Region | Somalia
Somali pirates release vessel after receiving $1.1 million ransom
A hijacked cargo vessel has been released by Somali pirates after a $1.1 million ransom was paid, a regional maritime official said on Sunday.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:53 November 16, 2008
Nairobi: A hijacked cargo vessel has been released by Somali pirates after a $1.1 million ransom was paid, a regional maritime official said on Sunday.
The Japanese Stolt Valor with 22 crew members including 18 Indians onboard, was seized in the Gulf of Aden two months ago.
India's IANS news agency reported that the vessel was now headed to Mumbai, and quoted National Union of Seafarers of India's General Secretary A. G. Serang as saying: "All the crew members on board the ship are 'safe and in healthy condition'.
Serang said: 'Now the relevant official formalities of the different governments of different countries and shipping authorities are being worked out and very soon all the crew members shall be reunited with their respective families.'
The director of East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme that monitors piracy, Andrew Mwangura, said two other ships could be released before November 25 because negotiations between the owners and pirates had been going well.
However, he added that another Japanese ship had been captured.
"It (the Stolt Valor) was released last night and after release, another ship was taken, a Japanese one with South Korean connections," Mwangura told Reuters, adding that a $1.1 million ransom had been paid for the Stolt Valor.
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