Crime & Public Safety
22 Indian sailors on seized ships are safe, India says
India's foreign ministry said Friday that 22 Indian sailors were aboard two foreign-flagged vessels seized by gunmen in the Gulf of Aden this week and that all were reportedly safe.
Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said one vessel had 16 Indian nationals on board and the other had six. He said India was in touch with authorities, but did not give details about crew members from other countries.
The Seamull tanker, also known as SIBU 1, issued a distress call in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday. Gunmen boarded the vessel and forced it to change course towards Somalia. Maritime security agencies had earlier said armed men seized the tanker off Yemen.
India said the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship Lutuf, carrying six Indians, was hijacked on Monday by eight gunmen who launched the attack from the MV Sward, a ship seized in April.
The United States sanctioned the Seamull in December last year as one of the vessels in what it called Iran's "shadow fleet", accusing it of exporting Iranian oil using deceptive shipping practices.
Piracy off Somalia was widespread in the 2000s and peaked in 2011 before international naval deployments and new security measures for commercial shipping curbed attacks. India's shipping ministry says India had more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025.
Update
India's foreign ministry said 22 Indian sailors were aboard two foreign-flagged vessels seized by gunmen in the Gulf of Aden this week.
India said 16 Indian nationals were on the Seamull tanker, also known as SIBU 1, and six were on another vessel.
India said the sailors were reportedly safe.
India said the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship Lutuf, with six Indians aboard, was hijacked on Monday by eight gunmen.
India said the gunmen who seized the Lutuf launched the attack from the MV Sward, a ship seized in April.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 12:51:38 UTC.
Update
The Seamull tanker was sanctioned by the United States in December last year.
The United States accused the tanker of being part of Iran's shadow fleet exporting Iranian oil through deceptive shipping practices.
The vessel is one of four operated by UAE-based Qatrat Alnada Almasi Ship Management that transported Iranian petroleum products and called at Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen.
Source note: AFP news report published on 20 August 2026 at 18:53:03 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The current location and control status of the seized vessels are not independently established in the supplied material.
The condition and nationalities of non-Indian crew members are not provided.
India described the 22 Indian nationals as reportedly safe.
Source
AFP news report published on .