Mumbai: Armed Somalian pirates on Friday released unharmed three Indians and 26 other members of the crew on board a hijacked cargo ship after keeping them in captivity for more than one-and-a-half months.
"The vessel has been released from Somali pirates and all crew are safe and healthy," Directorate General of Shipping said in a release.
The Indian crew released are Jeeva Kiran D'Souza of Kasargod in Kerala, Akbar Ali Rafeeque Juwale of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and Anthony Clive Themudo of Goa at 16:00 hrs IST and they are expected to return to India in the next couple of days.
The ship MV Iran Deyanat, carrying 40,000 tonnes of iron ore en-route from China to Netherlands, was hijacked on the Red Sea by Somali pirates on August 22.
The ship had a total of 26 members on board of which three were Indians and the rest were Iranis and Croatians.
The pirates with weapons had come in speed boats and seized the ship.
India had sought the assistance of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the matter.
It was not immediately clear if any ransom has been paid for the release of the crew members and the ship.
The merchant vessel was headed from China to the Netherlands carrying minerals and industrial products when it was hijacked on August 21 along with a German and a Japanese
ship off the Gulf of Aden.
So far a total of 52 vessels have been hijacked this past year.
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