New Delhi: India today said it would soon find a "solution" and take all steps to rescue the Indian crew on board a merchant vessel that was abducted in the African waters recently.

"The government is concerned of the recent hijack of a merchant vessel with Indian crew on board and is consulting with its ministries on finding a solution and to rescue the abducted crew members from the pirates," Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters on the sidelines of Coast Guard commanders conference here.

With Gulf of Aden turning into a sea pirates den, India also virtually gave up the option of "joint patrolling" in African waters along side other Navies as "incidents keep happening there" despite major powers such as US and France s continuous presence.

"At the moment there is no such proposal (for joint patrolling). Major naval powers such as US, France, UK and Canada are already carrying out joint patrolling there (African coast). Despite their presence, these incidents (of hijacking) are happening," Antony said.

In the last two months, 27 ships have been hijacked by pirates and the ship crew taken hostage with demands of huge money as ransom for their release.

The latest incident happened about 10 days ago when a merchant oil tanker with 18 Indian crew members on board was abducted by pirates.

Asked about Indian plans to rescue the abducted crew members of Panama-owned MV Stolt Valor, Antony assured that the government would do whatever was possible to rescue the Indian sailors.
Source : PTI