13 April 2006
AFP
NAIROBI – The captain of a South Korean fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of the lawless nation this month said the ship’s crew was unharmed and not being mistreated by their captors.
The master of the Dong Won 628, which was seized by gunmen in the pirate infested waters off northeast Somalia on April 4, told mediators seeking the release of the ship that he and the other 24 crew members were in good health. “We are in good health and we have been allowed to talk to the ship owner,” Captain Sung Sik Choi told the mediators in a radio call arranged by the hijackers as a good will gesture as talks on releasing the ship continue. “We have not been threatened,” Sung was quoted as saying by Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers Assistance Programme in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, which is assisting in the discussions. Mwangura told AFP that talks on releasing the vessel were proceeding smoothly and that a “court” in the Somali town of Hobyo near where the ship was seized was expected to rule on the matter ”in four or five days time.” He said he suspected that the negotiations were being hampered by a ransom demand from the pirates who insist that the ship was engaged in illegal fishing in Somali waters and are insisting on a ”fine” for the transgression. Last week, a Somali elder involved in the talks said the gunmen wanted 400,000 dollars (326,000 euros) for the release of the ship and its crew of nine Indonesians, eight South Koreans, five Vietnamese and three Chinese. “This is not a ransom but a fine for illegally fishing in Somalia,” the elder told AFP on Friday on condition of anonymity from Hobyo, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Mogadishu, where the ship is believed to be held. Somali pirates have in the past demanded a 300,000-dollar “fine” and 1,000 dollars per crew member for the release of ships and sailors they have seized for alleged illegal use of Somalia’s waters. Source: AFP, April 14, 2006
