic, heavily patrolled waterway which channels the bulk of the world’s crude oil shipments.
In June this year, six Indian sailors were freed after being held for 10 months by Somali pirates. They were kept in chains, often without food or water and said they were treated “like animals”.
More than 100 suspected pirates have been caught and are awaiting trial in India following a series of skirmishes with the navy near the country’s Lakshadweep islands this year.
Why rest of the world is keeping mum on what is going on in Somalia??? These Pirates have made shipping line risky even in an open sea. On the other hand a terrorist group known as Al Shabab has made life of its own people hell. They loot almost what ever is donated by foreign countries to save people from Maturation.
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