Somali pirates release MV Rak Afrikana but vessel begins to sink some time afterwards
It was reported that marine authorities received a distress call from the MV Rak Afrikana stating that the vessel had a ‘hole in the hull’ and was taking on large amounts of water. The vessel had been released by Somali pirates only a matter of hours earlier.
The EU NAVFOR Spanish warship, SPS Canarias, was immediately sent to assist the stricken vessel and was joined later by the Italian warship ITS Zeffiro, which arrived first and conducted the rescue operation. The master of the vessel at that time stated that the ship would probably sink in about 5 hours. 25 crewmembers abandoned the Rak Afrikana and took to the lifeboats. The crew were rescued by Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) from the Italian warship shortly afterward. The SPS Canarias resumed her EU Counter-Piracy duties once the situation was resolved. Further details concerning the condition of the Rak Afrikana are not known at present, although a later report claims the crew were placed on MV York, which has just been released. OCEANUSLive will monitor and report when further details are known.
Somali pirates had boarded the St Vincent & Grenadines-flagged MV Rak Afrikana 280nm off the Seychelles on April 11, 2010, taking the crewmembers hostage. There is no information on the cause of the damage that led to the distress call. The rescued crew members are reported to be in satisfactory condition considering that they have been held captive for the last 332 days . The crewmembers were released by pirates and Indian authorities stated that the 11 freed Indian crew were being taken to Kenya before being brought back to India. Some reports state a ransom was paid, although the initial demand had been as much as $7 million, the exact amount has not been confirmed. The Indian Foreign Secretary, 
Nirupama Rao, stated the crewmen were "safe" via Twitter. Negotiations for the release of Indian hostages is "delicate" and "prolonged". Prior to the release of the 11 Indian crewmembers, 79 Indians from 7 ships were held captive by pirates.
Negotiations are in progress to release 6 Indians, along with 4 Pakistanis, 4 Sri Lankans and 11 Egyptians, aboard another vessel, the Egyptian ship, MV Suez, reports say. Anxiety has risen over the original deadline for the conclusion of the negotiations which was for Wednesday, March 9. India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says the ruling Congress party-led government is not doing enough to secure the release of Indians taken hostage by Somali pirates.Foreign Minister SM Krishna said the government was "doing all that we can. We are in touch with the ship owners. We are depending upon ship owners, as is done in most cases, to negotiate with the pirates," to secure their release. He added that 136 of 215 Indians taken hostage by the pirates over the last year had already been freed. Krishna also stated that they were in contact with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and with the Egyptian Ambassador to India who has promised to assist in the safe and quick release of the hostages.
It had been announced the that newly chosen ambassador to Somalia, Sibabrata Tripathia, had attended a highly decorated ceremony opening the Indian embassy at Villa Baidoa in Mogadishu in Somalia, only recently.
Last month, the Indian Navy and Coastguard had captured 28 Somali pirates in the waters off the west coast of India who were handed over to the police. Investigations for possible terrorist links are underway.
(MV RAK Afrikana image source: convenientflags)
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