27 Thai crewmen held by Somali pirates return home

BANGKOK, April 20 - The crew of a Thai-flagged ship -- 27 men -- kidnapped in December by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa arrived home Wednesday after the shipowners paid a $5 million ransom to the hijackers.

All 27 men on board the MV Thor Nexus, belonging to Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA), arrived on Qatar Airways at Suvarnabhumi Airport Wednesday noon after being held by the Somali pirates for more than a hundred days.

Ship captain Noppadon Nanthalak, 39, said on arriving that the Thor Nexus was hijacked and looted by the pirates last Dec 23 while it was enroute to Chittagong in Bangladesh laden with bagged agricultural products after having left from the United Arab Emirates.

He said the armed hijackers forced him to sail the ship to the Somali coast and demanded ransom from the shipowner's company.

Mr Noppadon said all 27 men were in good spirits as they had talked with their families and the shipowner during their detention and had kept hope in surviving and returning to Thailand.

The released captain said he is glad to be back to Thailand and wants to see his family, but will have to decide whether he will go back to work with a cargo ship.

According to Thor Nexus owner Thoresen Thai Agencies, the Somali pirates freed the ship and its crew members after the company dropped the $5 million ransom by a small aircraft to the pirates on April 11. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-04-20

Thank god and welcome home people.

Those pirates need to be stopped, pronto.

Thank god and welcome home people.

Those pirates need to be stopped, pronto.

it took so long ...........

i wander how they could survive?........... what do they eat and drink? in a prison camp.

Thank god and welcome home people.

Those pirates need to be stopped, pronto.

it took so long ...........

i wander how they could survive?........... what do they eat and drink? in a prison camp.

Good to see all got home safely. Hope they're over their ordeal soon.

Sit down and enjoy your barra and durian.

too bad the ships are not set up to spray some fuel on the pirates when they try to board

This improving ship protection and fighting ability is a good move but:

I am quite sure that fighting small sea battles with pirates when and where they choose is not a successful strategy. We must cooperate globally and go after destroying their supporting infrastructure - their mother ships and the ports that allow pirate activity.