Cairo is intensifying diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Egyptian sailors held aboard the hijacked cargo ship MT Eureka off the Somali coast, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty directed officials to maintain daily monitoring of the incident, which involves several Egyptian crew members.
The country's embassy in Mogadishu is in contact with Somali authorities and other entities to ensure the sailors' welfare and work towards their release, the ministry said in a statement. The embassy has also enabled the crew to communicate with their families, it added.
The ministry said the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh, which is accredited to Yemen, had been instructed to co-ordinate with Yemeni authorities and the ship's owner to help secure the sailors' release.
Meanwhile, the ministry's consular sector was maintaining regular contact with the sailors' families to keep them informed of developments.
The MT Eureka was hijacked by armed pirates in early May off the Somali coast while sailing near Puntland. The vessel has a crew of 22, including eight Egyptians, and has remained anchored off Somalia since it was seized, Egyptian state media reported.
Last week, the head of Egypt's Maritime Officers Syndicate and liaison officer with the International Transport Workers' Federation, Capt El-Sayed El-Shazly El-Naggar, said negotiations with the hijackers had collapsed after the pirates reportedly demanded a higher ransom, taking the issue back to "square one".
Egypt has been co-ordinating with Somali authorities, the vessel's owner and relevant international bodies since the hijacking to secure the sailors' safe release.
The families of the crew have urged Egyptian authorities and international organisations to work with naval forces in the region to put pressure on the ship's owner or negotiate with the hijackers to secure the sailors' return. The vessel is also carrying several Indian sailors.
Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. Piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy about $7 billion, with $160 million paid out in ransoms, the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group found.
The threat was diminished by efforts including an increased international naval patrols and a strengthening central government in Somalia. It meant Somali pirates were largely inactive for years.
But attacks have resumed at a greater pace in 2025, in part because of the insecurity of shipping in the Red Sea caused by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
