New Delhi: Nine Indian sailors who were taken into captivity by a local militia near the coast of Libya in January this year have been released.

On February 15, the Embassy of India in Tunis was approached by a group of nine Indian nationals conveying that Merchant Vessel M.T. Maya 1, on which they were working, had broken down near the coast of Libya and they had been taken into captivity a local militia.

The Ship, owned by a Greek company and carrying the flag of Cameroon, was sailing from Malta to Tripoli carrying oil products.

Of the nine Indian crew, five are from UP and one each from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The Indian mission immediately took up the matter with the Libyan authorities seeking consular access and to ensure their safety and repatriate them to India as early as possible.

An informal contact of the Mission met the sailors almost every week to ensure their early release and make provision of essential food items. The Mission continued to follow up the matter with the authorities in Libya.

The Ministry of External Affairs and the Mission also kept the family members of the Indian nationals posted regularly regarding the developments in the case

The nine Indian men were finally released on May 31.

They have reached Tripoli where they were received by the Indian Ambassador to Tunisia. They have been accommodated in a hotel there till their exit visa formalities are being completed.

Meanwhile, in a similar news, 16 Indian sailors detained for nine months in Nigeria are set to return to India.

Their vessel, the MV Heroic Idun, was released on Sunday by the Nigerian authorities and is on its way to Cape Town, South Africa. The Indian sailors onboard the Norwegian vessel will travel to India from there and reach India on June 7.

Their vessel was stopped by a naval ship off Equatorial Guinea in international waters on August 12 last year. Reports said the MV Heroic Idun was on its way to pick up crude oil from Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.

Of the 26 sailors onboard 16 are from India. The others are from the Philippines, Poland and Sri Lanka.

Nigerian authorities had alleged that the ship’s crew stole crude oil from their port. When a naval patrol ship started chasing MV Heroin Idun, the vessel didn’t stop under the assumption that a pirate boat was in pursuit, local media reported.

(With UNI inputs)