By Zakaria Soohoyde - Reporter
MOGADISHU, 30 September 2026 Eight Egyptian sailors who were kidnapped aboard the M/T Eureka have been released today after spending months in captivity, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said.
The sailors were kidnapped on May 2 while the vessel was off Somalia's Puntland coast. Their release was announced after diplomatic efforts by Egyptian authorities to secure their freedom.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the release followed directives from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and sustained efforts led by Foreign Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Badr Abdelatty.
The ministry said Abdelatty held high-level contacts with officials in Somalia and Yemen as part of efforts to secure the sailors' release.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Nader Zaki said Abdelatty had instructed Egypt's embassy in Mogadishu to receive the sailors, check on their condition and facilitate their return to Egypt on the earliest available flight.
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Sources familiar with the incident said pirates hijacked the vessel in the Gulf of Aden, near the port of Qana. The pirates were said to have sailed from a remote coastal area near Qandala, a coastal town in Puntland on the Gulf of Aden.
The M/T Eureka was flying the Togolese flag before it was hijacked, according to the sources.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry also said its consular affairs department had met the sailors' families during the period of their captivity to brief them on efforts to secure their release.The Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu facilitated communications between the sailors and their families while they were being held, allowing relatives to check on their wellbeing, the ministry said.
The Egyptian ministry did not provide further details on the identity of the pirates, how the release was secured or whether any conditions were attached to the sailors' release.