Tunaboat Thai Union 3 with 23 Russians has been released

07.03.2010
Tunaboat Thai Union 3 with 23 Russian sailors on board captured by pirates in Indian Ocean in Oct 2009 was released on Sunday for $3 mln ransom, reports Reuters.

The crew feels well; the ship is heading to Seychelles escorted by Russian Navy's tugboat. Sailors of Thai Union 3 will pass medical examination in the port and then they could fly home.

According to Dmitry Shport, fleet manager of the tunaboat's shipowner Siam Fishing, talks with pirates lasted for several months.

Thai tunaboat Thai Union 3 was captured by pirates on Oct 29 in Indian Ocean 370 km north Seychelles. There were 23 Russians aboard the ship; all of them are from Kaliningrad. Among captives are 2 Filipinos and 2 Ghanaians.

Shipmaster of Thai Union 3 Sergei Kharlan was wounded in the arm during the pirate assault. Having been treated at Somali hospital in Harardere, he was brought back to the ship.

In 2009 Somali pirates carried out 217 piracy acts having captured 47 vessels and taken hostage 867 crewmembers. Piracy emerged in Somali as consequence of civil war, poverty and impossibility to find legal job in this country. It has no centralized power since 1991. Over 20,000 died and 1.5 mln people became homeless since the beginning of 2007. Dozens of warships from over 15 countries fight piracy in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and part of Indian Ocean since late 2008. Russia is represented by Baltic Fleet frigate Neustrashimy which is to be shifted by Pacific Fleet task unit consisting of large ASW ship Marshal Shaposhnikov, sea-going salvage tug, and tanker Pechenga.

Source: RusNavy.com, photo: Thai Union 3 (odin.tc)