Ship with 10 Indians hijacked off Somalia coast

MUMBAI: Sea pirates in three speed boats with heavy arms and guns have hijacked a cargo ship with 10 Indians on board off the coast of Somalia, Directorate General of
Shipping said on Monday.
   
The ship, MV Victoria, with a total crew of 21, was hijacked on Saturday on its way to Mogadishu from Mumbai. The ship was carrying 4,200 metric tonnes of bagged sugar, DG Shipping said in a statement.
   
MV Victoria, built in 1979 is owned by Sharjah-based Five Seas Company and operated by Sharjah-based Marwan Shipping. It is registered in Jordan.
   
Of the 21 crew members, 10 are Indians, two Pakistanis, two Burmese, two Bangladeshis, three Kenyans and two Tanzanians.
   
At the time of the incident, the master and crew had given the distress signal. There is no update on the safety of the crew so far.
   
The International Maritime Organisation had issued guidelines to member states because of the increasing number of cases of piracy and armed robbery on ships off the coast of Somalia.
   
India has alerted the Coast Guard in Somalia and the International Maritime Bureau piracy centre in Kuala Lumpur and London.
   
In February, a ship, MV Rezzak, went missing near the Turkish coast. It was sailing between Russia and Turkey carrying steel billets. Till date there are no details of its whereabouts. The ship had 25 Indian sailors onboard.