Refugee ship crew held hostage by LTTE

However, no refugees were on board the ship as it was returning empty from Kankesanthurai in the northern Jaffna peninsula to pick up a fresh batch of refugees.

Of the nine-member crew taken as hostages by rebels, two belonged to Indonesia and rest belonged to Sri Lanka, the Army said. Among the seven Sri Lankan crew, five were Sinhalese and one each from Muslim and Tamil communities.

Shipping sources said the vessel was stopped this morning at Pesalai coast near Mannar by the LTTE rebels who came there in five boats. They boarded the ship and ordered the crew to get into their boats and later set fire to the vessel.

The ship was reportedly burning when last reports came in and the navy was pressed into service to put out the fire.

Sources at the office of the agents of the ship said they suspected foul play by rival shipping agents who lost lucrative bids to transport the refugees. Already, another Honduran registered ship, M V Tharaki, hired by the government is ferrying refugees from eastern Trincomalee to Jaffna.

The owners of the same ship also tried to get the contract to ply between Mannar and Kankesanthurai. But the government awarded the contract to M V Misen.

“While there was no doubt about the involvement of the LTTE in this, the sabotage seems to have ben done at somebody’s instance,” they said, adding that it was surprising that M V Tharaki which has been plying for several months has not been attacked by the rebels so far. “Why our ship,” they asked.