| Somali pirates free Russian-built tugboat |
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| Wednesday, 19 March 2008 11:53 | |||
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MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali pirates have freed a Russian-built tugboat more than a month after it was seized off the coast of the Horn of Africa country, a minister in the breakaway Puntland region said Tuesday. Click READ MORE to read more  Ahmed Said Awnur, Puntland's minister for seaports and fishery, told AFP the Svitzer Korsakov was released late Monday along with its crew after a ransom was paid.'We got the information that the pirates released a Russian ship in the coastal village of Eyl after they were paid a ransom of 700,000 dollars,'Awnur told AFP by phone. 'We regret that deal because it encourages the pirate attacks.'Comprising six crew members -- a British captain, an Irish chief engineer, a Russian first officer and three Russian crewmen -- the boat was captured on February 1. Denmark-based maritime services company Svitzer said: 'All crew members are well and unharmed,'but declined to elaborate on the ransom. 'Any such details provided in the public domain would, we believe, encourage would-be pirates and add further danger to the victims of such attacks,'it said in its website. Numerous attacks have taken place off Somalia's 3,700-kilometre (2,300-mile) coastline, prompting the International Maritime Bureau to advise sailors to steer clear. Somalia lies at the mouth of the Red Sea on a major trade route between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. It has not had a functional government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
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