December 15, 2009: Shri G K Vasan, the Union shipping minister, in a written reply to a question informed the Rajya Sabha today that one vessel, M V Al Khaliq, with Panama flag has been hijacked by the pirates with 26 crew members onboard (including 24 Indians) on October 22, 2009 close to the Seychelles islands about 720 nautical miles east of Mombasa. Directorate general of shipping (DGS) has already held two meetings with the managers of the vessel (M/s SNP Shipping) on October 23, 2009 and November 4, 2009. As per information received from the managers, contact has been established with the vessel and the master has informed that all crew members onboard are safe. It has also been informed that negotiations for the release of the crew members are in progress. For more information, contact Press Information Bureau "A" - Wing, Shastri Bhawan, Tel- 011- 23389338 Website: http://www.pib.nic.in/ |
