Ship with SL crew released

Somali pirates have released the Saudi owned tanker Al Nisr al Saudi with its crew including 13 Sri Lankans. They had demanded a US$ 20 million ransom for the release of tanker hijacked in March this year.

The ship has a 14 member crew and 13 are Sri Lankans. The Captain is a Greek.

The tanker was heading to Jeddah from Japan. Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry officials told the Daily News yesterday that the tanker would reach Jeddah within the next two weeks.