Twelve crew members of Swiss-flagged cargo ship MV Glarus, who were kidnapped in September while underway toward Port of Harcourt, Nigeria, have been freed, the Swiss authorities informed.
The ship was underway, loaded with a cargo of bulk wheat, around 45 nautical miles southwest of Bonny Island when it was boarded by a gang of pirates, who took 12 out of 19 crew members hostage. The remaining seven mariners were allowed to stay on the ship. The sailors manning the ship at the time were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Philippines, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.
The release of the mariners followed a month-long negotiations between the shipping company Massoel Shipping and the kidnappers. Finally, the hostages were released on Friday, October 26, and were transferred to Switzerland, Basel’s prosecution office said.
As informed, upon arrival the released seafarers were questioned before departing to their home countries.
The terms of their release were not disclosed.
The local authorities are investigating the case in order to capture the still unknown perpetrators.
World Maritime News Staff