COPENHAGEN, (insidesomalia.org)-The crew of a tug boat that was seized by pirates off Somalia is unharmed and has access to both food and water, the Danish owner said Wednesday.

Four Russians, a Briton and an Irishman were on the Svitzer Korsakov when it was attacked Friday by pirates off the coast of Puntland, a semiautonomous region of northeast Somalia, according to Copenhagen-based shipping company Svitzer.

The company said in a statement Wednesday that it had ongoing contact with the ship and had been told by the British captain «that the crew is unharmed and that food and water supply is sufficient.

It said the ship was still situated in the waters off the northeast coast of Somalia.

Abdulahi Sa'id Awyusuf, chief of the coastal village of Eyl, said earlier this week that pirates holding the tug were demanding thousands of U.S. dollars in ransom.
Svitzer declined to comment on the negotiations with the pirates.

The 35-meter (115-foot) -long ship was on its way to Sakhalin Island between Japan and Russia when it was attacked, Svitzer said.
Piracy is increasingly common along Somalia's 3,025-kilometer (1,880-mile) coast, connecting the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean. Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off the Somali coast last year.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment