Fate of hijacked Indian sailors remains uncertain

Dubai, Nov 6 (UNI) The fate of four Indian sailors onboard a cargo ship that was hijacked by pirates off the Somali port of El Mann remains uncertain as negotiations for their release have not made any progress so far .

The UAE-registered MV Veesham I vessel, with a 14-member crew and owned by Ajay Kumar Bhatia, was captured on November 1 while it was heading towards Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Bhatia said pirates had initially demanded a ransom of 1 million dollars and later came down to 150,000 dollars.

However, sincev yesterday, there have not been any negotiations on the ransom amount, he said.

UNI XC AK ND1526