Ship with two Indians still with Somali pirates, talks on

The fate of two Indian sailors aboard the hijacked Singapore vessel, MV Kota Wajar, is still unknown as authorities of the container liner has started talks with Somali pirates who seized the ship last week.

"The Singapore-based Pacific Liners has started negotiations with the Somali pirates. Along with the Kenyan government, the government of Singapore and the shipping liners are in touch with pirates," Abdulgani Y Serang, general secretary, National Union of Seafarers of India told PTI today.

Serang, though, would not share details of the talks.

Director general of Shipping (DGS), Lakshmi Venkatachalam said, "We are in touch with the shipping company in Singapore and with the Indian embassy in Kenya".

"The Indian government is keeping touch with its Singapore counterpart and efforts are being made to secure the release of the ship along with the people on board at the earliest," she added.

There are two Indians—an engineer and a cadet—on board MV Kota Wajar, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean, about 500 km north of the Seychelles island, on October 15.

The DGS recently issued a notice to all Indian flag ships and those carrying Indian seafarers to utilise the escort services being provided by Indian naval ships in the Gulf of Aden, where Somali pirates are most active.

In the event of such merchant vessels not being able to get Indian naval escorts, they were advised to take the escort schedules of warships of other countries throughout the length of the IRTC (Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor), DGS sources said.

They said it was not immediately known if the Singaporean ship had adhered to the advisory.