The Hindu : Front Page : Hijackers release all Indian sailors

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Monday, Nov 17, 2008
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Hijackers release all Indian sailors

Atul Aneja

Stolt Valor was seized in Somali waters on September 15

— Photo: PTI

A happy Seema Goyal, wife of Capt. Prabhat Kumar Goyal, and her daughter at their home in Dehra Dun on Sunday.

DUBAI: After a two-month ordeal, hijackers released 18 Indian sailors on board a Japanese owned merchant ship in Somali waters. Four other crew members — two Filipinos, a Russian and a Bangladeshi — were also set free.

Their merchant ship, m.t. Stolt Valor, which was hijacked on September 15, left Somali waters on Sunday morning.

Diplomatic sources told The Hindu, that the Indian Navy had maintained a “general vigil” around the area because Indian nationals were on board the ship. However, there were legal constraints to direct intervention because the ship was in Somalia’s territorial waters. Last week, the Navy was able to prevent the hijacking of m.v. Jag Arnav in the Gulf of Aden because it was an Indian ship. The Stolt Valor was flying a Hong Kong flag.

In New Delhi, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu explained some of the complexities involved in defusing the crisis. “The entire issue was complicated by the fact that the ship owner was Japanese, flag Hong Kong, Charterer Norwegian and the crew mainly Indians,” he said in a statement.

In Mumbai, spokesperson for the National Union of Seafarers of India Sunil Nair acknowledged that ransom was paid to end the piracy. The payment could be $1-2.5 million.

Reuters news agency quoted Andrew Mwangura, director of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, as saying the ransom amount was $1.1 million. He said the vessel with all the crew members was heading for Mumbai.

The sources pointed out the ship owners had sought professional help to conduct negotiations with the pirates.

Mr. Baalu said the hijacking ended following considerable inter-ministerial coordination, involving discussions with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the Ministry of Defence. A delegation under Captain P.V.K. Mohan, chairman, National Shipping Board, also visited Japan in this connection.

The Navy subsequently began patrolling the piracy-hit Gulf of Aden and deployed a ship at Oman’s port of Salalah. The ship has marine commandos and helicopters on board.

The stretch between Yemen and north Somalia which leads to the Suez Canal through the strait of Baab Al Mandab has been highly vulnerable to piracy recently.

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