Somali pirates have released a South Korean fishing vessel with 43 crew-members on board after holding it for almost four months in captivity, South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced late Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement that the 241-ton trawler, Geummi 305, is presently heading towards international waters after being released, adding that it has requested European Union's anti-piracy deployed in the area to provide escort to the freed vessel.
The Keummi 305 was hijacked by Somali pirates on October 9 near the Kenyan island of Lamu in the Indian Ocean. The vessel was seized after it had been fishing in region for almost a month. It is not yet clear whether any ransom was paid to secure the release of the vessel and its crew comprising of two South Koreans, two Chinese nationals and 39 Kenyans.
Earlier on Wednesday, suspected Somali pirates had seized a Greek supertanker carrying crude oil worth $200 million off the Omani coast. That hijack came barely 24 hours after an Italian oil tanker was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean.
The developments came just weeks after commandos on board a South Korean naval vessel deployed off Somali coast for anti-piracy operations stormed a hijacked ship and rescued all crew members being held hostage by the pirates.
The South Korean chemical carrier involved in that commando operation, Samho Jewelry, was hijacked by the pirates in the Arabian Sea on January 15. Though the operation successfully freed the ship and its crew, it left the vessel's captain with a serious gun-shot wound.
Eight Somali pirates were killed and five others were captured in the rescue operation launched by the South Korean commandos about 800 nautical miles off the Somali coast. The captured pirates have since been brought to South Korea for standing trial.
Somalia's coastline, particularly the Gulf of Aden, has been infected with piracy in recent years. Pirates are presently believed to be holding 29 vessels and 693 hostages off the Somali coast. The incidents mostly end with payment of ransom after lengthy negotiations, but generally without any fatalities.
Pirate attacks off the Somali coast and in the Indian Ocean continue despite the presence of several warships deployed by navies of the NATO, the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea and India to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy.
The pirates have recently extended their operations deep into the Indian Ocean to avoid interception by international anti-piracy forces conducting regular patrols in the Gulf of Aden, off the Somali coast and parts of the Indian Ocean.
Last year, the EU anti-piracy force operating in the region, the EU NAVFOR, had announced that it was extending the area covered by its current operations off the coast of Somalia in an effort to counter the pirates' tactics of shifting operations into new areas to avoid detection.
Source: RTT
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