Vessel and Crew Freed
The Spanish oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates off West Africa 10 days ago was freed Saturday and the 23-member crew is OK, its owner said.
No ransom was paid for the release of the Cypriot-flagged “Mattheos I”, although pirates who seized it stole as much as they could of the diesel fuel it was carrying as cargo, said Consultores de Navegacion spokeswoman Sheena Campbell.
Further to the release of “Mattheos I”, news has also emerged of the crew.
After being held for 10 days by Nigerian pirates, the 23 crew of mixed nationalities onboard, including 14 Filipinos, were safely released and are now proceeding to a neutral port, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has reported.
Based on the initial report submitted by Philippine Ambassador to Spain, all crew members are well.
