After nine months in captivity, the Mongolia-flagged bulk carrier MV Hoang Son Sun and her crew of 24 were released by Somali pirates on Thursday afternoon, after receiving ransom.
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| A file picture of MV Hoang Son Sun. According to sources, the ship would be reaching Salalah in three days. |
According to maritime sources, the freed ship is heading to Salalah. The vessel is doing in 9 knots and is expected to reach the harbour in two or three days.
The 22,835-tonne Vietnamese-owned bulk carrier MV Hoang Son Sun was hijacked some 520 nautical miles southeast off the port of Muscat, with a crew of 24 Vietnamese nationals, on January 11, 2011.
“Vietnamese-owned but Mongolia-flagged bulker MV Hoang Son Sun was released late Thursday after the Somali pirates had received a reduced ransom in the eight-month hostage case,” an international maritime group said.
A letter received from an international maritime group said that the bulk carrier was released soon after the captors were paid $4.5 million in ransom. The pirates were earlier reported to have demanded between $5 and $8 million.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters, a pirate has also confirmed
the release. “I don’t know how much ransom they received but the ship has been released unexpectedly. We were told yesterday that it’s gone for hunting, but they were releasing it that time,” a pirate, who gave his name as Awil, told Reuters late on Friday night from Ceel Dhanaane coastal village.
Sources said that the investors were short-changed by their fellow pirates when the pirates allegedly disembarked from the vessel at 19:00 Somalian local time without permission from their investors.
The crew is said to be in good condition.
The 22,835 dwt bulk carrier with a gross registered tonnage of 13,881 tonnes is owned and managed by the Vietnamese based Hoang Son Company Limited. She was held captive at Ceel Dhanaane by the Sanweyne pirate group.
