Free at last: 26 Asian sailors released after being held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years
Fishing vessel was seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012 and the crew have been held since
For 1,672 days since their capture by a band of Somali pirates, these 26 Asian sailors languished in deplorable conditions away from their families.
Now, the sailors are heading home after a ransom was paid, and international mediators said it represents the end of captivity for the last remaining seafarers taken hostage at the height of the Somali piracy crisis.
One pirate, Bile Hussein, said the sailors were the crew of the FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned, Omani-flagged fishing vessel seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012. The ship later sank but the crew – from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines – were kept hostage.
They have spent over four-and-a-half years in deplorable conditions away from their families
Hussein said US$1.5 million in ransom was paid for the sailors’ release. That claim could not be independently verified.
The 26 sailors “are currently in the safe hands of the Galmudug authorities and will be repatriated using a UN humanitarian flight shortly and then on to their home countries,” said John Steed, the coordinator of the Hostage Support Partners for the US-based organisation Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP).
The statement included a photo, stamped August 14, showing the thin, grim crewmen standing or squatting together as proof they remained alive.
“They are reported to be in reasonable condition, considering their ordeal,” Steed said. “They are all malnourished. Four are currently receiving medical treatment by a doctor in Galkayo. They have spent over four-and-a-half years in deplorable conditions away from their families.”