Pirates free ship five months on

21/04/2009 12:14:32

Somali pirates have freed a chemical tanker and its crew of 23 Filipinos after holding them for five months. The owner of the Stolt Strength said securing the release had been "difficult and protracted".

The ship was seized on 10 November last year in the Gulf of Aden while en route from Senegal to India. It is not known if a ransom was paid.

Somalia has had no stable government since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness that has allowed piracy to thrive.

Meanwhile in other developments:

• The Philippine government has decided to ban its sailors working on ships that might travel through the Gulf of Aden

• A Somali teenager accused of being one of the pirates who held a US sea captain hostage arrived in New York to face trial

Haggling

The Stolt Strength's owner, Sagana Shipping Inc, declined to say whether any ransom was paid for Tuesday morning's release.

Doris Deseo, wife of Carlo Deseo, the ship's 31-year-old third mate, told AP news agency: "They have been released, thank God! I am super happy."

Andrew Mwangura, of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, told AFP news agency: "We think that something was paid but we don't know what."

'Teenage pirate' arrives in US

Piracy: Global overview

Relatives of the crew have said the pirates' ransom demand was haggled down to just over $2m (£1.4m) by last week.

Nato warships are patrolling the seas around the Horn of Africa nation and have stepped up their action against the pirates over the past weeks, freeing a number of ships.

The release came a day after a separate group of bandits freed the Lebanese-owned food aid freighter MV Sea Horse after receiving a ransom of $100,000 (£68,000).

Also held for five months by Somali pirates was the Ukrainian MV Faina weapons ship, which was released in February for a ransom of $3.2m (£2.2m).

Earlier, the teenager accused over the 8 April seizure off Somalia of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship's captain Richard Phillips arrived in the US from Africa.

Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse, who smiled broadly upon arrival in New York, is the first person to be tried in the US on piracy charges in more than a century, according to AP.

Earlier, his mother rang the BBC Somali Service to appeal to US President Barack Obama to free him.

Just before receiving news of the hostages' release, the Philippine government decided to stop its sailors working on vessels that might pass through the Gulf of Aden.

Several government departments are working on the precise wording of the measure, and its scope and efficacy remained unclear.

But Arthur Bowring, managing director of the Hong Kong Ship-Owners' Association, told the BBC: "We do have concerns about how such a measure would work in practice."

The Philippines is the world's largest supplier of maritime labour, and about 100 of the 300 sailors currently held hostage by Somali pirates are Filipinos.