Pirate captive still on board

Jul 01, 2008
In cooperation with BNS

All crew members of the Lehmann Timber vessel hijacked by pirates in coastal waters of Somalia at the end of May, among them an Estonian national, remain on the ship.

Ukraine's consulate general in Hamburg has provided additional information about the fate of the German cargo ship captured in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast on May 28, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported today.

The head of the crisis headquarters said he had a telephone conversation with the vessel's captain on June 30. The captain said all the crew members remain on the ship. He said the mental and physical condition of the seamen is satisfactory. The head of the crisis headquarters also talked with several other members of the crew who confirmed this information.

The information refutes an earlier report according to which the crew had been taken on shore.

The crisis headquarters continues efforts towards the release of the ship and its crew.

Ukraine's consulate general in Hamburg, embassy in Kenya and the consular department of the Foreign Ministry are following the case closely.

The hijacked ship had a crew of 15, among them four Ukrainian nationals and one Estonian citizen -- the first mate Ardo Kalle.

Ukraine's Channel 5 television earlier reported citing relatives of the captured sailors that almost all crew members of the Lehmann Timber had been taken on shore.

"Hostages of Russian, Ukrainian and Estonian nationality have been taken ashore by the pirates and only two crew members remain on board," Channel 5 said, citing Svetlana Rudnichenko, the wife of the Lehmann Timber's engineer.