New Delhi

Two commercial vessels carrying a total of 22 Indian nationals have been hijacked by pirates in separate incidents off Yemen and Somalia, a senior shipping ministry official said on Friday.

An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, M T Sibu 1, with 20 crew members including 16 Indians, was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on August 20, the official told PTI.

Another Cameroon-flagged cargo ship with six Indians among its 10 crew members was hijacked by pirates off Somalia's Puntland coast on August 17, he said.

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Officials said that according to the latest information, the Indian crew members are safe.