Sat, Feb 11 2012

Bulgarian sailors freed after Somali pirates receive ransom

Sun, May 10 2009 17:48 CET

byAlex Bivol

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Bulgarian sailors freed after Somali pirates receive ransom

Sixteen Bulgarian sailors were freed after the Somali pirates that seized the British-owned ship Malaspina Castle received their $2 million ransom, Reuters reported.

"We got a $2 million ransom for the release of the British-owned ship," pirate Mohamed Saleh, from the Somali coastal village of Eyl, was quoted as saying on May 10. "A helicopter brought the money."

The ship's Italian operator had paid the ransom, five weeks after the 32 000-tonne bulker, sailing under the Panamanian flag, was captured.

Malaspina Castle's captain, Bulgarian Darin Mateev, told Bulgarian broadcaster Darik Radio that none of the crewmembers had been injured or hurt.

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