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Photo: Beluga Fortune.
German vessel Beluga Fortune captured by Somali pirates on Oct 24 has been released, reported Reuters.
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Hijacked Russian-crewed vessel has been released
10/26/2010 |
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Bremen-headquartered shipowner Beluga Shipping announced that the vessel was freed without ransom. According to the company, pirates fled being scared of "cool-headed behavior of the Beluga crew on board and the quick action of navy units". None of the crewmembers suffered.
According to RIA Novosti referred to press center of Russian Sailors' Guild, three out of 16 Beluga crewmen are Russians. It was previously reported that the complement included one Russian and three Ukrainians. There are Germans and Filipinos on board as well, reports ITAR-TASS.
Beluga Fortune had become a second vessel captured by pirates last weekend. The first one was Greek LNG tanker York hijacked on Oct 23. The ship's crew consists of 14 Filipinos, 2 Ukrainians, and one German; current state of the vessel is unknown so far. According to ABC-CBN News, the government of Philippines once again called global community to make anti-piracy operations more severe. As a matter of fact, 25 per cent of sailors in world's merchant fleet are Filipinos. Thus, they suffer from piracy more appreciably than citizens of other countries.
In total, about 20 vessels are presently detained by Somali pirates. Somewhat 430 crewmembers are held hostages, including 92 Filipinos.