Pirates in India: The tragedy of Indian sailors

Since 2008, India has thwarted 39 attacks on cargo ships. Pirates are no more just of the Caribbean. Instead these days, they all hail from Somalia, which has come to gain international importance not because of its never-ending civil war, or its failed governance, but because of its infamous sea-pirates.

This year alone, 27 Indian sailors were captured by pirates. This is a quick timeline of how Indian sailors have been affected by pirate attacks:

In December 2009, pirates seized Laxmi Sagar, an Indian vessel off the Somalian coast and took 10 sailors hostage. After receiving a ransom of $3.1 million, the pirates were reported to have released the hijacked bulk carrier Al Khaliq.

In August 2010, MV Suez was hijacked by the notorious Somali pirates where six Indians were part of the crew.

In September 2010 MT Asphalt Venture was hijacked about 100 nautical miles off the coast of Tanzania.

It was reported that Somali pirates had refused to free Indian crew wanting their men to be released as a trade-off, who were arrested earlier.  There were also reports that the captors were not satisfied with the alleged $3.5 million ransom payment. 15 Indians who were on board the ill fated vessel continue to remain in captivity.

The MT Marida Marguerite that was captured on 13 May 2010 remained under the control of pirates for seven months before it was released on 28 December after a ransom $ 5.5 million was paid.

Perhaps the most dramatic hijack however was in September 2008, when MT Stolt Valor was seized in the Gulf of Aden. Eighteen Indian sailors were released after 60 days of intense government pressure.

Somalia has not had a functioning government in two decades, and piracy has flourished off its coast. Indian sailors have continued to face crisis, with very little or simply no support from the government.

Defence minister A K Antony in a press interview recently said that piracy can be tackled effectively only by a combined global effort under the joint operational command of the United Nations. On the proposed anti-piracy law to tackle pirates, Antony said, “we are in the process of finalising a new policy on this issue and it will be finalised by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) very soon.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has gone to Pretoria to attend the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Summit, is expected to bring up the issue of Somalian pirates - and ask for more help from South Africa to try and tackle the issue. With other nationalities involved, the government will have to take other countries into confidence.

Till then it is hope against odds for the families of those being held captive.

Watch Video: PM to bring up piracy issue in IBSA Summit