Crew of hijacked Savina Caylyn likely to arrive today

The crew of hijacked Italian oil tanker Savina Caylyn,is expected to arrive at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport early on Tuesday from Dubai. The crew was released on December 21 after 11 months in captivity.

The 22 crew members of the Italian oil tanker — 11 Indians and 11 Italians — were hijacked by Somalian pirates on February 8,500 miles west of India. The vessel was sailing from Bashayer Oil Terminal in Sudan to Pasir Gudang port in Malaysia at the time of hijack.

The Indian Coast Guard attributed slow speed of the tanker and lack of tactical manoeuvering as the cause of the hijack.

According to the figures available with the Directorate General of Shipping,43 Indian sea farers are still in the custody of Somalian pirates between four vessels. In the last two years,216 Indians sea farers have been rescued from the custody of pirates.