Captured ship with Indian sailors not registered in UAE

Dubai: The ship which was hijacked in the coast of Oman by Somali pirates with 22 hostages, 17 of them Indian, is not registered in the UAE, an official source has said. Royal Grace, the Nigeria-bound vessel, was earlier named Royal Lady. It set sail from Sharjah enroute to Nigeria with a 22-member crew and was hijacked on 2nd March. [caption id=“attachment_271494” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”] [/caption] “It is a Nigeria-flagged ship and neither its owners nor the company which it is leased to are registered in the UAE. Apparently the ship is registered in Nigeria and was carrying several Indians among people of other nationalities,” he said on the condition of anonymity. According to reports reaching here, some Pakistanis are also believed to be among the hostage. “Several such ships are in similar situation but in this case Indian embassy in Abuja should be handling the matter,” he told PTI. Pirates first attacked it off the coast of Oman and later hijacked it. The ship is now believed to be at Garacad in Somalia. PTI