How know what is happened with hijacked Indian Ocean Explorer

[muha]

Hi halemo,

I read all these “news” on the web, but they are confusing and probably not accurate. Also, I send several emails to Indian Ocean Explorer, but didn’t get any response, that is way I ask divers community may somebody has information about what’s happened.

With best regards!
P.S. Many thanks for your time!

 

[DandyDon]

cdnn is blocked here so I can't even see the cdnn site . . . maybe theres reason for it . . .

interesting to know what they say Thanks Randy!

It's not blocked here. Used to be, but that caused curiosity - so now it is openly linked, and criticized.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

How know what is happened with hijacked Indian Ocean Explorer live-aboard scuba diving boat?

.....

I can’t fiend any information.

Your welcome.

Just answering the question in your original post, taking into consideration your final statement in said OP.

Web news of crew released and vessel probably still held seems accurate and straight forward.

 

[muha]

NAIROBI (AFP) — Pirates torched a Seychelles vessel off the coast of Somalia after releasing its seven crew members for a ransom, two members of the pirate group said Wednesday.

The Indian Ocean Explorer, a maritime research ship from the Seychelles islands, was captured by Somali pirates between March 28 and 31 in the Indian Ocean. The seven crew members were released without the ship and they returned home on Tuesday.

"We set fire to it three nights ago," said Abdullahi Qaaray, a member of the pirate group who acted as an interpreter during the ransom negotiations. "We had asked the owners for a million dollars but in the end he paid us only 450,000 dollars," he told AFP by phone from a village near Haradhere. "We said we would burn the ship because he was refusing to pay all the ransom. And the owner told us that we could sink it or burn it... We used some fuel and set it on fire, the ship is sunk now, you cannot even see it anymore."

Qaaray insisted that destroying the ship was not a condition set by the owner for the payment of the ransom but only a decision made by the pirates to ensure the valuable marine exploration vessel could not be recovered.

Abdi Ganey, one of the gunmen in the pirate group, also confirmed the ship was destroyed. "We released the hostages after an agreement was reached but the owners were really reluctant to negotiate," he told AFP. "They paid us a small amount and there was no way they were getting the ship, it had to go." Officials in Somalia confirmed that the ship was destroyed.