Somali pirates release Vietnamese sailors
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Three Vietnamese sailors working aboard a Taiwanese ship that was seized by Somali pirates in May last year have been released along with 25 other crew members after nine months in captivity.
Tran Van Tri, one of the three sailors of the FV Tai Yuan 227, called his family Monday, saying he and others were in stable condition.
He said the sailors were allowed to phone their families three minutes after the release, and they were waiting for the captain to buy air tickets to return home.
On May 6, 2010, the heavily-armed Somali pirates hijacked the Taiwanese long-line fishing vessel approximately 700 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles, an island country in the Indian Ocean.
The boat was carrying 28 crew members, including nine Chinese, seven Kenyans, three Vietnamese, three Filipinos, and two Mozambicans.
In another incident, 24 Vietnamese sailors were held hostage by Somali pirates on January 17 off Oman. They were working on the 22,835-ton bulk carrier MV Hoang Son Sun that is Mongolia-registered and Vietnamese-owned.
