Thursday, August 23, 2007
The Danica White was captured by the pirates 1 June in the Arabian Sea while transporting building materials from Dubai to Mombassa, Kenya.
The Foreign Ministry was involved in the negotiations to get the ship and crew released, but there had been much criticism of the way those negotiations were handled. The sailors' families were kept mostly in the dark about what was taking place and were allowed no contact with the sailors since the ship’s hijacking.
Lars Thulesen, head of citizen services for the Foreign Ministry, said the secrecy of the negotiations was for the sailors' own safety and probably a decision which allowed them to be released unharmed.
‘Right now I’m just happy that the hostages are free and we’re concentrating on getting them safely home,’ he said. ‘We’ll deal with the criticism later.’
The pirates originally demanded DKK 8 million for the ship’s release, but its owners, H. Folmer & Co of Copenhagen, had indicated they were only willing to pay DKK 1.9 million. Neither Folmer & Co nor the Foreign Ministry would comment on the final amount paid.
Morten Bach, secretary of employee labour union 3F’s marine division which represents the sailors, said that while he was glad the men are being released, their families have suffered undue stress and anguish.
‘We’re extremely angry that it took such a long time and that the process has been so deceitful,’ said Bach. ‘The ministry has continually supported the shipping company and its advisors despite their primary interests being vested in the ship and cargo rather than getting the crew home safely.’
Bach said he believed the ransom was finally paid because 3F had threatened to contact the pirates themselves through an independent negotiator and pay the demanded sum.
The Danica White and its crew are to be escorted to the tiny republic of Djibouti north of Somalia in the next few days.
Source: Copenhagen Post, Aug 23, 2007