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Hijacked South Korean ship freed


Wednesday, February 09, 2011

By Kang Hyun-kyung

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A South Korean fishing vessel, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in waters off Kenya’s Lamu Island last Oct. 9, was released Wednesday (KST), according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity that the 241-ton trawler, Geummi 305, left Somali territorial waters after being freed and was heading to international sea lanes.

As of Wednesday night, the South Korean ship was waiting for help from international naval vessels sailing nearby to escort ships for safety purpose.

A total of 43 sailors, including two South Koreans, were aboard the fishing vessel _ the crew is comprised of two Chinese and 39 Kenyans.

“As I understand it, the ship was freed without any ransom payment to the pirates,” a foreign ministry official said.

KBS reported that earlier the pirates demanded a ransom of approximately $6 million, but later lowered the price to a tenth of the early offer.

Citing a source who had been involved in negotiations, the broadcast said the pirates learned the ship owner was nearly bankrupt. This, KBS said, probably affected the release of the sailors, as well as the ship without payment.

Kim Dae-keun, the ship’s captain, was sick after reportedly contracting malaria.

The captain’s health problems seem to have driven the pirates to free the sailors and the ship as they had no medication to treat him. Experts said Somali pirates hijack ships to make money and therefore have no good reason to detain sailors and ships if they calculate they cannot make any profit.

The 241-ton trawler was freed a couple of weeks after South Korean commandos successfully raided the chemical carrier Samho Jewelry, which was hijacked in the Arabian Sea last December.

All sailors aboard the ship were rescued, but the ship’s captain was seriously wounded.

During a five-hour gun-battle, eight Somali pirates were killed and five others were captured. The latter have been brought to Korea for trial.

Observers speculate that the rescue mission code-named “Gulf of Aden Daybreak” sent a strong message to Somali pirates that South Korea was unwilling to negotiate with them.

Source: Korea Times

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