BARTAMAHA (JEDDAH): The pirated Saudi ship, Al-Nasr Al-Saudi, and its crew, arrived at Jeddah port safely Tuesday after being held by Somali pirates for about nine months.

Sabarullah Khan, Sri Lankan Consul General in Jeddah, and Munir A. Gondal, General Manager of International Bunkering Ltd., visited the vessel to get a first-hand account of the crew’s plight.

The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in March 2010 along with its Greek captain and 13 Sri Lankan crew members. The vessel was sailing from Japan to Jeddah when it was hijacked by pirates along the Yemeni coast. Since then it was anchored on the Somali coast. In early December the pirates released the vessel and the crew after receiving ransom money from the owners of the vessel, said Khan.

He explained that the crew members, after their nine-month captivity, first sailed the vessel to Salalah Port in Oman. On Dec. 23, the captain and 11 Sri Lankan crew members took flights to their home countries via Muscat. Two of the Sri Lankan crew members, a second officer and the cook, continued their voyage to Jeddah along with the new captain and crew arranged by the owner, said Khan. “We are pleased and relieved.”

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Source:-Saudi Gazette

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