Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Indian Navy could send more warships to counter Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Somalia has permitted India to enter its territorial waters as part of its efforts to check piracy even as pirates struck another blow hijacking MV Delight, a Hong-Kong registered cargo ship bound for the post of Bandar Abbas in Iran.
MV Delight is the 10th vessel to be hijacked in 11 days taking the total to 18 ships currently hijacked in the Gulf of Aden with 330 hostages.
The ships 25-member crew, including seven Indians, are said to be safe.
"The area is vast and too dangeroue and one ship can't patrol the entire area. There are several groups of Somali pirates. They have good network among themselves. Many seafarers have been calling us for advice as theer family are too scared to venture into those waters," said National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) chairman Abdul Ghani.
Indian Navy's INS Tabar had destroyed a pirate ship on Tuesday but the morale of the pirates doesn't seem to be waning.
However, the government of Somalia meanwhile is critical of the international response
"The problem is not pirates, the problem is international marine force that can not do their job properly. They come to our sea with their mandate concerning their government's policies. We suggest that international shipping companies to use private security companies instead of depending on the false promise of the coalition forces," said Abdul Kadir Muse Yusuf, Deputy Marine Minister of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
Hijackers of the Saudi-owned super-tanker Sirius Star, meanwhile, have asked for $25 million in ransom within 10 days from the owners. Sirius Star is one of the biggest successes of the pirates. The tanker was carrying 2 million barrels of oil worth $100 million.
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