Report: Somali pirates release ship with Pinoy crewmember

Somali pirates have released a ship owned by a Dubai-based company after holding it captive for nearly 19 months, a United Arab Emirates-based news site reported Monday.

A report on Khaleej Times online cited a source who said the MV Iceberg 1 was released last Friday after an "undisclosed sum" was paid.

The vessel is expected to dock in Salalah, Oman by the end of the week, the news site added.

"The release of the ship was delayed because the owner wanted it to sail with all its crew members," Khaleej Times quoted the source as saying. "Relatives of one of the Indian crew aboard the freed ship claimed on Monday that they had received a call from the ship."

However, according to SomaliaReport.com, the pirate group that abducted the vessel denied the release.

"We are still on the vessel in Garacad area and no ransom has been paid yet; we wouldn't release the vessel without our demanded ransom," the report quoted Said Adan, the pirate group's spokesman.

Meanwhile, the Khaleej Times said Azal Shipping Company, which owns the ship, did not comment on the development.

GMA News Online has already sought the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for comment on the incident but the DFA has yet to reply.

MV Iceberg 1

MV Iceberg 1, owned by Dubai’s Azal Shipping Company, was heading for Jebel Ali Port when pirates hijacked it on March 29, 2010, near the Gulf of Aden.

The ship was said to be carrying mechanical instruments at the time pirates boarded it, the Khaleej Times report said.

According to the Hundistan Times, the Panama-flagged vessel has six Indians, two Pakistanis, nine Yemenis, two Sudanese, four Ghanians and one Filipino onboard.

Condition

The Khaleej Times added that crew members allegedly suffered from serious mental and physical problems because they were kept in a 5x5-foot cabin with only "a meager ration of food.

The condition was said to have prompted a crew member named Wagdi Akram to jump into the sea on Oct. 27, 2010.

Since the ship has been docked for over a year, marine growth on the propeller has slowed its speed, the report also said, adding that the vessel would have entered international waters upon crossing Sukutra Island in Yemen. - with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, VVP, GMA News.

Source: The Khaleej Times