Indianson board hijacked ship 'safe'

“India’s Singapore High Commissioner T C A  Raghavan has approached the Singapore government. They (Indians) are said to be safe,” the sources said.

There are conflicting reports about the number of Indian crew members on board the Singaporean ship  M V Kota Wajar, which was hijacked on Thursday.

Some TV channels have reported that there are four Indians on board.

India’s high commission has been asked to keep in touch with the Singapore government and the shipping company, sources added.

The shipping company is also in touch with the Singapore government and efforts are being made to secure the release of the ship along with the people on board, the sources said.

Earlier, confusion prevailed over whether there was any Indian on board the ship with media reports suggesting that there were four Indians in the carrier.

The ship was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean about 500 km north of the Seychelles island.

Abdulgani Y Serang, General Secretary, National Union of Seafarers of India, said in Mumbai that the crew members of the vessel were from countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Dipika Pathania, wife of Raghuveer Singh, one of the Indians on board the ship, said the company informed that the crew is safe but did not say when they will be freed.
“We don’t want money. I just want my husband to be freed. The ship owners won’t act until we put pressure. They don’t care about the crew members,” Pathania said.