Sun, May 1 2011
Mogadishu (ANTARA News/Reuters) - Somali pirates have freed an Indonesian bulk carrier after the ship`s owner paid a ransom, pirates and a maritime source said on Saturday.
The Sinar Kudus was captured by pirates on March 16 approximately 320 miles north of east Socotra in the Somali basin, with its crew of 20.
Pirates said they released the ship after a ransom payment was airdropped to them.
"We received the cash of $4.5 million early this morning. We have abandoned the ship and it is preparing to sail away," a pirate who gave his name as Geney told Reuters from El-Dhanane coastal village.
Andrew Mwangura, a Kenya-based former maritime official and now the maritime editor of The Somalia Report confirmed the ship had been freed, adding it had not started to sail away yet.
Pirate gangs are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms as international navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden struggle to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean due to the vast distances involved.
zo 1 mei 2011 - 0:32