Kasargod, December 24: Three Keralites, who had been held hostage among 22 crewmen of a foreign-flagged ship by Somali pirates for over nine months, were eager to return home after their release.
The pirates on Wednesday night had freed the Italian oil tanker hijacked in February with 17 Indians and five Italians on board after more than 10 months in captivity.
All the three Keralites - Fazal Sheikh (24) from kanhangad, Vijesh (30) from Koylandi and Hari P Nayar (28) from Kottayam – have contacted their family members to inform about their homecoming.
The Keralite crew and their families had faced "a harsh test" over the past months. Meanwhile Kerala government has expressed its great satisfaction for the release of the hostages.
According to Nairobi-based Somalia Report website, a ransom of $11.5 million (8.8 million euros) had been paid to the pirates as part of 'release deal', but, the foreign ministry of Italy denied it had paid any money.
"The Italian government never contemplated the possibility of a direct negotiation with the pirates or the payment of ransom for the liberation of the hostages, which is expressly banned by legislation," the ministry said.
It also said that "military action had been avoided so as not to put in danger the security of the hostages," adding that the liberation was the result of "constant pressure" on Somali authorities to make "every possible effort".
The 105,000-ton tanker owned by Naples shipping company Fratelli D'Amato was seized on February 8 after five pirates aboard a skiff opened fire on it with rocket launchers and submachine guns near the Yemeni island of Socotra.
The ship had tried to evade capture by speeding up, suddenly changing gear and firing powerful water jets on the pirate boat.
The tanker was on its way from Sudan to Malaysia and was carrying a load of crude oil for the Arcadia commodities trading company.
According to EU's anti-piracy mission NAVFOR, Somali pirates are currently holding 199 people hostage as part of their ransom business.
Since the start of the EU NAVFOR counter-piracy mission in December 2008, 2,317 seamen have been held hostage for an average of nearly five months.
It said many hostages were tortured and abused and some killed by hijackers.
Comments
Add new comment