Pirates take Spanish crew to Somalia
Source: Agencies |
November 6, 2009, Friday
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PIRATES holding a Spanish trawler off Somalia took three crew members ashore yesterday to press Spanish authorities for the release of fellow pirates captured in connection with the month-old hostage drama, wives of two sailors said.
Separately, pirates yesterday captured a Greek-owned bulk carrier with 21 crew on board, according to an EU naval force fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean. The carrier, which is flagged in the Marshall Islands, had been heading to Zanzibar but was last seen 500 kilometers east of Mombasa, Kenya, the force said.
That hijacking brought the number of crew being held by Somali pirates to more than 210 from 10 captured vessels.
Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon confirmed three crew members had been removed from the commandeered Spanish tuna trawler Alakrana and taken on a smaller boat to Somalia. But she would not comment on what the pirates' motives might be.
Two Spanish wives said they had spoken by cell phone yesterday with their husbands, who are among the 36 crew members of the Alakrana. It was seized on October 2 in open Indian Ocean waters and is now just off the coast of Somalia.
Pirates on the ship ordered some crew members to call their families and tell them three colleagues were being disembarked to be taken to Somalia, Chacon said.
Silvia Albes, the wife of sailor Pablo Costas, said he was frightened.
Costas said the crew "are all very scared. My husband was crying. There came a point when all he could say was 'I love you, I love you, I love you. Please get me off the ship,' " Albes said.
Two days after the hijacking, Spanish naval forces taking part in the EU anti-piracy mission captured two suspected pirates as they tried to travel ashore from the Alakrana in a skiff. Both are now in custody in Madrid and face preliminary charges including 36 counts of kidnapping.
The pirates that remain on the Spanish ship want those two released as a condition for freeing the Alakrana and the crew, said the other woman, Maria Angeles Jimenez, wife of sailor Gaizka Iturbe.
He told Jimenez the pirates are threatening to take more crew ashore if the two detained colleagues are not freed.
Chacon dodged a question as to whether these two might be released.
Separately, pirates yesterday captured a Greek-owned bulk carrier with 21 crew on board, according to an EU naval force fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean. The carrier, which is flagged in the Marshall Islands, had been heading to Zanzibar but was last seen 500 kilometers east of Mombasa, Kenya, the force said.
That hijacking brought the number of crew being held by Somali pirates to more than 210 from 10 captured vessels.
Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon confirmed three crew members had been removed from the commandeered Spanish tuna trawler Alakrana and taken on a smaller boat to Somalia. But she would not comment on what the pirates' motives might be.
Two Spanish wives said they had spoken by cell phone yesterday with their husbands, who are among the 36 crew members of the Alakrana. It was seized on October 2 in open Indian Ocean waters and is now just off the coast of Somalia.
Pirates on the ship ordered some crew members to call their families and tell them three colleagues were being disembarked to be taken to Somalia, Chacon said.
Silvia Albes, the wife of sailor Pablo Costas, said he was frightened.
Costas said the crew "are all very scared. My husband was crying. There came a point when all he could say was 'I love you, I love you, I love you. Please get me off the ship,' " Albes said.
Two days after the hijacking, Spanish naval forces taking part in the EU anti-piracy mission captured two suspected pirates as they tried to travel ashore from the Alakrana in a skiff. Both are now in custody in Madrid and face preliminary charges including 36 counts of kidnapping.
The pirates that remain on the Spanish ship want those two released as a condition for freeing the Alakrana and the crew, said the other woman, Maria Angeles Jimenez, wife of sailor Gaizka Iturbe.
He told Jimenez the pirates are threatening to take more crew ashore if the two detained colleagues are not freed.
Chacon dodged a question as to whether these two might be released.
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