Director General of Shipping Shyam Jagannathan on January 5 said that all crew members on MV Lila Norfolk cargo ship that was hijacked in the Arabian Sea are safe.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Jagannathan said that the crew members included 17 Indians and five Filipinos.
Earlier, the Indian Navy had said that INS Chennai intercepted the hijacked vessel and the marine commandos started the sanitisation operation. It added that the ship was kept under continuous surveillance using a helicopter.
Meanwhile, citing military officials, news agency ANI said that the Navy issued a warning to pirates to abandon the hijacked vessel. The officials later said that the top deck of the hijacked vessel was sanitised.