Eight Egyptian sailors held aboard the M/T Eureka off the coast of Somalia’s Puntland region since May 2 have been released following months of contacts by Cairo with Somali and Yemeni officials, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry said the release followed efforts overseen by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who held high-level contacts with officials in Somalia and Yemen to secure the sailors’ release.
Abdelatty instructed the Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu to receive the sailors, check on their condition, and arrange their return to Egypt on the earliest available flight, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nader Zaki said.
The Foreign Ministry said in May that the M/T Eureka had been hijacked from Yemeni territorial waters and transferred to Somali waters near Puntland, with eight Egyptian sailors aboard.
During their detention, Cairo maintained contacts with Somali and Yemeni authorities and the company that owns the vessel, urging it to fulfil its responsibilities towards the crew. Earlier in September, the ministry said it was also working to ensure the sailors’ safety, basic needs, and living conditions while negotiations for their release continued.
The ministry said its consular department had met the sailors’ families to brief them on efforts to secure their release, while the Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu facilitated communications between the crew and their relatives.
The release comes amid renewed concerns over maritime security off Somalia, where piracy incidents have resurfaced. Puntland authorities said this week that Somali pirates had killed five crew members of another tanker before security forces rescued the vessel, in an incident unrelated to the Egyptian sailors.
