Kidnapped Turkish sailors released after weeks in captivity

Fifteen mariners kidnapped by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea are being examined by health officials, before returning home to Turkey.

Aljazeera reports that fifteen mariners kidnapped from the MV Mozart on 23rd January have been released. The Mozart was boarded in the Gulf of Guinea, 100nm NW of Sao Tome, and was en route to Cape Town from Lagos. One Azerbaijani crew member died in the attack.

She was one of several vessels to be targeted in the area by pirates in recent months. NTV Television in Turkey said the seamen were brought to Nigeria and are undergoing health checks. They will be taken home to Turkey from Abuja, said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Speaking to Turkish state TV, Levan Karsen, an executive from ship owners, Boden Shipping, said: “This wasn’t a political kidnapping. This kind of kidnapping happens in that region, unfortunately, and is completely aimed at getting ransom.”

Negotiations to obtain the release of the mariners were handled by a British team in Hamburg, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. He gave no further details. Maritime security experts, Dryad Global said the incident was “exceptional… for both its severity and distance from shore.