Somali pirates release Greek ship - pirate also..NATO extends anti-piracy mission off Somalia

BOSASSO, Somalia, April 25 (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released a Greek ship they captured a couple of months ago after receiving a $1.9 million ransom, one pirate told Reuters on Saturday. "My friends have released the Greek ship after $1.9 million ransom was paid," said Hussein, a pirate. He could not give the name of the ship. "My friends are now getting off the ship and it will soon sail away." Earlier this month, a sea gang operating off Somalia's coast grabbed a Greek merchant marine, the MV Irene E.M., with 22 Filipino crew members.
They also seized the Greek-owned Nipayiya on March 25. The Panama-registered ship was taken 450 miles from Somalia's south coast. On Saturday pirates hijacked the 31,000-tonne German grain carrier Patriot and its crew of 17 in the Gulf of Aden. (Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan, writing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura) news ## for search indexer, do not remove -->

NATO extends anti-piracy mission off Somalia

BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - NATO said on Friday it would extend a month-long anti-piracy mission off Somalia until June 20 and cancel port visits to Singapore and Australia.
A four-ship task force will resume operations in the Gulf of Aden after concluding a brief visit to Karachi in Pakistan because of the worsening impact of piracy on shipping in the region, NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. The task force had been due to conclude its mission off Somalia last Thursday. It will not now make planned port visits to Singapore or Australia, she said. Ambassadors of the 28-nation military alliance took the decision to extend the one-month mission at a meeting in Brussels...more..http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LO141325.htm