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Seoul (AFP) Feb 10, 2011 A South Korean fishing boat released after four months of being held by Somali pirates linked up with a European Union warship on Thursday and all crew members were confirmed safe, Seoul said. The 241-ton crab fishing vessel and its 43 crew -- two South Koreans, two Chinese and 39 Kenyans -- were released by their captors on Wednesday after being seized on October 9. The Keummi (Golden Wave) 305 refuelled in international waters and has started sailing for the Kenyan port of Mombasa under the escort of a Finnish warship, Seoul's foreign ministry said. It is expected to reach Mombasa around February 16, the ministry said. Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying no ransom was paid. The vessel's owner had gone bankrupt, complicating ransom negotiations. An industry source in Kenya told Yonhap the pirates freed the ship because they saw little chance of receiving a ransom and it was difficult for them to feed the crew. Piracy has surged in recent years off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world's most important shipping routes. Since 2006 at least three South Korean vessels have been seized and released after ransoms were paid. One of them, the 300,000-tonne Samho Dream, was freed last year after a reported $9 million payment. Somali pirates hijacked a South Korean chemical tanker in the Arabian Sea on January 15, but the ship and its crew were rescued by South Korean naval commandos in a dramatic raid six days later. Eight pirates were killed while all 21 crew were rescued. Police said the pirates shot and critically wounded the ship's South Korean captain. Five captured Somalis were taken to the southern port of Busan and formally arrested for suspected maritime robbery, attempted murder and ship hijacking. The military was widely praised for the raid. But a negotiator with the pirates, in a newspaper interview Thursday, said the operation had raised concerns about the safety of hundreds of other hostages in Somalia. The pirates, who are holding over 30 ships and 700 seafarers, became nervous and physically abusive after the Korean raid, said Kim Jong-Kyu, a Kenya-based South Korean businessman. Munhwa Ilbo newspaper in Seoul, which conducted a telephone interview with Kim, said he had been involved in negotiations for at least three hijacked South Korean ships. "After the operation, their surveillance and beating worsened," the negotiator was quoted as saying of the pirates. Kim said the commando raid had prompted pirates to suspend other ransom negotiations or treat hostages more harshly than before.
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S.Korea navy kills Somali pirates, saves crew: militarySeoul (AFP) Jan 21, 2011 South Korean navy commandos Friday stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the 21 crew and killing eight pirates, military officials said. The SEAL special forces boarded the South Korean ship before dawn, freeing all the hostages and killing the pirates in cabin-to-cabin battles, they said. Five others were captured. "This operation demonstrated our g ... read more |
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