News: MV Panama Released After $7m Ransom

Container ship, MSC Panama, released by Somali pirates following $7 million ransom payment

Somali pirates freed the Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Panama seized last December after receiving a $7 million ransom on Tuesday, pirates holding the ship told Reuters.

The vessel was hijacked on December 10 last year, around 80nm East of Dasr es Salaam whilst en route from Tanzania to Mozambique with a crew of 23 from Myanmar.
"We received the agreed ransom of $7 million early in the morning after long negotiations. Now we have abandoned the ship and it is sailing away safely," a pirate who gave his name as Abdi, told Reuters.

MSC Panama will be met by a Mombasa-based Sierra Leone-flagged logistic supply vessel, MT Solstar, to assist with her departure from captivity, according to maritime sources in speaking to Somalia Report. Armed security guards are also on MT Solar to assist the vessel and crew.
MSC Panama is reported to have been carrying consumer goods, which may, in all likelihood, have been looted from the damaged containers by the pirates, and sold in mainland market places.

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