KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2020) The owner of the Rio Mitong cargo ship is in talks with pirates believed to have kidnapped a Ukrainian sailor from the vessel in the Gulf of Guinea, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said Friday.
"A shipowner's representative informed us on May 15 that talks had begun with pirates who captured a Ukrainian crew member of the Rio Mitong," Serhii Pohoreltsev, head of the Foreign Ministry's directorate general for consular service, told the UNN news agency.
He did not disclose details of the negotiations but said the sailor's health was deemed satisfactory.
The ship was approached by a speedboat near Equatorial Guinea's port of Malabo on May 9, the maritime security firm Dryad Global said. The pirates apparently used ladders to board the ship and kidnapped two crew members, believed to be a Ukrainian and a Russian.
