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| Africa Horn |
| Kenyan vessel held by pirates is freed |
| 2010-07-21 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] A Kenyan vessel held hostage by pirates four months ago was released on Tuesday morning. MV Sakoba which was captured in March with some 10 Kenyan crew members has started its voyage to the port of Mombasa. According to Mr Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, the Kenyan vessel was released alongside a Belgium registered ship. Both are headed for Mombasa. It was still not clear whether any ransom had been paid for their release. The captors were at first asking for $7 million. MV Sakoba had 16 crew among them two Senegalese, one each from Cape Verde, Namibia, Spain and Poland. "The release of the two vessels now brings the number of those still in the hands of pirates to 20 with 368 crew members," Mr Mwangura told the Nation. The Belgian vessel, UBT Ocean, had 21 crew members. Mr Mwangura said the vessel was hijacked last week somewhere between Kenyan and the Tanzanian coasts. "The pirates have been using her to launch attacks on other vessels and as bait to lure other ships into their net," he said. Before its release the vessel was in Harardheere, 700 miles north east of Mogadishu. Somali pirates have wreaked havoc in the Indian Ocean over the past three years, hijacking commercial ships and making away with millions of dollars in ransom payments. This is despite heavy presence of international navies that have been deployed in the busy Gulf of Aden and in major commercial routes in the Indian Ocean to protect vessels. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Obligatory silliness |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-07-21 10:32 |