Somali Pirates Threaten To Kill Captured Tugboat Crew, Including Five Romanians

According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the information comes from the relatives of two of the hostages. The two Italian sailors, Vincenzo Montella and Giovanni Vollaro, managed to contact their families Thursday evening.

Italian tugboat Buccaneer, with a crew of ten Italians, five Romanians and a Croatian, was seized by pirates on April 11 in the Gulf of Aden. The ship is currently anchored near the village of Lasqorey, 110 km west of the port of Bosasso, the economic capital of the Puntland region.

"We ask for maximum interest from the Government. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi must do everything possible to free the hostages from the Somalis,” the sailors’ relatives said.

The government of the Puntland semi-autonomous region said the ship was seized by local militias because it was transporting toxic waste which it planned to dump in Somali waters. This statement was denied by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who asked Somali authorities to clarify the tugboat’s status.