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Thursday, 07 January 2010 10:18 |
Freed from the pirate captivity, the sailors of the vessel "Ariana" returned to Ukraine. According to the correspondent of the agency "Interfax-Ukraine", a special board with 24 sailors landed at the airport of Odessa.
Sailors were met by the representatives of the local authorities, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the presidential secretariat.
Relatives of the sailors were not allowed to enter the air strip, so they were waiting for the released sailors in the airport.
There was an "ambulance" near the ramp of the plane. A presidential candidate Sergey Tigipko greeted the sailors at the airport.
Relatives of the sailors tried to get S. Tigipko to the air strip, but the airport authorities denied everyone, because of the need to pass customs control.
According to the press service of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, instead of released sailors on the "Ariana" new crew of Ukrainian sailors arrived from the port of Odessa in Salalah on Tuesday. After refueling and completion of all necessary routine maintenance the vessel will continue its flight to the destination.
Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine in cooperation with other state bodies continues to take comprehensive measures to promote the release of other Ukrainian citizens who are held captive by Somali pirates. In particular, on 2 January in the Indian Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of Somalia, pirates seized the ship "Asian Glory", under the flag of the UK, the crew of the ship has of 10 citizens of Ukraine.
It was reported that Somali pirates captured the ship "Ariana" (flag - Malta, the company-operator "Alloceans Shipping Co. LTD" (Greece) on May 2, 2009 in the Gulf of Aden. All 24 crew members - are citizens of Ukraine.
December, 10 pirates released "Ariana". According to the head of Foreign Intelligence Service Nikolay Malomuzh, the company-operator paid the ransom of $ 2,8 million.
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