6 tanker crew members seized by pirates freed in W. Africa

Six crew members of a Liberian-flagged tanker who had been held hostage by pirates in March have been freed. Pirates boarded the Monjasa Reformer southwest of Port Pointe-Noire, Congo on March 25. The French navy, which was patrolling the area, eventually found the abandoned tanker with 10 crew members still on board. The pirates kidnapped the other six and brought them on shore in Nigeria. The Danish ship owner said that their ordeal had ended Monday and they were "in a relatively good health condition given the difficult circumstances they have been under in the last more than five weeks.”