Bulgarian sailors aboard the two UK flagged ships Asian Glory and St James Park are reportedly alive and well, the Bulgarian news agency (BTA) reported on January 5 2010.
 
According to the report, skipper Prodan Radanov, manager of Zodiac, which has an office in Bulgaria, has said that Asian Glory has successfully docked in Somalia. Subsequently, the pirates have sent evidence to the British company that everyone on board is alive and well.
 
Negotiations for the release of the ships, however, have not yet started, BTA reported, citing Radanov.
 
Asian Glory was reportedly ferrying cars off the Somali coast when she was boarded by pirates late on January 1 2010.

This was the second seizure in five days of a ship managed by Zodiac.

Earlier, St James Park, a chemicals tanker, and its crew of 26 were sailing to Thailand from Spain with a chemical used to make plastics when it sent a distress signal from the Gulf of Aden on December 28 2009 that it had been attacked and boarded by pirates. Five of its crew members are Bulgarian.
 
On January 4 2010, it was revealed that the Bulgarian Navy is contemplating deploying the Druzki (Daring) frigate to the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to boost the international task force currently entrusted with keeping international waters free from pirate attacks.

Bulgarian Navy Rear Admiral Plamen Manoushev told Bulgarian National Television (BNT) in Varna on January 4, that the frigate is mobilised and ready for deployment – the only obstacle remains financial support. About six million leva is needed if the frigate is to be sent on a two-month mission.

"We made an assessment of the situation. If the frigate is deployed for a two-month period, then one month of that time would be taken up with the round trip to the Gulf while, for the other month, she would be on active patrol service. This could cost up to six million leva," he was quoted as saying.

"The issue is the availability of necessary financial resources, and not the readiness of personnel," the Rear Admiral said.