2 min readUpdated: Aug 21, 2026 12:20 PM IST

Six Indians are aboard a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship hijacked by pirates off Somalia’s Puntland coast earlier this week.

The vessel, MV LUTUF, which was carrying Turkish weapons was seized on Monday and taken to Somalia’s Nugaal coast. The 10-member crew included six Indians, one Turkish national, one Georgian and two Serbian security guards.

The ship was seized about 3.5 nautical miles off Marraya in the country’s Puntland on Monday and taken toward the region’s Nugaal coast, a Somali official told the Associated Press. The hijack was allegedly carried out by eight pirates, believed to be members of a group involved in a hijack of another ship in April.

The ship was carrying weapons bound for a Turkish military training facility in Mogadishu, as well as communications and satellite equipment.

There was no immediate reaction from the Turkish authorities. The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to issue a statement as of Friday morning.

The ship involved in the latest incident is owned by Polar Movement Shipping and was last located in East Africa. The ship is 76.43 meters long and 12 meters wide.

16 Indians on vessel hijacked near Yemen

Another vessel, an Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, with 16 Indians on board was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.

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The ship, M T Sibu 1, with a total of 20 crew members was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on August 20, PTI news agency reported citing officials.

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