Somali pirates set free German ship
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Somali pirates have released a German chemical tanker they hijacked in May on Monday after ransom were paid, Andrew Mwangura, East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) confirmed on Tuesday.
Somali pirates have hijacked the German operated chemical tanker "the Marida Marguerite" with 22 crew members aboard, about 120 miles south of Salalah in May this year.
According to EU Naval Force, the Marshal Island flagged, German owned tanker of 13,000 tonnes was seized with 19 Indians, one Ukrainian and two Bangladeshis on board by pirates with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, about 120 miles south of Oman.
"All crew members on aboard now are well and safe," Mwangura said.
Piracy has been rife in the war-torn Somalia since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991. Pirate attacks have continued in Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, despite the presence of escorting warships to protect cargo and cruise ships against piracy.
The Horn of Africa nation has been without an effective government for nearly two decades, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed the pirates to thrive.
Kenya's proximity to Somalia prompted insurance companies to hike up their premiums for ships traveling to Kenyan ports to mitigate the increased insecurity.
This led shipping companies to take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope while traveling to the Kenyan ports, with cost of doing business on the Kenyan coast going up by over 40 percent.
To date more than 100 pirate suspects have been transferred to Kenya by the Western warships patrolling the Indian Ocean to combat piracy.
It is only Kenya and the Seychelles in the region that have agreed to take in suspects for prosecution, but both have recently complained about the burden of trying and jailing pirates in their countries.
