MOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - Two Russian sailors and one Lithuanian abducted from their ships in Cameroon in May have been freed, the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR) said on Sunday.
The Russian captain and chief engineer of the Greek-owned North Spirit, and the captain from Lithuanian vessel Argo -- abducted on May 16 when unidentified gunmen raided their ships in an attack analysts said marked an expansion in the range of West African piracy -- are on their way to neighbouring Nigeria.
'The negotiation process lasted a month, finally the Union has received good news,' the SUR said in a statement, adding the three would receive a medical check and be met by embassy staff in Nigeria.
ITAR-TASS news agency, citing a SUR spokeswoman, said the Greek ship owner Balthellas Chartering paid a ransom for their release.
The release of the three sailors comes as gunmen attacked two cargo vessels off the coast of the oil-producing Niger Delta, killing one crew and kidnapping 12 foreign workers. .
On Sunday, the SUR said seven of those kidnapped are Russian.
Analysts said May's attack near the port of Douala -- which serves land-locked Chad and the Central African Republic -- showed pirates in the region were venturing further south and becoming more brazen.
Attacks in the Gulf of Guinea have mostly been clustered off the Bakassi Peninsula on the restive Nigeria-Cameroon border where various armed groups operate.
Cameroon in April blamed piracy for part of a 13 percent slide in oil production in 2009. The country's output averaged 73,000 barrels per day last year, down from 84,000 bpd in 2008.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman) Keywords: RUSSIA PIRACY/RELEASE (amie.ferris-rotman@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters messaging: amie.ferris-rotman.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The Russian captain and chief engineer of the Greek-owned North Spirit, and the captain from Lithuanian vessel Argo -- abducted on May 16 when unidentified gunmen raided their ships in an attack analysts said marked an expansion in the range of West African piracy -- are on their way to neighbouring Nigeria.
'The negotiation process lasted a month, finally the Union has received good news,' the SUR said in a statement, adding the three would receive a medical check and be met by embassy staff in Nigeria.
ITAR-TASS news agency, citing a SUR spokeswoman, said the Greek ship owner Balthellas Chartering paid a ransom for their release.
The release of the three sailors comes as gunmen attacked two cargo vessels off the coast of the oil-producing Niger Delta, killing one crew and kidnapping 12 foreign workers. .
On Sunday, the SUR said seven of those kidnapped are Russian.
Analysts said May's attack near the port of Douala -- which serves land-locked Chad and the Central African Republic -- showed pirates in the region were venturing further south and becoming more brazen.
Attacks in the Gulf of Guinea have mostly been clustered off the Bakassi Peninsula on the restive Nigeria-Cameroon border where various armed groups operate.
Cameroon in April blamed piracy for part of a 13 percent slide in oil production in 2009. The country's output averaged 73,000 barrels per day last year, down from 84,000 bpd in 2008.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman) Keywords: RUSSIA PIRACY/RELEASE (amie.ferris-rotman@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters messaging: amie.ferris-rotman.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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