Indian ship with 35 crew escapes pirate attack

A Shipping Corporation of India vessel with 35 crew members on board was attacked by pirates in the Arabian sea, around 300 miles off the western coast, but it managed to escape, a top company official said today.

The hijack bid took place last night when the vessel 'Maharaj Agrasen' was on its way to Vizag from Kuwait, he said.

"The incident took place on Monday late night when a group of pirates in three speed-boats attacked the vessel with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. However, quick thinking by the ship's captain saved the crew members," National Union of Seafarers of India's general secretary, Abdulgani Y Serang, told PTI here.

The Captain, after making an attempt to ram the ship into a pirate boat, changed the direction of the vessel and sped away, Serang said.

SCI's chairman SC Hajara confirmed the incident.

Last Friday, Somali pirates had seized an Indian vessel, 'MV Neseya' with 13 Indian nationals, off the coast of Kismayo in southern Somalia.

The incident took place some 170 nautical miles north east of Mombasa. The present location of the vessel is not known.