Faina captain buried in St.Pete

20.02.2009
The captain of the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, who succumbed to a heart attack hours after his ship was captured by Somali pirates last year in the Gulf of Aden, was buried at the Serafimovsky cemetery in St.Petersburg on February 19.

A civil ceremony was held and prayers were said by a priest before the burial. More than 100 people came to say so long to the captain.

Vladimir Kolobkov was buried next to the sailors of the Kursk nuclear submarine and soldiers internationalists.

According to the ME, the captain of the Faina died a non-violent death due to extreme stress. The Faina, which sailed under the Belize flag, was captured by Somali pirates on September 25, 2008, en route to Kenya with a cargo of 33 T-72 tanks, grenade launchers, air-defense systems, and ammunition. Seventeen Ukrainian citizens, 3 Russians, and a Latvian were on board at the time of the attack. The pirates first asked for $35 million to release the ship, but the amount was eventually lowered to $3.5 million and was paid out on February 4. The ship continued its course to the Kenyan port of Mombasa afterwards. The crew of the Faina returned to Kiev by plane on February 13.

Translation: RusNavy.com