Pirates free crew of Spanish boat
Published 10:08 pm Saturday, April 26, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The 26 crew members onboard a fishing boat hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia nearly a week ago have been freed, Spanish and Somali authorities said Saturday.
“The ship is free and the pirates disappeared into their villages,” said Abdi Khalif Ahmed, chairman of Haradhere local port authority in Somalia.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega declined to say if a ransom had been paid to the hijackers, insisting the release of the Playa de Bakio had been achieved by “cooperation and diplomacy.”
“The fishing boat Bakio has been liberated and is now sailing in total freedom, escorted by a Spanish frigate toward safer waters,” De la Vega said.
The 250-foot tuna fishing boat from Spain’s Basque region was captured Sunday while it was fishing in international waters off the coast from Mogadishu, Somalia.
Pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades boarded skipper Amadeo Alvarez Gomez’s boat and captured the crew of 13 Spaniards and 13 men from African countries.
De la Vega said the crew’s release had been achieved through negotiations in London between the Spanish government, the ship owners and representatives of the hijackers. The crew was in good health, she said.
Piracy is rampant along Somalia’s 1,880-mile coast, which is the longest in Africa and near key shipping routes connecting the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean. The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region.
