Team Herald
MARGAO: Four Goan sailors have been abducted by pirates in high seas and their families back home are anxiously awaiting their release.
The abducted Goan sailors are a part of the 20 Indian sailor abducted by the pirates.
The shipping company ‘Union Marine’ has placed a new crew on to the ship from which the pirates abducted the sailors.
It is learnt that the pirates have made contacts with owners of the ship and the demands of the pirates will be soon fulfilled and the crew released.
Some of the family members of the Goan seafarers were called to the office of the hiring company V-shipping and were counselled and assured of the release of their dear ones.
Following the attack by pirates on the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Duke off Benin, a Togolese naval patrol boat has made contact with the vessel.
On December 15, the oil/chemical tanker was boarded by six pirates who abducted twenty of the ship’s twenty-one crew members. The 20 Indian seafarers were abducted, while one Nigerian cadet was left onboard. Of the 20 seafarers, four are Goans.
“Owners and managers are working closely with all the appropriate authorities and specialists to secure the safe and speedy release of the crew members being held, this being the upmost priority,” V Ships said in a statement.
The company added that families of those abducted are being informed of the situation.
Described as “the largest abduction event in West Africa within 2019,” the newest incident comes less than two weeks after nineteen crew members were abducted from the tanker Nave Constellation off Bonny Island, Nigeria.
The entire fraternity of shipping has demanded that the Shipping Ministry, NUSI & MUI must come in action once again to negotiate and settle the pirates along with the insurance club.
The seafarers said that Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant must immediately write to the shipping minister and intervene in the process of their safe release.
