Mumbai:
A Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) vessel with 35 crewmembers on board was attacked by pirates in the Arabian sea, around 300 miles off the western coast, but it managed to escape, a top company official said on Tuesday.
The hijack bid took place on Monday night when the vessel 'Maharaj Agrasen' was on its way to Vizag from Kuwait, he said.
"The incident took place on Monday late night when a group of pirates in three speed-boats attacked the vessel with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. However, quick thinking by the ship's captain saved the crewmembers," National Union of Seafarers of India's General Secretary, Abdulgani Y Serang, said.
The Captain, after making an attempt to ram the ship into a pirate boat, changed the direction of the vessel and sped away, Serang said.
SCI's Chairman S C Hajara confirmed the incident.
Last Friday, Somali pirates had seized an Indian vessel, 'MV Neseya' with 13 Indian nationals, off the coast of Kismayo in southern Somalia.
The incident took place some 170 nautical miles north east of Mombasa. The present location of the vessel is not known.
The hijack bid took place on Monday night when the vessel 'Maharaj Agrasen' was on its way to Vizag from Kuwait, he said.
"The incident took place on Monday late night when a group of pirates in three speed-boats attacked the vessel with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. However, quick thinking by the ship's captain saved the crewmembers," National Union of Seafarers of India's General Secretary, Abdulgani Y Serang, said.
The Captain, after making an attempt to ram the ship into a pirate boat, changed the direction of the vessel and sped away, Serang said.
SCI's Chairman S C Hajara confirmed the incident.
Last Friday, Somali pirates had seized an Indian vessel, 'MV Neseya' with 13 Indian nationals, off the coast of Kismayo in southern Somalia.
The incident took place some 170 nautical miles north east of Mombasa. The present location of the vessel is not known.
