Somalia pirates who captured Georgian seamen contact the ship owner

On September 12, the Somalia pirates, who on September 8 captured a vessel with citizens of Georgia onboard, have established a contact with the ship owner - the Greek ship-owning company "Frio Ventures". This was reported by Sergo Devadze, representative of the Greek party and director of the Georgian company "Greenwich-21st".

The "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier that in the morning on September 8 Somalia pirates captured the tanker Oilb G in the Gulf of Aden, where the crew consists of 15 citizens of Georgia and three citizens of Turkey.

According to Mr Devadze, so far the pirates have moved no claims and named no ransom value for the vessel and the crew.

The IA "News-Georgia" reports that Sergo Devadze's son - captain assistant - is among the captured seamen; the pirates allowed him to contact his family and report that "the state of health of the members of the crew is normal, and no pressure is exerted on them."

Sergo Devadze assumes that the pirates will tell the conditions of release of the crew during their next contact. According to his version, the ship-owning company confirms its readiness to agree to any pirates' conditions for liberating the crew and the ship. He has noted that the company does not consider a possibility to conduct a special operation against the aggressors, as in this case, according to the director of the company, the members of the crew will be in danger.

Azhdar Kurtov, an expert of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, has noted in his comments on Georgia's chances in fighting pirates that "far more militarily and politically powerful nations also lack such chances." In his opinion, it is very difficult to struggle with Somalia pirates, as the country has no stable power, while pirates are supported by the population, the "GeorgiaTimes" reports.