Japanese tanker MV Chemstar Venus freed by Somali pirates

Sunday, February 15, 2009

MV Chemstar Venus, a chemical tanker flagged in Panama and owned by a Japanese firm, has been freed by pirates in Somalia. The vessel has a crew of 23 and a cargo of chemicals that has not been identified.

The ship was seized on November 15 and has a crew of five South Koreans and eighteen Filipinos. She was released Thursday, with the news announced Friday by an anonymous diplomat in Nairobi, Kenya. It is unclear if a ransom was paid.

There has recently been a sharp rise in pirate attacks after a lull in January, thought to be a result of a combination of stormy weather finally subsiding and pirates seeking to replenish their stock of captive vessels after seven recent releases. Six ships were attacked across Wednesday and Thursday.

A Russian battlecruiser named after Peter the Great detained ten suspected pirates who were moving in on a fishing trawler registered in Iran. They seized drugs, rifles and a large amount of cash and military prosecutors are now interviewing the men.

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Sources

"Somali pirates free Japanese-owned ship" — International Herald Tribune, February 13, 2009
Andrew Njuguna. "Somali Pirates release Japanese ship" — Associated Press, February 13, 2009

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

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Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.