|
ATHENS (AFP)--A Greek-owned vessel released by
Somali pirates Thursday after a six-month seizure was awaiting assistance
from an international navy force patrolling the area, its operating company
said.
"The pirates left 10 minutes ago, and now we are waiting for a warship
to escort our vessel," All Oceans Shipping Director Spyros Minas told
AFP.
"We will head for the nearest harbor that the ship's remaining fuel
permits," he added.
The MV Ariana and its crew of 24 Ukrainians, two of them women, was released
after the company paid a $2.5 million ransom. The fee was paid Thursday,
according to a member of the pirate gang.
"The deal is now complete, the ransom money was delivered to us early
this morning and the ship will be released within minutes," Mohamed
Ilkaase, a member of the pirate gang holding the MV Ariana, told AFP by phone
from the coastal town of Hobyo.
Minas confirmed a ransom was paid but didn't reveal the sum.
The Maltese-flagged vessel was seized May 2 en route from Brazil to the Middle
East with 10,000 metric tons of soya beans and was one of the longest-running
hostage situations off the coast of Somalia.
The crew are in good condition and the cargo was intact, Minas said.
Somali pirates are also currently holding a Greek-flagged vessel, the
330-meter crude carrier Maran Centaurus, which was hijacked Nov. 29 with a
crew of 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and a Romanian.
With the end of monsoon season in October, Somali pirates resumed hijackings,
attacking foreign merchant and fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean after
shifting their attention from the Gulf of Aden when international naval
forces deployed to protect shipping there.
The Ariana's skipper said Thursday that three more vessels are being held at
Hobyo, Minas said.
|