Indian navy commandos have boarded a ship hijacked by pirates off Somalia’s coast, officials say.
Crew members had sent a distress signal to a UK marine agency saying five to six armed people had seized the ship on Thursday evening.
A patrol aircraft was sent to establish contact with them followed by the guided-missile destroyer INS Chennai.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) now says that no unauthorised persons were found on board.
All 15 crew members are safe and the vessel “is proceeding out of the area”, UKMTO said in a statement at around 13:40 on Friday.
The ship, named as the MV Lila Norfolk and which bears the Liberian flag, was en route to Bahrain before it was reported as being hijacked east of the Somali port town of Eyl. Fifteen of the crew members are Indian.
The crew had earlier told UKMTO that they were hiding in the vessel’s citadel, a secure compartment within a ship used for protection during emergencies or potential threats such as piracy.
Recent sporadic attacks on vessels off Somalia’s coast have triggered concerns that piracy could be making a resurgence in the region.
Pirate attacks, often launched from Eyl, were a huge problem for international shipping from 2008-2011, prompting countries from around the world to send warships to patrol the area.
One expert told the Reuters news agency the recent attacks off Somalia may have been prompted by the relocation of navy ships from the US and other countries from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea to safeguard shipping from Houthi rebels based in Yemen.
Source: BBC
