Kidnapping in Nigeria: The 12 hostages, among them a Romanian, are OK – navigators’ trade union representative says

The 12 hostages captured last Saturday by the pirates off the coast on Nigeria, from aboard a Swiss ship, among them a Romanian citizen, are all right, the Navigators’ Free Trade Union (SLN) has announced on Friday.

SLN leader, Adrian Mihalcioiu, also an International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) representative in Romania, said that the company owning the ship has got in touch with the kidnappers.

“The company has informed that the crew members are together, all of them are all right and unharmed,” Mihalcioiu said in a press release.

He reminded that the navigators have the right to turn down navigation requests in the regions with high risks. In this case, the repatriation is done at the expense of the company, plus a bonus of two-month wage.

Pirates kidnapped 12 crew members from a Swiss cargo vessel in Nigerian waters on Saturday, September 22. A Romanian is one of them. He was part of the crew of a ship under Swiss flag. The 12 seamen who were kidnapped by the pirates off the Nigerian coast are from Romania, the Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, has activated the Crisis Cell to be in permanent contact with the local authorities.

Switzerland has also activated a crisis cell.

Massoel Shipping said early this week that its vessel, MV Glarus (photo), was carrying wheat from Lagos to Port Harcourt when it was attacked on Saturday, as bbc.co.uk informed. “The pirate gang boarded the Glarus by means of long ladders and cut the razor wire on deck,” the firm said.