When asked whether the release of the ship also involved military personnel who had been mobilized to free the vessel of PT Samudra Indonesia, he merely said that "everything is being done toward this end".
In the meantime, foreign ministry`s spokesman Michael Tene said he has yet to confirm the release of MV Sinar Kudus by the Somali pirates who had been hijacked since March 16, 2011. He said agreement on releasing the vessel was just between the ship`s owners and the pirates.
Michael also cannot explain about payment of the ransom of 4.5 million US dollars, adding that such agreement was purely between the company and the pirates.
As reported by Reuters, the pirates had already released the Indonesian cargo ship after the owner paid the ransom.
MV Sinar Kudus had been hijacked by the pirates on March 16, 2011 about 512 kilometers north of East Socotra in the Somali waters with a crew of 31, including 20 Indonesians.
The pirates said they had freed the ship after the ransom had been dropped on them by the air.
"We received the 4.5 million US dollars ransom in the small hours of Sunday. We have left the ship and Sinar Kudus was set to start sailing," one of the pirates who told Reuters his name was Geney from a coastal village of El Dhanane.
Former Kenyan marine official and currently editor of marine affairs The Somali Report Andrew Mwangura confirmed that the ship had been released, adding however that they have yet to start sailing.(*)
(T.R018/H-NG/S012)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
