Pirates Release MV Jahan Moni and 26 Hostages
The Bangladeshi-flagged vessel MV Jahan Moni and its 26 Bangladeshi crewmembers were released on Monday from Somali pirates after being hijacked in the Arabian Sea and held hostage for 3 months.
The Brave Royal Shipping Management owned ship was captured at gun point on December 5th 2010 from the Arabian Sea while carrying nickel from Indonesia to Greece. The ship was then taken to Garacad Village in Somalia where the vessel and crew was held captive for 99 days.
Currently Jahan Moni is sailing towards the port of Salalah in Oman from Somalia. All 26 on board are safe, in good health and have been able to contact their relatives . It is estimated that it could take another 4 days to reach Oman and assured there is plenty of food and water to sustain them.
A 26-strong crew has been assigned to bring the ship back from Oman, who will deploy to the location on Tuesday, meanwhile the crew of the Jahan Moni will be flied back to Bangladesh on March 22nd following physical check-ups.
Meherul Karium, General Manager of the Brave Royal Shipping Management, has commented that the ship and crew were freed as a result of diplomatic negotiations, however declined to specify whether a ransom had been paid to the pirates. Negotiations had been underway since December 12th 2010 and an agreement signed on February 28th 2011. Karim went on record to state that hijacked ships are normally held hostage for an average of 145 days, making the 99 day release of the Jahan Moni relatively speedy.