Somali pirates hijacked yet another chemical tanker with 25 Indian crewmembers from the Gulf of Aden on Friday.
MT Biscaglia, with a Liberian flag and 16,282 tonne of cargo, had 31 crewmembers on board and was travelling from Indonesia to Europe via Suez Canal.
There are some reports of two Britons and an Irish security guard who were aboard the ship having been rescued by helicopters after they jumped into the sea soon after the pirate attack. The rescue operation was reportedly undertaken by a warship on patrol that intervened in the attack. "But they arrived after pirates had taken control of the ship," said officials.
The Indian directorate general of shipping issued a statement saying that the other crew comprised three Bangladeshis and two Britons and one lrish security guard and that the ship was hijacked around 7 am local time.
When the attack took place, the master of the ship (who is an Indian) sent a distress call. "Upon receipt of the report, the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre were informed for assistance. The centre in Kuala Lumpur responded and contacted the coalition forces which sent out two helicopters that reached the site," said Captain J S Uppal, deputy nautical adviser-cum-senior deputy director general of shipping (technical).
He added that it was reported that hijackers were seen on board. "The vessel is now headed for an unknown destination," he said, adding that at the time of the hijacking, the Indian naval vessel was being refuelled as per schedule.
The case of MT Biscaglia is the 97th vessel to be attacked this year off Somalia. The ship was being operated out of Singapore by a company called lshima Pte. Ltd and is owned by Winged Foot Shipping in the Marshall Islands.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia, said after the ship master sent a distress call to the centre, it relayed the alert to international forces that have been policing Somali waters.
Andrew Mwangura of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme said on Friday that pirates released a Greek ship called MV Centauri, which was hijacked in September off the coast of Somalia.
