Bulgaria Foreign Ministry Confirms Malaspina Castle Release

Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister, Milen Keremedchiev, confirmed Saturday evening that the 16 kidnapped Bulgarian sailors have been released by their Somali abductors.

The sailors were freed at 5:25 pm Bulgarian time and the "Malaspina Castle" ship has left in the direction of Colombo in Sri Lanka, where it would remain for the next 6 days.

Keremedchiev declined again to state a determined amount for the ransom, adding Bulgaria never undertook any responsibility for the money demanded by the Pirates since these have been relations between the ship's owners and the abductors.

The Malaspina Castle ship was hijacked on April 6, 2009, in the Gulf of Aden. It is UK-owned under Panamanian flag. 16 of its 24-member crew are Bulgarians, and the rest include Russians, Ukrainians, and Filipinos.

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