Woollerton Shipping as owner and Transeste Schiffahrt as managers of the container ship Tommi Ritscher are pleased to report that eight crew members who were abducted when pirates boarded the vessel at Cotonou anchorage, Benin, on the 19th April have been released and are being repatriated back to their families.
The freed seafarers have undergone medical checks and are in good spirits given their time in captivity. They have been in contact with their families and we ask that they are given privacy as they work to fully recover from their ordeal.
The Owners and Managers wish to thank the crew for their courage and fortitude during this extremely difficult time and their families for their resilience as they waited and hoped. We also thank the Authorities, Government Agencies and specialists who have been instrumental in securing the release of our much-valued seafarers.
Because of the ongoing scourge of piracy, no operational details will be provided about the release of the crew in respect to those seafarers who are still being held or may be abducted in future attacks.
