somali pirates

The Romanian sailor aboard the ship Rim, which was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, on February 2, told his girlfriend that the pirates are threatening to kill him Tuesday if they are not paid a $400,000 ransom.

Somali pirates who captured UK-flagged ship St. James Park and North Korea-flagged cargo vessel Rim, with three Romanian sailors aboard, opened fire against a ship which approached them Tuesday night, said non-governmental organization Ecoterra, cited by website australia.to.

A North Korean-flagged and Libyan-owned cargo ship hijacked on Wednesday south of the Yemeni coast has one Romanian and nine Syrian sailors aboard, said Thursday Adrian Mihalcioiu, an official of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

Somali pirates hijacked a Greek cargo ship in the Indian Ocean on Sunday with 28 crew members on board, including one Romanian, whose nationality was confirmed by the Romanian Foreign Ministry Monday.

Eight of the eleven Romanian sailors in the crew of Victoria, an Antiguan ship, who were kidnapped Tuesday by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, are from the Romanian city of Constanta, while the rest are from the counties of Prahova, Dambovita and Galati.