Somali Pirates Release Italian Tanker Enrico Ievoli and Crew

Somali pirates have released the Italian chemical tanker M/T Enrico Ievoli and its 18 crewmembers almost four months after being hijacked off the coast of Oman, the foreign ministry in Rome said on Monday.

The Italian flagged and owned M/T Enrico Ievoli was hijacked on December 27 off the coast of Oman while on its way to a rendezvous point for a Chinese armed convoy.  The vessel had a crew of 18 — 6 Italian, 5 Ukranian and 7 Indian — and was carrying 15,750mt of caustic soda when she was hijacked.

Once hijacked, the vessel made headlines in early January when a group of 10 pirates heading for the vessel were arrested by police from Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland and again later in the month when the vessel was reportedly being used to conduct mothership operations in the Gulf of Aden.

The Enrico Ievoli is owned by Marnavi, who confirmed on its website that the vessel is “back under control of the owner and under the command of its Master”.

No word yet how much ransom was paid for the vessels release.

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