Thursday, May 17, 2007
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SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- Officials are still tracking down the whereabouts of four South Koreans and 20 other crew members of two fishing boats seized off the coast of Somalia, although the kidnapped sailors have once again been confirmed to be unharmed by their captors, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday."We understand negotiations have not begun until now," the official told reporters while speaking on condition of anonymity.
The remarks followed a report by China's Xinhua news agency that a Kenyan negotiator, representing the South Korean owner of the captured boats, has begun discussing the terms of the kidnapped sailors' release with their captors.
The Tanzania-registered ships, owned by South Korea's Daechang Fishing Co., were seized some 210 miles off the coast of Somalia Tuesday by a group of armed insurgents, believed to be Somali pirates.
The ships were en route to Yemen from Mombasa, Kenya, according to the ministry. Onboard the Mavuno I and Mavuno II were 24 crew members, including 10 Chinese, four Indonesian, three Vietnamese and three Indians.
The boats, Mavuno I and Mavuno II, were earlier spotted anchored at a port in Somalia's Ras Assaud.
Seoul dispatched a navy officer to a multinational naval fleet near Bahrain earlier Thursday to "gather and report information on the whereabouts of the Somali pirates," a ministry official earlier told reporters, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The government is also working with China, Indonesia, Vietnam and India to win the safe return of their citizens at the earliest date possible, according to the official.
"The government plans to contact the embassies of Indonesia, Vietnam and India (in Seoul) within the day to cooperate on this issue," the official said.
Foreign Minister Song Min-soon is also scheduled to hold ministerial talks with his Tanzanian counterpart Bernard Membe on Friday to "concentrate on the issue," the official added.
All the hostages were confirmed safe in a conversation via satellite link with the South Korean owner of the ships that took place shortly after their boats were hijacked Tuesday.
"We have once again confirmed their safety" Thursday, a ministry official later told reporters without elaborating.
The official said the identity of the hijackers has become clearer, but that it would take more time to learn their intentions or their demands.
Tuesday's hijacking marked the ninth of its kind this year in an area where 36 hijackings of foreign vessels took place just last year, according to the Foreign Ministry.
A South Korean fishing boat with 25 crew members, including eight South Koreans, was captured in April 2006 by Somali pirates. The hostages were freed unharmed in late July that year after their employer reportedly paid a large ransom.
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Source: Yonhap, May 17, 2007