Somali pirates demanded $1.6 million in exchange for the 24-man crew of the Mozambican-flagged FV Vega 5 fishing vessel, the state-controlled daily Noticias said.
Pirates seized the 140 metric-ton, 24-meter (79-foot) vessel in December about 200 nautical miles southwest of the Comoros Isles in the Indian Ocean, the European Union Naval Force for Somalia said Jan. 1.
The ship had 19 Mozambicans, three Indonesians and two Spaniards aboard when it was taken, Noticias said. The Maputo, Mozambique-based newspaper said it got the information about the ransom demand from unidentified family members of the crew.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced two days ago a program calling on governments to deter pirates by better coordinating military activity and prosecuting offenders. There have been 286 piracy-related incidents off the coast of Somalia in the past 12 months and 67 ships hijacked, according to the International Maritime Organization. Piracy costs the world economy as much as $12 billion a year, according to the UN body, citing a report by London-based foreign-affairs research body Chatham House, and 714 seafarers are still being held on 30 ships off the Somali coast.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Katerere in Maputo at fkaterere@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dick Schumacher at dschumacher@bloomberg.net.
Source: Bloomberg
No comments:
Post a Comment