African Somali Priates Free Nigerian Tug Boat-Yenegoa Ocean

Somali pirates freed a Nigerian tugboat they seized 10 months ago, and the Dutch navy frigate De Zeven Provincien was escorting it to a safe harbor, the Dutch Defense Ministry said Saturday.

“Yenegoa Ocean is free,” said Andrew Mwangura, who heads the Nairobi-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme.

The tug boat, Yenegoa Ocean is owned by Nigerian ESL Integrated Services. The pirates captures the ship and its 11 Nigerian crew members in the Gulf of Aden on August 4, 2008, in the Gulf of Arden. The tug was on its way back from Singapore, where it had undergone repairs.

Foreign ships hijacked by Somali pirates have rarely been held longer than four to five months. The Yenegoa Ocean has remained in limbo for 10 months. Talks for its release were at a standstill, but apparently the ransom has been paid, though that has not been confirmed.

The Yenegoa Ocean, which sails under a Panamanian flag and its Nigerian crew were finally released, with out injuries, Friday, June 5th, 2009. The Dutch were providing medical and logistical aid, according to a ministry statement.

The hot spot for pirate activity is the Gulf of Aden, off northern Somalia. That area has the highest risk of piracy anywhere in the world. With over 25,000 ships using the channel south of Yemen between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

Even with multinational vessels…some operating under NATO, the European Union and the United States, patrolling the waters off Somalia and the Gulf of Arden, trying to stop piracy, pirate attacks and hijackings…no ship is safe from those frisky, thieving pirates.

At last count, 14 ships are still being held by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, together with more than 200 seamen, almost a fourth of the seamen are of Filipino decent.

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