Reporter : song@arirang.co.kr
Somali pirates on Wednesday released the Singaporean-owned freighter MT Gemini and 21 of its crew but refused to release four Korean crew members that were on board.
The ship's owner, Glory Ship Management, said that the pirates broke an earlier promise at the last moment by taking them off the ship and then to shore.
The 21 people released -- comprising 13 Indonesians, five Chinese and three Myanmarese are all reported to be in good health.
The Singapore-based tanker was transporting 28-thousand tons of crude palm oil from Indonesia to Kenya when it was hijacked near waters off Mombasa on April 30th earlier this year.
Just three months before that, Korean military commandos rescued 21 crew from a separate freighter, the Samho Jewelry, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in April 2010.
Eight Somali pirates were killed in the operation and five others were captured.
Those that survived were later sentenced to prison during a trial in the Korean port city of Busan.
Meanwhile, in July, pirates holding the MT Gemini demanded compensation for the pirates killed in the Samho Jewelry operation and also asked for the release of their captured comrades.
Korean officials suspect that the pirates took the Korean crew to Somali territory either as retaliation for the rescue operation of the Samho Jewelry in January, to claim a bigger ransom,or to bargain for a release of the captured pirates detained in Korea.
The ship's operator said that it is working to secure the release of the remaining hostages and Korea's Foreign Ministry said that it will closely work with the company to have them freed but also reiterated its position not to negotiate with pirates.
Song Ji-sun, Arirang News.
Source: www.arirang.co.kr
No comments:
Post a Comment