The ship manager of the chemical tanker Davide B has made contact with the 15 crew members currently being held hostage by pirates and negotiations are underway for their release.
In an update on Wednesday, De Poli Shipmanagement confirmed that the crew members are together and “doing well under the difficult circumstances.”
The seafarers were kidnapped from the chemical tanker on March 11 in the Gulf of Guinea approximately 210 nautical miles south of Cotonou, Benin. Six others remained on board and were reported safe.
“De Poli Shipmanagement remain committed to do everything possible to secure the earliest and safe release of its seafarers, which remains its overriding priority,” the company said in its update.
“De Poli Shipmanagement will not provide any further information on the dialogue with those holding our seafarers in order not to jeopardize the safety of our seafarers and would ask that this position to be respected.”
The MT Davide B was on a commercial voyage from Riga, Latvia to Lagos, Nigeria at the time of the attack. The vessel is flying the Maltese flag.
The company has been in contact with the families of the kidnapped seafarers and has updated them on the situation.
