Vietnamese shipping firm Hoang Son paid $2.6m in ransom to Somali pirates in exchange for the safety of 24 crew members, Seatrade Asia online reports.
Nguyen Truong Son, deputy general director at Hoang Son, revealed the payment after the crew members returned to Hanoi last Friday.
“We had to pay the pirates $2.6m. The money was from our own company,” Son told reporters.
He added that the Vietnamese sailors will undergo health checks, but gave no details about the piracy attack or the treatment of the crew.
The 22,835-tonne bulk carrier Hoang Son Sun was attacked by pirates on 20 January and captured about 520 nautical miles southeast of Muscat, Oman.
Nguyen Truong Son, deputy general director at Hoang Son, revealed the payment after the crew members returned to Hanoi last Friday.
“We had to pay the pirates $2.6m. The money was from our own company,” Son told reporters.
He added that the Vietnamese sailors will undergo health checks, but gave no details about the piracy attack or the treatment of the crew.
The 22,835-tonne bulk carrier Hoang Son Sun was attacked by pirates on 20 January and captured about 520 nautical miles southeast of Muscat, Oman.