Nairobi - A
Ukrainian ship and its crew of 22 has been released by pirates off the Somali
coast, raising hopes that a Kenyan ship in the hands of hijackers would soon be
freed.
The pirates released the mv Panagia on Saturday. It is believed that the ship's owners
may have paid an unknown amount of money as ransom.
Seafarers Assistance Programme
(SAP) coordinator Andrew Mwangura confirmed the
release.
"I have talked with the agents in Ukraine
and they have confirmed to me that the vessel has been released," said Mr Mwangura.
The release leaves Kenyan ship mv Torgelow in the hands of the pirates and three fishing
vessels in the custody of the local coast guard.
The mv Panagia
was captured on October 18 by pirates in the Port
of Haradhere
and transferred to Eyle, 100 nautical miles south of Haradhere.
Mv Torgelow's
owners - Motaku Shipping Agencies - said yesterday
the release of the Ukrainian ship had heightened their hopes for her release.
"We have spoken to our people in Somalia
and we have very high hopes that the mv Torgelow will be released in the next few days," said Mr Inayat Kudrati,
a manager at the agency.
"We have gone through this before. We had been promised
that the ship will be released but it did not materialise...
we hope it comes true this time round," he added.
Three other fishing ships captured on August 15 -mv Zhong, mv
Thing Qing Feng and mv Shing Lin - with a total of 48
crew members are also in custody.
They are believed to have been arrested by the National
Volunteer Coast Guard after they were allegedly found fishing illegally, said Mr Mwangura.
The ships' crews, however, claimed to have been given the
go-ahead to fish by a warlord, an offer the coast guard, made up of a group of
volunteers, allegedly rejected.
The coast guards are demanding 5,000 US dollars (Sh380,000) as compensation.
The Kenyan ship was hijacked at Marka,
on her way to deliver supplies to another ship that had been released by
pirates, the mv Semlow,
which had reported mechanical problems.
Crew members on the mv Torgelow are; Sri Lankan captain De Silva Eckman, and Kenyans Nassir Abdalla Musa, George Mutiokoh, Suleiman Maksudi and
Pius Khayeka.
Others are Silvanus Kimuya, Abdillahi Suleiman, Salim Mlanda, Sammy Katana and
Rashid Athman Mswala.
11/29/05
Source: The Nation
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