AFP/Mumbai


An Indian navy Seaking helicopter hovers over the MV Nafis-I after the ship was intercepted
The Indian navy said yesterday it had captured a hijacked cargo ship floating off the Mumbai coast in the Arabian Sea and towed it back to the shore with nine people on board.
Navy spokesman Commander P V S Satish said helicopter-borne marine commandos boarded the 500-tonne cargo vessel some 170km northwest of Mumbai on Sunday.
Satish disclosed its name as MV Nafis-1 and said it had apparently been drifting for over 20 days following mechanical problems.
“There are a few gaps in the information available with us but the crew who said they had been hijacked are being currently questioned,” the spokesman said.
The navy said in a statement that “the vessel may have been hijacked and was suspected to be employed for smuggling contraband.”
The people on board comprised five Yemenis, two Tanzanians, one Kenyan and one Somali.
The boat was detected by an Indian naval reconnaissance aircraft on Friday at a distance of about 480km from Mumbai’s coast, the navy statement said.
India began deploying its warships in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and has so far escorted around 1,665 merchant vessels through the pirate-infested waters.