Nigerian Pirates Release American Captain and Chief Engineer – UPDATE

PSV C-Retriever. Iimage via Christian/Shipspotting

Update: The release of the two hostages has been confirmed by a U.S. State Department statement to the media.

“We welcome the release of the two U.S. citizens who were kidnapped from the M/V C-Retriever. For privacy reasons, we will not provide any additional information,” a State Department official said in a statement.

“It is the policy of the United States not to pay ransom or encourage the payment of ransom money,” the statement added.

Earlier: Nigerian pirates have released two U.S. sailors kidnapped from an oil supply vessel off the coast of Nigeria last month, according to a report from ABC News. The release of the two men was later reported by CNN, citing confirmation from U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.

The report says that the two men were released over the weekend and are on their way home, according to two U.S. officials the report says.

As gCaptain has reported, the Captain and Chief Engineer of the Edison Chouest-owned, US-flagged platform supply vessel C-Retriever were kidnapped by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea on October 23.

The ABC report says the men were released unharmed after a ransom was paid.

Developing story…

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