NEWS

Hijacked Greek tanker heading for Somalia

A Greek-flagged supertanker hijacked on Wednesday by pirates, is heading for the Somali coastal village of Garaad, Reuters quoted pirate sources as saying on Friday.

?The supertanker will anchor off Garaad,? Abdi Yare, a pirate chief based in Hobyo, another pirate lair, was quoted as saying. The Irene SL, carrying 266,000 tons of crude oil and a crew of seven Greeks, 17 Filipinos and one Georgian, had been en route to the Gulf of Mexico from Kuwait when it was comandeered by armed men on Wednesday. There were no details released about the crew members.

Meanwhile it emerged that pirates have released the Greek first engineer and Ukrainian captain of the Greek-managed cargo ship Perseas.

The Perseas, sailing under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was taken hostage off the coast of Nigeria at the end of last month. The two men had been held hostage near the Nigerian port of Onne, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. Two members of the 15-man crew, both Egyptians, were injured in the attack on the Perseas on January 26.

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