Hijacked vessel freed; crew safe

Ten Indians on board the hijacked ship, M V Victoria, have been released and they are safe, the Directorate General of Shipping said in Mumbai.

The other crewmembers and the cargo of the vessel, which was hijacked on May 17 near the Somalia coast by heavily armed pirates, are safe too, DG Shipping said. "This Directorate has received information that the vessel M V Victoria has been released from the pirates. Crew and cargo are safe," DG Shipping said in a statement. There were 21 crewmembers, including Pakistanis, Myanmarese, Bangladeshis, Kenyans and Tanzanians on board the ship when it was hijacked. The ship was carrying 4,200 tonnes of sugar between Mumbai and Mogadishu. The vessel is now moving to Mogadishu Port for discharging, it said. "Two Somali security guards are onboard with small arms for safe passage," DG Shipping said. The ship is owned by Sharjah-based Five Seas Company and operated by Sharjah-based Marwan Shipping. Hijacking of Victoria is the third such incident reported in Somalia in the last five months.

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