Two Russian sailors taken hostage by pirates who hijacked Greek freighter North Spirit off Cameroon in mid-May have contacted the company owning the vessel, Balthellas Chartering S.A., and told it they are well, the Russian trade union of sailors said on Friday.
Captain Boris Tersintsev and chief mechanic Igor Shumik are part of the North Spirit’s 16-member Russian-Ukrainian crew.
The day the Greek vessel was hijacked, May 16, pirates also raided nearby Lithuanian ship Argo and abducted its captain, Dmitry Bashkirov.
The three captives are awaiting the outcome of current talks, the Russian sailors union said in a report posted on its website. "The exact whereabouts of the sailors held captive are unclear," it said.
On May 16, an armed group attacked the North Spirit as it was anchored off Cameroon. The pirates plundered the crew’s cabin and took the captain and chief mechanic hostage. The same evening pirates attacked Lithuanian ship Argo nearby and, threatening weapons, forced him to go over into their bat and took him away in an unknown direction.
There was no news of the three sailors until May 20, when the pirates allowed the Russian captain to phone Barthellas Chartering. Tersintsev told the company he and the other two captives were in Nigeria currently.
After that, the Russian sailors union contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian Embassy in Cameroon. Russia’s top criminal investigation body took up the North Spirit hijacking case.
