Suez heads to Salalah under protection of 9 Pakistani commandos

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Sam

17 June, 2011

Released by Somali pirates earlier this week, MV Suez is heading to port of Salalah under the protection of 9 Pakistani commandos.

EGYPTIAN-OWNED merchant vessel MV Suez, which was captured by Somali pirates nine months ago, is now free and heading to the port of Salalah, Oman, under the protection of 9 Pakistani commandos. The ship, with 22 people on board including six Indians, four Pakistanis, one Sri Lankan and 11 Egyptians, is expected to reach Salalah tomorrow morning.

PNS Babar, a Pakistani warship, came to the rescue of MV Suez on Wednesday. According to the crew-members, they had sent repeated calls for help to the Indian Navy, but it did not respond, and that’s when the Pakistani ship came. It was only after the PNS Babar started pulling MV Suez out of the “troubled waters,” where it had been attacked by Somali pirates that the Indian Navy sent some help. The move has been highly criticised by Suez’s Indian crew-member as well as their families. MV Suez was taken captive by Somali pirates about nine months ago.

It was only after the pirates received the USD 2.1 million that they let the ship go earlier this week. The ransom money was paid by the ship owner, while Pakistan offered some assistance. But within hours after being released, the pirates once again started encircling the ship. Scared, the Suez crew immediately sent SOS calls to Indian Navy, but received no response. Meanwhile, Pakistan on receiving the message immediately sent a warship.During an interview with an Indian news channel yesterday, Wasi Hasan, the captain of the Suez, said that there was very little food left on the ship. Also, the ship was running out of diesel, in which case they would have to shift to the Babar.