Pirates off Aden, silence in Delhi
Two ships seized off Yemen and Somalia. AP confirms one with six Indian crew. The other — and the “all safe” line — rest on an unnamed official. Telangana seafarers are watching; the BJP-led Centre isn’t talking.
The safety of Indian crew remains partly a matter of competing and unconfirmed accounts.
Content type: news
A Cameroon-flagged cargo ship, M/V LUTUF, was seized on August 17 about 3.5 nautical miles off Marraya in Puntland’s Eyl district, with 10 crew onboard including six Indians, according to an Associated Press report citing a Somali official. The ship was taken toward Somalia’s Nugaal coast and remained under pirate control; AP said several details could not be independently verified and did not confirm the crew’s condition.
A separate PTI-based report, quoting an unnamed senior Shipping Ministry official and incident details reportedly relayed by RPSL agency S K S Krishi Marine Services, says a second vessel — referred to as “MT Sibu 1”/“M.T. Sibhu-1” — was hijacked on August 20 roughly 30 nautical miles off Yemen, with 20 crew including 16 Indians, and that six armed pirates had taken control. The same official claimed no injuries had been reported and that Indian crew were safe. Those specifics have not been published by DGMA, the Navy, UKMTO or MEA in any statement we could locate.
India’s maritime regulator has, in the past month, warned of rising risk in the Gulf of Aden, southern Red Sea and Horn of Africa waters. DGMA Circular 47 of 2026, dated August 6, orders heightened security for Indian seafarers in “conflict-affected” zones; Circular 40 of 2026, dated July 28, concerns piracy involving Indian seafarers. Neither circular mentions LUTUF or Sibu/Sibhu-1.
For families in Telangana’s seafaring belt, the difference between “under pirate control” and “safe” is not a quibble. The BJP-led Centre has not bothered to put its name on the reassurance it is leaking off the record.