Somali pirates free Korean-owned bulk carrier

NAIROBI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Somali pirates have freed a Korean-owned bulk carrier they hijacked three months ago, a regional maritime official said on Tuesday.
The Panama-flagged, Japanese-operated African Sanderling was seized with its 21 Filipino crew on Oct. 15, all of whom were in good health. It was not clear if any ransom had been paid. "The vessel was released very late on Sunday night, but we just got word of it now," Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme told Reuters.
His organisation has been tracking a sharp rise in piracy off Somalia and in the busy Gulf of Aden. Last year, gunmen from the anarchic Horn of Africa nation hijacked dozens of ships and made tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments.
The attacks have raised insurance costs, prompted some owners to sent their ships around South Africa instead of via the Suez Canal and triggered an unprecedented deployment by foreign navies. more..http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LD075519.htm
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