Somali pirates release Greek cargo carrier
A Greek-owned cargo ship seized in April in the Gulf of Aden was released yesterday by Somali pirates who said they received $2 million (about 1.37 million euros) in ransom. The 22 Filipino crew members of the MV Irene, a Greek bulk-carrier sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, were all believed to be safe and well. «We already left the vessel and now we are dividing our money,» Reuters cited a pirate calling himself Hussein as telling the agency by telephone. «A helicopter brought the cash this morning,» the pirate said. Several Greek-owned cargo ships have been attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year. In April – the same month that the MV Irene was hijacked – Somali pirates released the Titan, another Greek-owned bulk-carrier under the Saint Vincent flag that had been seized a month earlier.
