MV Jahan Moni may be released soon
The Bangladesh bulk carrier, MV Jahan Moni, hijacked by pirates in December 2010, may soon be released reports Somalia Report . The average release time for ships hijacked by Somali pirates has steadily risen from 43 days in 2008 to 143 days in 2010. It may well continue to rise in 2011.
The general manager of Brave Royal Shipping Management is quoted as stating "negotiations with the pirates are in progress. Hopefully the hijacked ship and its crewmembers will be released soon." He declined to divulge the steps that have been taken to secure safe release of the ship and its 26 crew, but said that negotiations were ongoing positively through a London-based insurance company.
Hijacked on December 5, 2010, the 26 crew of MV Jahan Moni comprise of 25 Bangladesh nationals with the wife of one of the crew also on board. The vessel was en route from Indonesia, with a cargo of 43,150 tons of nickel ore, heading to Greece via Singapore and through the Suez Canal. Bangladesh-owned and operated, efforts to secure the release of the ship have seen little visible result and has met with repeated assurances that the crew are safe. The pirates had at one stage threatened to kill the 26 crew if the owner failed to meet the mid-February ransom demand.
Over 700 seafarers are held hostage by pirates along the coast of Somalia. Vessels held include yachts, dhows, fishing boats, bulk carriers, general cargo ships, container ships, roll-on-roll-off ships, oil tankers and very large crude oil carriers.
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