Ship owner company will pay the ransom for the Georgian sailors by the end of the month

The Greek ship owner company has promised the relatives of the sailors captured by Somali pirates that the men would be released at the end of February.

"The Greek ship owner company has promised us that the problem would be solved at the end of the month. The company would pay the respective ransom the exact sum of which is still kept in secret in the interests of the sailors' safety", Sergo Devadze, father of one of the captured Georgian sailors David Devadze, said.

The Trade Union of Georgian sailors has no information at its disposal on the sailors' state and their possible release. "Only Sergo Devadze is in contact with the Greek ship owner company, so we do not get the latest news on the state of affairs", "Medianews" quotes a representative of the Trade Union.

Meanwhile, trade unions are going on collecting money for paying the ransom to the Somali pirates. Irakly Petriashvili, Chairman of the United Trade Unions of Georgia, told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot" that the pirates made no changes to their demands and insisted on the ransom sum of one million dollars. He however considers that the abductors could be now satisfied with half of the sum although they had disagreed with getting part of the sum before and threatened to kill the hostages and sink the vessel.

It should be mentioned that UNO has declared "struggle against piracy" as the theme of the World Sea Day in 2011. During the past two years only pirates have captured almost two thousand sailors who are sometimes used as a "human shield" for new attacks. Pirates annually get up to 200 million US dollars as a ransom.

Speaking at a press conference Ban Ki-moon declared that piracy was a global threat and it was necessary to oppose it by a wraparound strategy aimed at deterrence, providing security, supremacy of law and development.

700 people and 30 vessels are currently in the pirates' prison, the merchant ship of Frio Ventures Greek company which was captured by Somali pirates on September, 8, 2010, in the Gulf of Aden, among them. The crew of the vessel consists of 15 Georgian citizens and three Turkish sailors. The pirates have demanded a ransom to the sum of one million dollars.

Besides, Oleg Nodia aged 41, another citizen of Georgia, is staying in MV HANNIBAL II tanker captured by Somali pirates last November.