Pirates Still Holding Crew Captive After Ransom Payment

The Indian managers of a Panama-flagged ship are criticizing pirates for failing to release all of the Indian crew with the vessel, after an agreed upon ransom was paid.

Last week the Mumbai-based OMCI Ship Management paid an undisclosed ransom to free the MT Asphalt Venture and crewmembers onboard. The management company says that eight crewmembers were released with the vessel, but pirates are still holding seven.

In a statement released on Sunday. OMCI “expressed deep disappointment over the pirates reneging on their word. This is despite meeting all demands of the negotiated settlement and paying the mutually agreed ransom. The vessel is in Somali waters. The owners appeal to the pirates to honor their word and immediately release the 6 officers and 1 crew member. All owners of other ships hijacked by pirates which are still captive in Somalia will lose faith in the negotiation process, unless those taken from the Asphalt Venture are returned immediately and allowed to sail with their fellow seafarers.”

OMCI says the ship’s master was among the eight that were released.

Pirates hijacked the bitumen-asphalt tanker on September 28 of last year while the ship was sailing from South Africa to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.