Release of Georgian seamen captured by pirates postponed till end of May

Somalia pirates have again postponed the release date of Georgia seamen. The Greek company-ship-owner failed to raise the money necessary for the ransom. In a month, seamen's relatives intend to start legal proceedings in order to compel the Greek party to pay the ransom.

Let us remind you that on September 8, 2010, Somalia pirates seized in the Gulf of Aden a tanker named "Oilb G" sailing under the guise of Malta.

Anatoly Chidzhanadze, leader of the Seamen's Union in Batumi, reports that captured seamen' relatives have recently stopped their contacts with public organizations and get in touch directly with the lawyers of the Greek company. Nevertheless, the trade unions are trying to monitor the situation around the hostages.

"As far as I know, the ship-owners were ready to pay money, but the pirates refuse to agree: they are not satisfied with the amount, then, they move some other conditions," Mr Chidzhanadze told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent and added the pirates fail to follow any legal or moral laws.

As noted by Anatoly Chidzhanadze and Sergo Devadze, recent months saw changes in the attitude of the company-owner to the problem. "If earlier they tried to bargain with pirates, today they put seamen's lives as priority," said Anatoly Chidzhanadze.

In spite of the Greek company's promises to return the seamen to their families in a month and particular steps taken, relatives are ready for extreme measures. "We've warned the ship-owners by a letter that if in a month the agreement fails, we'll turn to the Greek justice - hire lawyers to claim the amount required for ransom. So far, we see no other way out," said Sergey Devadze.

The leader of the Seamen's Union Anatoly Chidzhanadze said that the majority of Georgian seamen do not even sign contracts with ship-owners; therefore, legal relationships with the companies are difficult. "For example, our trade union has no right to demand any compensation from the Greek company in respect of captured seamen, because there are no legal obligations or international agreements in this regard. The only thing that the union could do was drawing public attention to the case of captured seamen," said Chidzhanadze.