Mumbai, May 13: Twenty-six crew members, including 11 Indians, have been held captive by suspected Somali pirates after the hijacking of a Liberian-flagged crude tanker off the Omani coast, the Directorate General Shipping said on Saturday.
The pirates boarded MT Smyrni while it was sailing in the Arabian Sea on Thursday afternoon, a DGS statement issued late this evening said.
The DGS has asked the ship's manager and recruiting agent in Mumbai - Dynacom Tankers Management - to obtain information on the condition of the Indian crew.
The vessel, loaded with 135,000 tonnes of crude and owned by a Greek company, is headed towards the Somalian coast, it said.
The abducted Indians include the master of the vessel, which also had 14 Filipinos and a Romanian.
According to a BBC report from London, the hijacking is thought to have happened about 630 km off the Omani coast.
