It took British special forces no more than 24 hours to storm the hijacked bulk carrier Montecristo and rescue its crew of 23, including six Indians. However, another ship, also with six Indians aboard, has been in the custody of Somali pirates for nearly 19 months now.
MV Iceberg-1, a Panamanian flagged vessel, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in March 2010. The pirates have demanded a ransom of $8 million to free the ship and its crew, but the owners have said they can't pay.
The Indian hostages are Santosh Yadav from UP, Jaswinder Singh from Haryana, Dhiraj Tiwari from Nashik, Ganesh Mohite from Navi Mumbai, Swapnil Jadhav from Satara and Shah Ji Kumar Purshottam from Kerala.
The ship originally had a crew of 23 -- two Pakistanis, four Ghanaians, nine Yemenis, one Sudanese and one Filipino besides the six Indians. One of the 23 men apparently jumped into the sea in desperation; another is missing. The rest are being held by the pirates.
Santosh Yadav's father Parush Ram Yadav, a farmer, said the ship was hijacked on its way from the UAE to the UK. "We have sent letters and met everyone who could possibly help," Yadav said. "They all gave assurances, but nothing has happened."
The families of the hostages have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and the Director General of Shipping.
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