Moves taken to release Sri Lankans held hostage

The shipping company that employed the hijacked merchant vessel MV Nassar Al Saudi has brought down a team of expert negotiators from London in order to negotiate the release of 13 Sri Lankan crew members, who are held hostage by a group of Somali pirates.

This move comes in the light of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs exerting pressure on the International Bunkering Co. (IBCO) which owns the hijacked vessel to facilitate the immediate release of the 13 Sri Lankan crew members.

A Foreign Ministry official who spoke to Asian Tribune said that the Ministry is now in constant contact with the shipping company to facilitate the immediate release of the Sri Lankan crew members.

“We are now in constant contact with the shipping company through our Missions in Rayed and Jeddah. This is a very sensitive matter and we have to act cautiously. As soon as we learnt about the hijacking our Ministry called for an immediate report from both the Missions in Saudi and we promptly got in touch with the shipping company,” he said.

“We have got reports that the Sri Lankan crew members are in good health and provided with their basic necessities,” he said.

The Consulate in Jeddah was informed that the shipping company has established contacts with the pirates through satellite communication and the pirates have assured the shipping company that they would not harm the Sri Lankan crew members.

The Somali pirates have demanded a ransom of $ 20 million for their release.

The said that the vessel was hijacked by pirates along the Yemeni coast and then moved to the Somalia coast on March 1. This vessel sailed with fourteen crew members which included a Greek national who was the captain while the remaining 13 member crew, consisted of Sri Lankan nationals.

In the meantime efforts are now underway by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the release of the 13 Sri Lankan crew members who are held hostage by Somali pirates.

The Ministry is in the process of trying to establish a communication link with the shipping company located in the British Virgin Islands in order to facilitate the release of the Sri Lankan crew members of the 11,000-ton Bermudan-flagged MV Talca.

The Foreign Ministry has been in constant contact with its missions in Kenya and Oman, since Sri Lanka does not have a mission in Somalia or in the British Virgin Islands.

The ship was seized off the coast of Oman, approximately 120 nautical miles south of Mazera on March 23.

The Foreign Ministry is also in touch with the Overseas Territories Division of the British Foreign Office, in order to see that the shipping company in the British Virgin Islands takes steps to seek the release of the hostages.

Last week three Sri Lankan crew members who were on board the MV Ro Ro Laila returned home after being held hostage by the Somali pirates for several weeks.

- Asian Tribune -