Govt has not sought for any help in rescuing hijacked ship: CNS

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash today denied that the government had asked the Navy to examine the possibility of freeing an Indian ship hijacked by Somalian pirates.

''I have seen the reports... however, we have not received any directive from the government in this regard,'' he told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function here.

Last week, Somalian pirates demanded a ransom of 400,000 US dollars to release an Indian cargo ship with a 21-member crew they had hijacked off the coast of the East African country last month.

''Bhaktisagar'', which left Porbandar in Gujarat on February 3 for Somalia via Dubai, was hijacked by two speed boats of Somalian pirates on February 26, Indian Coast Guard officials said, adding that the sea piracy reporting centre at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia informed them about the incident.

The ship was hijacked by pirates near El-Maan Port when it was heading for the Somalian capital Mogadishu, some 18 to 20 nautical miles from the Somalian coast.

Registered at Veraval, the vessel was carrying 15,000 bags of rice, 16,000 bags of cement and 5,600 bags of glucose, worth Rs one crore.

UNI VD AT KN1950