Eight Egyptian sailors held aboard an oil tanker seized off Somalia’s Puntland State region in May have been released, Egypt announced Wednesday.
The Foreign Ministry said the sailors were members of the crew of the M/T Eureka, which was hijacked off Puntland State on May 2.
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Their freedom came after sustained diplomatic efforts by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty with officials in Somalia and Yemen, the ministry said.
Abdelatty directed Egypt’s embassy in Mogadishu to receive the sailors, assess their condition and organize their return to Egypt on the first available flight.
Throughout their captivity, the sailors remained in contact with their families, helping reassure relatives that they were safe.
In May, the Foreign Ministry said the M/T Eureka had been seized near the Somali coast with eight Egyptian sailors on board. It instructed the embassy in Mogadishu to work toward securing their safety and securing their prompt release.
On May 2, Yemen’s Coast Guard reported that an oil tanker had been hijacked off Shabwah province in southeastern Yemen and sailed toward Somalia. The vessel was carrying 12 Egyptian and Indian sailors and 2,800 tons of fuel, according to the coast guard.
Somali waters experienced widespread piracy from 2008 to 2018. Attacks fell for several years before piracy resurfaced in late 2023 amid growing security tensions across the region.
