Indian Navy warship to escort ship released by Somali pirates

An Indian Navy warship will escort the Egyptian merchant vessel MV Suez to Salalah port in Oman with 22 crew members including six Indians, two days after it was released by Somali pirates.

An Indian Navy warship will escort the Egyptian merchant vessel MV Suez to Salalah port in Oman with 22 crew members including six Indians, two days after it was released by Somali pirates.

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MV Suez was released by pirates on June 13 and is now "safely proceeding" towards Salalah with 22 crew members, including six Indians, and will be escorted by an Indian Navy Godavari-class frigate to Salalah, government sources said.

The ship at the moment is being escorted by warships of European Navies present in the region and will be under the escort of the Indian Navy tomorrow morning and will reach Salalah on June 17 ship, they said.

On the possibility of the ship being attacked again by other pirate groups, the sources said the Indian Navy had recommended that the owners of the ship provide a tug for technical support and a 'Vessel Protection Detachment' to be deployed on the MV Suez for protecting it from pirates but they have not adhered to it.

Sources said the Navy is coordinating with other navies in the region and closely monitoring the situation during its passage to Salalah.

Somali pirates had released the crew members after ransom was paid to them. The pirates had taken the crew members, including Pakistanis, Egyptians and a Sri Lankan, hostage after capturing the vessel MV Suez last year.