Two vessels with 22 Indians on board hijacked by pirates in Yemen and Somalia

Two commercial vessels carrying a total of 22 Indian nationals have been hijacked by pirates in separate incidents off Yemen and Somalia, a senior Shipping Ministry official said on Friday (August 21, 2026).

An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, M T Sibu 1, with 20 crew members including 16 Indians, was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on August 20, the official told PTI.

Another Cameroon-flagged cargo ship with six Indians among its 10 crew members was hijacked by pirates off Somalia’s Puntland coast on August 17, he said.

Officials said that according to the latest information, the Indian crew members are safe

The M/V LUTUF, which was carrying Turkish weapons, was seized on Monday (August 17, 2026) and taken by the pirates toward the region’s Nugaal coast.

The ship was seized about three and a half nautical miles off Marraya in Puntland’s Eyl district, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly about sensitive information.

The ship, owned by Polar Movement Shipping, was carrying weapons bound for a Turkish military training facility in Mogadishu, as well as communications and satellite equipment, the official said.

The 10-member crew included six Indians, one Turkish national, one Georgian and two Serbian security guards, he said.

There was no immediate comment from Turkish authorities about the incident.

Eight pirates, believed to be members of a group previously involved in the hijacking of the M/V Sward on April 26, took the vessel toward the coast near Garmaal in Puntland’s Dangoroyo district.

Two Turkish-owned vessels later approached the hijacked ship, while Turkish helicopters and drones monitored the area, the official said.

On Tuesday, a small boat carrying two men approached the vessel and delivered khat, a stimulant commonly chewed in Somalia, he said.

After the boat returned to shore, an airstrike followed, killing four men and wounding two others, the official said.

The circumstances of the strike, including who carried it out and whether those killed were involved in the hijacking, couldn’t immediately be independently verified.

The status of the LUTUF, including its crew and cargo, wasn’t immediately clear. The AP couldn’t independently verify all details of the account.

(With inputs from AP)