Norwegian MT Bow Asir freed

On April 10 Somali pirate sources said that the captured MT Bow Asir tanker would be released after a $2.4 million ransom was agreed with its owners. Shortly after the ship was freed.

“After much bargaining, my friends reached a $2.4 million ransom deal with the Norwegian ship held near Hobyo,” a pirate in nearby Haradheere port told Reuters.

The 23,000-tonne Bahamas-registered chemical tanker, which was captured in Somalia on March 26, was carrying caustic soda and operated by Salhus Shipping in Haugesund, Norway.

Bjørnar Vågeng (46) from Finnmark, Norway is the captain on the ship, in addition the crew consists of 19 Filipinos, five Poles, one Russian and one Lithuanian. The entire crew is unhurt.