Friday 17 March 2017

Somali pirates release oil tanker and crew, officials say


Somali pirates who seized a Comoros-flagged oil tanker earlier this week (You can read the story here) after five years without a major hijacking in the region have released the ship and its crew without conditions, officials said late Thursday. Security official Ahmed Mohamed told The Associated Press the pirates disembarked the ship, which was heading to Bossaso port, the region’s commercial hub, with its eight Sri Lankan crew members aboard. Mohamed said the release occurred after negotiations by local elders and officials with the pirates, who seized the tanker on Monday. The pirates were not arrested but instead were given passage to leave once they disembarked, he said.
Naval forces from the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and the pirates had clashed earlier Thursday after the pirates opened fire. The hijacking of the Comoros-flagged tanker Aris 13 was the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel off Somalia since 2012. International anti-piracy patrols on the crucial trade route had calmed such attacks, which once numbered in the hundreds.
Abdirizak Mohamed Ahmed, the director of Puntand’s anti-piracy agency, confirmed the release of the ship Thursday night and said naval forces had boarded it to escort it to port. The European Union anti-piracy operation in the region had said the pirates had been holding the crew captive and demanding a ransom. The ship had been anchored off Somalia’s northern coast, known to be used by weapons smugglers and the extremist group al-Shabab.
Families of the crew members had tearfully pleaded for the men to be released unharmed. Somali pirates usually hijack ships and crew for ransom. They don’t normally kill hostages unless they come under attack. The pirates told authorities that the only reason they seized the ship was in protest of the illegal fishing in the area that has threatened livelihoods, not for ransom, Mohamed said. Meanwhile, experts on piracy say some in the region have let down their guard as the number of hijackings decreased in recent years. In December, NATO ended its anti-piracy mission off Somalia’s waters.

3 comments:

  1. i wish the negotiations can be viewed life....like Captain Philip

    ReplyDelete
  2. good to know no live was lost

    ReplyDelete