Khyber News

KARACHI: Seven Pakistani crew members of MV Albedo ship, taken hostage by Somali pirates nearly two years ago, have reached home on Thursday.

 

The Kenya-bound ship was hijacked in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden. Families of the seamen and government officials including Governor Sindh Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Shipping Babar Ghauri were also present at Karachi airport to receive the released hostages.

 

Earlier, Negotiator Ahem Chinky said that seven crew members of a Malaysian-owned ship are heading home to Pakistan under a partial ransom deal that still leaves 15 merchant seamen held.

 

Chinky said Pakistani families and groups raised $1.1 million for the release of the crew members from the MV Albino. But that fell short of the $2.85 million sought by the pirates under a deal reached earlier this year by Dubai-based intermediaries.

 

The freed crew passed through Dubai en route to Pakistan on Thursday. The remaining crew still held by pirates includes seven Sri Lankans, six Bangladeshis, one Iranian and one Indian. The Kenya-bound ship was hijacked in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden.