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Subscribe to RSSBOSASSO, Somalia -- A ship and its crew of 22 sailors held by Somali pirates for almost three years have been freed after a two-week-long siege by maritime police, the government of the breakaway region of Puntland said on Sunday.
The sailors aboard Panama-flagged MV Iceberg 1, from the Philippines, India, Yemen, Sudan, Ghana and Pakistan, were held for longer than any other hostages in the power of the pirates, who prey on shipping in the region, according to the president's office of the northern Somali enclave in a statement
Maritime police laid siege to the vessel on Dec. 10 near the coastal village of Gara'ad in the region of Mudug.
"After 2 years and 9 months in captivity, the hostages have suffered signs of physical torture and illness. The hostages are now receiving nutrition and medical care," said the statement.
The ship originally had a crew of 24, but two had died since the roll-on roll-off cargo vessel was seized on March 29, 2010, some 10 miles from Aden, pirates said.
One of the pirate leaders said they only released the ship after negotiation with Puntland officials and local elders.
"They kindly requested the release of the ship we held for three years. Puntland forces had attacked us and tried to release the ship by force but they failed. We fought back and defeated them," the pirate known as Farah told Reuters.
Farah did not disclose whether any ransom had been paid for the crew and the ship, owned by Azal Shipping in Dubai with a deadweight of 4,500 tonnes.
Pirates rarely release ships without ransom, and usually raise their demands the longer they hold a vessel, because they charge for their expenses.
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International navies have had some recent success containing piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Although more than 100 hostages taken off Somalia are still being held captive, the number of hijackings of ships dropped to seven in the first 11 months of this year compared to 24 in the whole of 2011.
Separately, Puntland said a group of eight Puntland soldiers responsible for briefly trying to sail away with a North Korea-flagged vessel, MV Daesan and its 33-member crew were jailed by a Puntland military court on Saturday.
MV Daesan, a North Korean ship ferrying cement to Somali capital Mogadishu, was impounded by the Puntland authorities and fined last month by Puntland authorities who accused it of ditching its cargo off Somalia's coast.
The soldiers had taken the vessel on Dec. 18.
"Puntland Government managed to return the vessel back to the port within 24 hours; the soldiers were arrested and will be brought to justice," the authorities said.
For Somali pirates, the risks of being arrested, killed or lost at sea are overshadowed by the potential for huge payouts. Ransoms for large ships in recent years have averaged close to $5 million. The largest reported ransom was $11 million for the Greek oil tanker MV Irene SL last year.
The ransoms are often air-dropped down to hijacked ships. Somalia has been mired in conflict since President Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords in 1991 who then turned on each other.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
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Only good pirate is a dead pirate. I don't understand why it is so hard to stop these hoodlums from screwing with commercial trade in open waters. Riddle their boat with holes and send them on their way.
The Pirates of the Caribbeans are good pirates..glamorous too.
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BTW, Happy Holidays to those released hostages.
Bushmasters and Drones are needed.
Maybe the Hostages were eating too much. Maybe the Hostages were becoming High Maintenance. Maybe the Hostages families didn't want them back. Maybe the Captives finally got up enough money for the Hostage Families they agreed to take them back. GOSH I love my imagination.
Pig- those would be fake Disney pirates. And that's Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The only way to stop the pirate attacks for good, is to give the Russian Navy complete control over the operations. Those guys are no-nonsense and tough & don't know the meaning of political correctness.
Because the law-abiding companies cannot arm their ships. THis leaves them easy pickings for the criminals...
Pay attention gun-haters. There's a lesson to be learned here.
This will happen in the USA when they take away our guns will be like the ships in the sea no way to protect our loved ones,
Ron, no one is going to take your guns away unless your a felon or some mental patient, always hear the same blah blah from gun lobbyists such as guns dont kill people, people kill people, what garbage, the more lethal weapons can kill many people but how many people can a crazy kill without the extremely lethal weapons now available? Answer is not as many when all you have access to is a bolt action rifle, or pistols with magazines limited to 5 or less.
Instead of spending our hard earned money on all these foreign countries, why not have NATO pay for the police of the world to go after these pirates?
I do believe that almost all ships have gps tracking devices and with the satilites in orbit all of these ship should be able to be found
god, lets practice bombing on these savages and be done with this B.S. these are low life scum bags and nothing else. the countries of powers of this world could unite and get bag of flees gone! just love napalm in the morning! they are like little rats,keep on breeding.this is the lowest country in smarts probably and the world is at bay from these rats.
Look at all of the internet tuff guys circling this story like sharks in chum filled waters! OooOoOoooooo...you dorks are so scary!!
Pathetic!
Better than doing what we HAVE done.We import these animals,and pay their way! And you're circling this story because....?
Gives us something to do in between screwing your wife and your daughter, the filthy whores that they are...
huh?
Looks like BatAttaK hit a nerve!
Are they as scary as a guy who calls them out and then calls them names on the internet?
But if you OUTLAW being an pirate and OUTLAW the guns they use their crime will never happen.
That is the logic with gun control in the USA.
Just like schools in the US, MOST shipping is weapon free per insurance regulation. Like convience stores do not allow employees to fight back or have weapons. Soooo the criminals (pirates) know they cannot get hurt and have BIG payouts.
Maybe we should offer big payouts to the shooters that go to schools....
Obviously that is NOT working. IF the ships were equally armed they have a much better chance, just like students if they has armed guards at all schools.
If you outlaw pirates.... then only pirates will have outlaws.....
11 million ransom, Hummm, I wonder what a few well placed mini guns would cost?
close their port, isolate country until they remedy problem.
A good will gesture by Obamas brothers.
Sink the pirate ships. Then don't pull the pirates out of the water. Leave them to drown like rats.
That's what the Russian Navy does to them.
Russian Navy has the right idea...Never thought I'd say it but "those pirates" are gone for good..
Hmmmm.....We have a large arsenal of highly technological weaponry and in need of a place to test them so why not use the filthy little country they call Somalia. What the hell, throw in Nigeria as well. Here today, dust in the wind tomorrow.
We're too busy importing these savages.We have the second largest community of em in the US.They act superior! if you can believe that.Poor minnesota has the largest population of these pigs
Leave Nigeria out of this at least until the Nigerian Prince sends me the 4 million dollars to the account I gave him access to...
There is a neighborhood in Phoenix of Somolians that is off-limits to military personnel. The neighborhood is next to a National Guard base and a soldier had his throat cut a couple of years back. They also built up the perimeter of the base after that. He was killed in the parking lot.
Make the whole coast GLOW IN THE DARK! Then they won't have base to portage!! Screw those wharf monkees!!!
sink them ,kill them,feed them to the fishes!!! and the ones that do survive ,just turn them into ass pirates in prison
Kill them all and wipe out all the coastal villages involved in the pirate activity .Burn Maggots Burn
Illegals and criminals, especially Muslim terrorists, Thanks to Democrats, have more rights than anyone
And just where is "MISTER BOJANGLES" when all of this is going on?? Enjoying a MILLION DOLLAR government paid vacation in HAWAII!
AARH! AARH, Matey!
We need to use the laws still on the books from the 1600's - pirates caught at sea are executed - no prison, no appeal - that will help stem this scourge when they now they will be killed on sight - and have a few 'special' people on each ship with the training and arms capable of taking them down.
The way the law works once one African is let in the country he or she can apply for visas for their family, this starts a cascade of these extreme poor into our country. They have no skills, dont value schools, so all they have skills for is violence and crime and working the system for all they can get.