Italian Vessel, Rosalia D'Amato Released by Pirates
And so it ends after more than seven months in captivity, Rosalia D'Amato, is reported to have been released by Somali pirates. We do not know the conditions of seafarers on board. The news is not official confirmation but sources close to the shipowner, it seems that now everything has been resolved. CONFIRMATION BY BOARD: WE [Libero Reporter] JUST TALKED WITH THE CAPTAIN The audio from the call HERE.
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| Italian Rosalia D'Amato Freed (Photo: Somalia Report) |
The news had circulated for several days. Now comes the confirmation, Libero Reporter goes on to say here (Italian language report).
The Rosalia D'Amato is free. Now, finally, hopefully we can learn more about tuberculosis cases on board the ship, says the shipowner, Perseverance Navigation SpA, when rumours of the ships' release was heard a few hours ago. It is at this moment, en route to the Oman. The Rosalia D'Amato had been boarded by Somali pirates last April 21, in the Indian Ocean. The ship was headed to the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, Iran, from Brazil, with a cargo of soya.
Although the various tracking sites shown a route that ran from South Africa to the southern tip of India, the vessel flying the Italian flag, chose instead to 'navigate the sea of pirates, passing between the east coast of Africa and the Island of Madagascar, ending in waters infested by Somali pirates'. More than seven months of detention, with many other ship of the West, but there are those who are doing no better than the freed Italian carrier, says Fratelli D'Amato, owner of the Savina Caylyn, held for over nine months in the hands of pirates. The similarity of names is no accident: the D'Amato are a family of shipowners. Perseverance Navigation SpA, owner of Rosalia D'Amato, who is headed to Angelo D'Amato, the grandson of Louis D'Amato, who is instead the head of the shipping company that owns the Savina Caylyn, Fratelli D'Amato. The odyssey of Rosalia D'Amato is now over and we need to see what state of health are actually seafarers on board. The Savina Caylyn remains in the hands of Somali pirates.
The Rosalia D'Amato has a crew of 21 comprising of 6 Italians (listed as: Horace Lanza, the commander from Messina; Anthony Jerome, chief engineer from Mazara del Vallo (Trapani); Gennaro Odoaldo, third mate, Vincent Ambrosino, assistant engineer officer, both from Procida (Naples) , Giuseppe Maresca, second mate from VicoEquense (Naples), and Pasquale Massa chief mate of Meta di Sorrento, but resident in Belgium) and 15 Filipinos. During captivity, 5 of the crew were reported to be suffering from high blood pressure during that time and the shipowner struggled to get medication to them.
No official word has been received concerning the payment of any ransom, however, pirates have made confusing claims that a ransom of US$600,000 or US$6 million was paid by air-drop. They had originally demanded US$7 million in ransom.
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