Hijack drama off Nigerian coast ends; all Indian sailors safe

All the 23 Indian sailors, whose oil tanker was taken over by suspected pirates off the Nigerian coast, have been released along with their vessel after the intervention of the Nigerian Navy, a top Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) official said late this evening.

A Nigerian Navy vessel intercepted the Singapore-owned oil tanker `Abu Dhabi Star', taken over by the pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. The naval officials went on-board the ship which resulted in the end of the crisis, he told PTI here.

"The pirates probably deserted the ship after looking at the naval vessel," the official said, adding till now, there is no information of arrest or detaining of the pirates.

The hijacking lasted for less than 24 hrs and entire crew is safe, the official said, adding the DGS came to know about the release earlier during the day.

The ship's crew had locked themselves up in the high security area of the vessel called 'citadel', he said.

The DGS official said the hijacking was probably done for taking over the cargo (fuel) onboard and not for ransom as is observed in multitudes of similar instances off the Somali coast.

The cargo of the vessel is also safe as the pirates require the help of ship crew to unload it, the official said.

Earlier, the DGS - which is responsible for the safety of the Indian sailors - got in touch with the Nigerian authorities after coming to know of the hijacking, following which the navy swung into action, the official said.

An earlier report from Nigeria said the attackers are suspected to be oil thieves from the Niger Delta region of the north-west African nation.

This was third such attack in the area in over two weeks.

Abu Dhabi Star was anchored 80 km off the Nigerian coast, at that country's biggest port Lagos, when it was hijacked, according to a spokesman for Nigerian Navy.