Hijacked Indian vessels traced in Seychelles - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

One out of the total eight boats that were kidnapped by Somali pirates was on Tuesday reportedly traced near the Seychelles port after the Kenyan Navy established communication with the crew. There are reports that the authorities are giving indications that the other vessels have also been spotted in Seychelles. Somali pirates had kidnapped the sailors along with 120 other Indians when they were sailing from Somalia to Dubai. The sailors, who belong to Gujarat's Saurashtra and Kutch regions had anchored last in the rebel territory of Kismayo in Somalia where they loaded cargo into their boats. But soon after, they were taken as hostages. The pirates have, however, till now not demanded any ransom. There are reports that on account of the current hijacking, patrolling has been intensified following naval deployment in the Gulf of Aden and Seychelles. Somali pirates had earlier also targeted many Indian ships and taken crew as hostages. Armed pirates had on December 23, 2009 attacked the Indian ship M T Agrasen, just 300 nautical miles off the coast of Maharashtra. The forty-one crew were, however, able to thwart the siege. A similar incident took place on December 15 last year, when the pirates seized the Indian vessel Laxmi Sagar off the Somalian coast and kept ten members hostage.