Crew evacuated from sinking Egyptian ship

The 22-member crew of a beleaguered Egyptian ship sinking in the Arabian Sea was taken aboard a Pakistani warship Sunday, naval officials said. The MV Suez ran out of fuel earlier this week after Somali pirates collected a ransom from the ship's owner and fled. A tugboat dispatched to tow the cargo ship broke down and the unidentified owner left the vessel last week. The Suez was being escorted by the Pakistani warship Babur when the Suez captain asked for help as the sea was rough and he feared the vessel would capsize, Pakistani TV's Geo News reported. The captain said the ship owner hadn't answered requests to send more fuel. He told Geo News he ordered all water-tight hatches to be opened before issuing the abandon-ship order to allow the ship to sink safely. The ship was on its way to the port of Salalah in Oman when the hijacking and subsequent problems developed, the Press Trust of India said. Pakistan's foreign ministry didn't immediately announce whether the crew would be taken to Karachi or Gwadar, the reports said.