Thursday, October 16, 2008
The crew members — eight South Koreans and 14 citizens from Myanmar — were heading toward a U.S. Navy vessel in the area after being set free earlier in the day, Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young told reporters.
Moon said the sailors were all safe but declined to comment whether a ransom was paid.
The South Korean cargo vessel was hijacked by Somalia pirates on Sept. 10 in the Gulf of Aden — one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast. The latest is a Philippine bulk carrier seized in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday with a crew of 21.
Also being held off the coast is the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying weapons and tanks. U.S. warships have surrounded the Faina as the pirates who seized it demanded millions of dollars in ransom.
Officials say 10 hijacked ships remain in the hands of pirates, along with about 200 crew members. With no effective government, Somalia cannot protect its coastline. It is located along the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and is one of the world's busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through it each year.
But international pressure on the pirates is growing.
A NATO flotilla of seven ships is en route to the area, and the Indian government on Thursday said it would send warships to the Gulf of Aden as well.
The European Union, sending its own naval force to conduct anti-piracy operations, said Wednesday that preparations to dispatch the ships in December were going according to plan and that member states had agreed to appoint a British vice admiral to lead it.
Russia has announced it would cooperate on fighting the pirates.
Source: AP, Oct 16, 2008