(a) whether the Somalian pirates have kept several Indians as hostages;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has made any contact with the pirates: and
(d) if so, the efforts being made by the Government to secure.the release of the
Indian hostages from the pirates?
MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI G.K. VASAN)
(a) & (b): Yes, Madam. There are 38 Indians presently held hostage by Somalian pirates
as per details given below:-
(c) & (d): An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) set up by the Government under the Ministry of Shipping with representatives from ail Ministries and Government agencies concerned, to deal with the hostage situation arising out of the hijacking at sea of merchant vessels with Indian crew on board has been regularly reviewing the situation of Indian hostages under captivity of the pirates. Ministry of External Affairs, through its concerned Missions abroad, continuously seeks the help of the concerned foreign Governments to liaise with ship owners to secure early release of Indian hostages held captive by Somali pirates. Government has also approved the Contingency Plan for dealing with piracy and hijacking of merchant ships and constituted a Committee of Secretaries on Anti-Piracy and hijack at sea (COSAPH) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary for crisis management and to advise the Government on major policy and strategy decisions. In addition to this, the following steps have been initiated by Ministry of Shipping as part of various preventing/mitigating security measures to secure the release of the Indian hostages from the pirates:
SI.No. Name of the ship Flag No. of Indian crew Date when held as hostages hijacked 1. M.V. Iceberg I Panama 1 29/3/2010 2. Ex-M.T. Asphalt Panama 7 29/9/2010 Venture 3. M.V. Albedo Malaysia 2 26/11/2010 4. M.V. Royal Grace Panama 17 2/3/2012 5. M.T. Smyrin Liberian 11 10/5/2012 Total 38