Somalia: Authorities in Puntland, Somalia, said on Tuesday that security forces have rescued the MT Honor 25 petroleum product tanker hijacked by pirates. However, before the operation could begin the pirates killed five of the ship's crew members. An Indian citizen is also among the dead.
16 pirates were arrested
According to Puntland's information ministry, security forces successfully freed the ship during a rescue operation and arrested 16 pirates. According to officials, the robbers had killed five crew members even before the operation could begin.
The dead included three citizens of Pakistan, one of Myanmar and one of India. Four other crew members were injured, including three Pakistanis and one Indian national.
Second hijacked ship was also freed
Puntland officials on Tuesday also reported the rescue of a second ship. According to officials, the ship with 17 crew members was captured by pirates in April and later hijacked in May.
This development has come to light at a time when incidents of piracy are again increasing off the coast of Somalia. According to experts, tankers carrying petroleum products are becoming the target of pirates due to reasons like the impact of the Iran war and increase in oil prices.
The hijacked tanker was also freed in August
This rescue operation comes after another operation that took place last week. In that operation, Puntland's Maritime Police Force rescued the Sibu 1 tanker. The tanker was hijacked by Somalian pirates in August and was under US sanctions.
After these two rescue operations, five of the six ships that were in the possession of pirates off the Somalian coast till the end of August have now been freed.
Major piracy also came to light between 2008 and 2014.
A major wave of piracy was witnessed in Somalia between 2008 and 2014. During that time, pirate activities on one of the world's major shipping routes affected international trade. This caused a loss of billions of dollars to the global economy and a huge amount was also paid as ransom.