Mumbai, November 16
Somalian pirates, who hijacked the MV Stolt Valor flying
under a Japanese flag two months ago, released the ship early today on the payment of ransom, reports said.
Reports quoting Andrew Mwangura, director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the pirates released the chemical tanker on the payment of a $1.1 million ransom.
The ship’s 22-member crew included 18 Indians, two Filipinos, one Bangladeshi and one Russian. The vessel is sailing for Mumbai and expected to reach the city’s harbour in the next few days, according to the National Union of Seafarers of India. “The ship has been released and all sailors are well,” Abdul Ghani, chairman of the NUSI, said.
He added that the Indian Navy would be escorting the vessel outside the danger zone.
Pirates had hijacked the 25,000-tonne chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia on September 15. They were demanding a ransom of nearly $3 million, which was scaled down during negotiations.
Relatives of crew members were ecstatic and said they were happy that the saga was coming to a happy conclusion. Seema Goel, wife of Captain Prabhat Goel, told television channels from Dehradun that the crew was coming home.
