Pirates Release Crew Kidnapped from Containership Off Nigeria in October

Pomerania Sky. Photo: MarineTraffic.com

Pirates kidnapped all 11 crew, including eight Polish nationals, from the Pomerenia Sky on October 28 as the ship was bound for the Nigerian port of Onne.

WARSAW, Dec 18 (Reuters) – All of the crew kidnapped by pirates from a container ship off the coast of Nigeria in October, including eight Polish nationals, are safe and will be reunited with their families, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We would like to thank the shipowner, its co-workers and advisers for their professional handling of this difficult matter. We are grateful also to the Nigerian authorities,” the statement said.

The attackers targeted the MV Pomerenia Sky, a container ship owned by Midocean (IOM) Ltd and headed for the Nigerian port of Onne, in October.

Kidnappings are common in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. The Polish Foreign Ministry said it was the fifth kidnapping of Poles there since 2013.

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.

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