Somali pirates have released the Greek-owned ship MV Delvina, a Kenyan maritime official said on Thursday. The bulk carrier shipping wheat was seized on November 5, northwest of Madagascar. It had 21 crew on board, seven Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos.

“They must have paid a ransom,” said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based
East Africa Seafarers’ Association. “It’s on its way to Mombasa.”

Heavily armed Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars in
ransoms by hijacking ships in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of
Aden, which links Europe to Asia, despite anti-piracy naval operations
there.

Delvina’s company, Meadway Shipping said in a statement the ship was
released Thursday afternoon and that all of the crew was unharmed
despite 43 days in captivity.

The vessel was hijacked to the northeast of the Comoros Islands in the
Indian Ocean whilst sailing from Ukraine to Mombassa in Kenya, it said,
but would not disclose further information on its release.

“The company does not wish to jeopardise the safety of other vessels or
crews that are still held by pirates in the area,” it said.

Source: Reuters

Search to find what you want

• Yemen says Somali pirates attack Yemeni Cargo

    Somali pirates have seized a Yemeni cargo vessel with a crew of 16 and are taking it out towards the Indian Ocean, a Yemeni Defence Ministry website said on Monday. The vessel, called Al Mahmoud 2, had left Yemen’s southern port of Aden on Dec

• Pirates Extend for attacks, target oil tankers from the Gulf

    Somali pirates have begun to target oil tankers from the Gulf states and have increased the range for attacks to the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and in the Indian Ocean. The International Maritime Bureau has reported that Somali pirates were seeking to capture oil tankers from the Persian Gulf

• Pirates take Greek ship towards the coast of Somalia

    A Greek cargo ship hijacked this week was being taken toward the Somali coast, but its crew members were unharmed, the ship’s operating company said on Saturday. “The master of the vessel has reported that the crew are unharmed and the vessel is sailing towards the Somali coast,” Athens-based Meadway

• Greek ship owners denied by pirates freed

     (AFP) Somali pirates said Thursday they had released a Greek cargo vessel and its Ukrainian crew after a ransom payment, but the claim was immediately denied by the Athens-based owners.  Source

• Greek ship owners denied by pirates freed

     (AFP) Somali pirates said Thursday they had released a Greek cargo vessel and its Ukrainian crew after a ransom payment, but the claim was immediately denied by the Athens-based owners.  Source

• Somali pirates release fishing vessel from Taiwan, China

     (Xinhua) Somali pirates have released a fishing boat from Taiwan, China, and all of its crew held since April, a regional maritime official said Thursday.  Source

• Pirates use Indian dhow from Somalia: Maritime official

    Pirates have seized an Indian dhow off the coast of Somalia in the third such incident in a week, a regional maritime official said on Monday. Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme said his group was seeking more details on the vessel, which he named as

• No report of injuries or losses of the two abducted ships: IMF Officer

    There was no report about any injuries and casualties so far on the two ships kidnapped by Somali pirates on Monday, an officer of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said here on Wednesday.

• Asian Glory Pirates provide car carrier as the mother ship

    A giant car carrier, operated by Eukor and owned by Zodiac Maritime Agencies, is reportedly being deployed by Somali pirates as a mother ship on raids out into the Indian Ocean.

• Danish troops free pirate ship bulk

    Danish special forces stormed a dry bulk ship Friday after reports that it had been captured by armed Somali pirates, the Associated Press reported. The Danish troops approached the vessel in an inflatable dinghy and scaled the side of it, a naval spokesman said. But there were conflicting accounts as

• EU rescue fleet, Pakistan abandoned ship by Somali pirates

    A European Union warship rescued a Pakistan-flagged fishing vessel Somali pirates had seized last month and used to hijack another ship, EU naval force Navfor said in a statement.

• Pirate says free-Spanish vessel, tanker seized

    Somali pirates are leaving a Spanish tuna fishing boat hijacked six weeks ago after agreeing a ransom of $3.5 million, one of the pirates said on Tuesday. The Alakrana was seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean on October 2 with 36 crew aboard, one of at least 13 ships

• Dutch Capture 13 Somali pirates, free 2 Tanzanians

    The Dutch navy has captured 13 Somali pirates and freed two Tanzanian fishermen after seizing a pirate vessel that had attacked a German cargo ship off the coast of Oman, the Dutch Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

• Somali pirates in negotiations on two ships Ofer

    Somali pirates are negotiating the release of two cargo vessels owned by Ofer Brothers company Zodiac Maritime Agencies. The ships and their crews have been held by the pirates in Somalia since the beginning of the month. The first ship is a chemicals bulk carrier, the St

• Somali pirates release Greek ship

    Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned ship hijacked five months ago and freed its 21 Filipino crew members, officials and pirates have said. “The MV Irene is free. All 21 crew are safe and sound,” maritime official Andrew Mwangura told AFP news agency. Reuters news agency cited a pirate as