Somali pirates say hijacked ship Abdullah released after $5 million ransom was paid
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A boat sailing next to shipping vessel Abdullah in a screengrab from a social media video released on March 12
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
MOGADISHU – Somali pirates have released the hijacked ship Abdullah and its crew of 23 early on April 14 after a US$5 million (S$6.8 million) ransom was paid, said two of the pirates.
One of the pirates, Abdirashiid Yusuf, said: “The money was brought to us two nights ago... We checked whether the money was fake or not. Then we divided the money into groups and left, avoiding the government forces.”
He added that the ship had been released with all its crew.
Somalia’s government officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The Abdullah, a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier – a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo – was hijacked in March as it was heading from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates.
The hijacking happened about 600 nautical miles east of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
Somali pirates caused chaos in the waters off the country’s long coastline from about 2008 to 2018. They were dormant until late 2023, when pirate activity started to pick up again.
Maritime sources said pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group while war rages in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. REUTERS
