Tanker Aegean Star. Photo courtesy of www.vesseltracker.com
Pirates have freed the Greek tanker Aegean Star which sails under the Liberian flag, seized on Saturday off the coast of Benin. This was reported by the company which owns the ship “Aegean Bunkering Services Inc”.
According to the company spokesman, all 20 crew members are alive and well.
At approximately 20:00 local time, the pirates released the oil tanker.
According to the Greek Coast Guard the Aegean Star was captured on Saturday by ten armed pirates 30 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria. However, the company owner subsequently clarified that the seizure had occurred 12.5 nautical miles off the coast of Benin.
The tanker with a deadweight of 11,000,520 tons was traveling from Ghana to Benin.
After the release of the ship it headed back to Ghana for reasons not explained.