Nigerian Pirates have released 11 hostages kidnapped from a Dutch cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria last month.
The hostages were crew members of the FWN Rapide, which was attacked by pirates on April 21 as it was nearing Port Harcourt.
Their release was confirmed on Wednesday by ship manager; ForestWave. The company was however silent about payment of ransom to the pirates.
Two additional crew members escaped the kidnapping and steered the vessel to a safe location after the pirates disembarked with the hostages. Another crew member was found safe hiding on board the vessel some two days following the attack.
“ForestWave are delighted to report that our eleven valued crew members who were taken hostage on April 21 off Port Harcourt, Nigeria and spent the last 4 weeks in captivity have been released and are now safe,” the company said in a statement issued Wednesday. “The crew are currently on their way to be reunited with their loved ones. We are extremely pleased to have been conveying this good news to all the families and friends of our seafarers.”
“All eleven crew members are in a relatively good condition, all crew have received medical checks and given the circumstances are in a relatively good condition”, the company said.
“ForestWave would like to thank all the relevant authorities and advisors for their help in securing the release of our valued seafarers. Finally we would like to express our gratitude to our crew who have shown such great courage and professionalism under the extremely difficult circumstances of the past four weeks,” the company added.
AIS ship tracking data showed the FWN Rapide as sailing from Takoradi, Ghana to Bonny, Nigeria when the attack took place.
“The crew are currently on their way to be reunited with their loved ones. We are extremely pleased to have been conveying this good news to all the families and friends of our seafarers,” the company added.
ForestWave would like to thank all the relevant authorities and advisors for their help in securing the release of our valued seafarers”, the statement added.
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