Pirates Release Three Sailors Kidnapped from VLCC Off Nigeria

ATHENS, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Three crew members of a Maltese-flagged supertanker, who have been kidnapped by pirates three weeks in the past off Nigeria, have been launched, Greece’s overseas ministry stated on Wednesday.

The Kalamos crude provider was heading to Nigeria’s most important oil terminal when it was attacked on Feb. 3. The pirates killed the ship’s Greek deputy captain and escaped with three crew members — one Pakistani and two Greeks.

All three at the moment are secure and present process medical exams, the ministry stated, declining to supply additional info on their launch.

“We have asked the Greek ambassador in Nigeria to offer them accommodation and assist them with everything they need,” stated overseas ministry spokesman Konstantinos Koutras.

The ministry couldn’t affirm reviews {that a} ransom of $400,000 was paid. The vessel’s supervisor, the Athens-based Aeolos Management SA, was not instantly obtainable for remark.

The Kalamos tanker had been crusing at Qua Iboe, a waterway between Cameroon and Nigeria, when it was attacked, in an incident which highlighted the rising risk of violence off oil-rich West Africa. (Reporting by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos; Editing by Crispian Balmer)