KUALA LUMPUR: Red tape is delaying the return of crew members of the two hijacked Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC) chemical tankers MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima.
MISC Group corporate affairs general manager Fiona Clare Pereira said they were unsure when the crew members would be able to fly home as documentation had to be completed first. "As we also have a deceased crew member, the documentation is a bit more complicated and Djibouti authorities need some time before they can make the necessary clearances," she said. Family members of the crew were yesterday given a briefing by MISC officers.
Pereira said the briefing was to reassure the families that their loved ones were safe.The families were also told that a trauma team was there to assist them."We are explaining to them that there is a documentation process that the crew have to go through before they are allowed to come home." The two ships and their crews were released late last month after ransoms were paid to the pirates.MISC did not disclose the ransom amount, but media reports claimed that the firm had paid US$2 million (RM6.9 million) for the release of each vessel.The ships were later escorted to Djibouti by Malaysian navy vessels.
The remaining crew members were reported to be safe. MT Bunga Melati Dua, with 29 Malaysians and 10 Filipinos on board, was hijacked off the coast of Somalia on Aug 19. MT Bunga Melati Lima, with 36 Malaysians and five Filipinos on board, was hijacked off the coast of Yemen on Aug 29.
By Fay Angela D'cruzfa
source: New Straits Times, Malaysia
http://samotalis.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment