Pirates Capture Ukrainian Seamen

A group of armed people has seized a Lebanese cargo vessel with eight Ukrainians onboard in the territorial waters of Somalia, the South African SAPA agency was told by the Kuala Lumpur based International Piracy Reporting Center. Center spokesman Noel Choong said that, although the SS Princess Sarah had been attacked by pirates the Monday before last, the crew managed to send a distress signal only on Thursday. The signal was received by the French Navy. “The seamen are still being held captive, and the whole crew is under the pirates’ threat,” Mr. Choong announced.

The ten well-armed pirates demand $200,000 to release the hostages. This demand is addressed to the ship’s Lebanese owners. Meanwhile, Mr. Choong said the vessel had in fact run out of potable water and was running out of fuel. As soon as the French maritime patrol service received the distress signal from the Princess, it furnished detailed information about the incident to the piracy fighting center. Yet, the spokesman of the latter noted with regret that his organization had already repeatedly warned seamen to bypass the notorious pirate-infested Somali coast. “We were surprised that the vessel was sailing past Somalia because ships had often been robbed and their crews killed there before,” Mr. Choong said.

The Princess has a total crew of 18, including eight citizens of Ukraine, four Lebanese, five Egyptians, and one Syrian. No casualties have thus far been reported.

As The Day was told on January 18 by Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Serhiy Borodenkov, the captured cargo vessel belonged to the Azov Sea Star Agency, a joint Ukrainian-Lebanese venture. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has been also informed by this country’s embassy in Lebanon that a lawyer of the Ukrainian-Lebanese company went from Paris to Somalia to settle the dispute. According to Mr. Borodenkov, the Ukrainian embassy is doing everything possible to free the hostages. The diplomats are trying to clarify the situation on the vessel.

Unofficial sources also say that France has sent some of its warships to the Somali coast to establish order in the area where pirates seized the vessel.

According to the ship’s owner, negotiations are ongoing, and the problem is likely to be solved by tomorrow or the next day.