India, Aug. 21 -- 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, Aug 21.

According to the latest information, the Indian crew members are safe, the official said.

An Eritrea-flagged oil products tanker, MT Sibu 1, carrying 20 crew members - including 16 Indians, one Syrian, one Sudanese and one Iraqi national, with one seafarer's nationality yet to be confirmed - was hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen, on August 20, the official said.

"As reported by Recruitment and Placement Service Licence (RPSL) agency S.K.S. Krishi Marine Services (...