Somali pirates release Chilean after 838 days in captivity

The six-man crew of a Danish cargo ship held hostage for more than two years finally released Tuesday.

Shortly after Jan. 12, 2011, the families of the six men working aboard the W/V Leopard received horrible news — their loved ones had been taken by Somali pirates. For more than two long, agonizing years, they waited for any news about the sailors’ possible release. As of Tuesday, their prayers have been answered. The men are coming home.

The Danish foreign minister, Villy Søvndal, confirmed the successful recovery of the entire crew following an extensive negotiation.

“I am relieved that the hostages have finally been released,”Søvndal said. “It has been a prolonged and extremely exhausting hostage affair that has marred the seamen and their relatives. We do not yet have all details regarding the condition of the seamen but first and foremost we know they are safe and are given the required care.”

The crew was made up of two Danes and four Filipino men. It’s captain, Eddy López, is Chilean who later gained Danish citizenship. López was born in the coastal city of Valparaíso and moved to Denmark twelve years ago.

The cargo ship, owned by ShipCraft, was attacked while passing through the Indian Ocean on its way to Korea. The Somali pirates claimed they believed the ship to be dumping waste near Somali fishing waters. After the attack, the W/V Leopard was disabled, so the pirates left the boat to drift and took the crew as hostages.

Søvndal reached out to the families around the world who have waited so long for news of the crew’s release.

“My thoughts are with the seamen and their relatives and loved ones in Denmark, Chile and the Philippines. They have all been under an extreme duress that only few can apprehend,” Søvndal said. “ I therefore appeal to all to give the seamen peace to focus on returning home to a life in freedom and to be with their families after the conclusion of a prolonged period in captivity.”

López’s family had a particularly difficult experience, when rumors surfaced that the captain had died in captivity.

“The representative for the embassy called my mother to tell her that they had very bad news, that she should prepare herself. There had been a death and it was possibly your son,” Lopez’s sister told local press in December 2012.

These claims were later proven to be untrue, and López will soon be reunited with his family.

The release of the six men comes after ShipCraft paid a ransom to the pirates. The company was unable to give specifics about the payment for security reasons, but noted it was a large sum in its statement Tuesday.

“Considering possible future kidnapping situations Shipcraft cannot reveal the size of the ransom, but Shipcraft has paid considerable millions, substantially more than previous kidnappings where Danish citizens have been involved,” ShipCraft said.

The managing director of the company, Claus Bech explained that this process was drawn out because the Somali Pirates’ demands exceeded the company’s means.

“We are a very small company and the pirates’ expectations to the ransom have been completely unrealistic,” Bech said.

Piracy has been a threat to international shipping in the Indian Ocean since the second outbreak of the Somali Civil War in the mid-2000s. Illegal fishing and dumping have been cited as major catalysts to the ever growing piracy problem, and a large portion of Somalis living on the coast support the pirates. However, as the practice has proven lucrative, many believe profit to be the primary motive today.

santiagotimes