Tuesday, August 18, 2009
I feel that what the hijackers did was extremely wrong as the ship, carrying a cargo of timber worth US$2 million (S$2.9 million) and a crew of 15. Others who need the timber might be affected badly as they need it and the families of the people who were hostages will be very worried, too.'These hijackers boarded the Arctic Sea and, using the threat of arms, demanded that the crew follow all of their orders without condition,' news agencies quoted Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as telling President Dmitry Medvedev.
Thankfully, the crew of 15, was rescued without a shot fired, Mr Serdyukov said, adding that the crew were safe and had been taken aboard the naval vessel Ladny for questioning. The masked hijackers had boarded the freighter on the night of July 24 under the pretext that there was a problem with their inflatable craft. The armed hijackers then forced the crew to change course and turned off the freighter's navigation equipment.
- 8:20 PM;