New Delhi, April 10: Seafarers associations are negotiating with Somali pirates for the release of 64 Indian hostages along with seven vessels which were seized about a fortnight back, officials said today.
The government is keeping a close watch on the developments through the Indian missions in Seychelles and Nairobi besides the seafarers’ bodies.
Officials said the government is aware that negotiations are underway between associations of seafarers and pirates and hence government is not intervening for the moment.
Expressing confidence that the hostages would be released safely, they said the past experience has shown that the seafarers reach amicable settlements with pirates. Asked whether the hostages were safe, they said, “There is no report to the contrary.”
Somali pirates had seized 11 dhows (slow-moving vessels) with over 120 Indians on board during the past fortnight.
Of them, four vessels have been released along with 54 people.
The officials confirmed the death of an Indian sailor during rescue operations by the navies of the US and Oman in which eight Indian sailors were rescued a few days back.
The victim had dived into the water, fearful of getting hurt when the warships of the US and Oman attacked a dhow operated by pirates with Indians on board close to their mother ship.
Earlier, the government had said that the hijacked vessels had been traced to Mogadishu off Somalia.
The spree of hijackings in the last week of March has triggered concerns as the incidents took place quite away from the Gulf of Aden near the Somalian coast which is notorious for piracy.
Repeated attacks on Indian vessels also prompted the government to issue warning to dhows about the dangers in those waters, particularly along the sea-lanes of Salalah and Male.
The merchandise conducted on seas is worth about USD 110 billion annually, with Indians being the major players.
–PTI