Two hostages freed: Officer

Two hostages freed: Officer

Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

After more than a week, a group of criminals claiming to be
members of the secessionist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Sunday
finally freed two hostages, a senior Navy officer said on Monday.

The hostages, both crew members on the tanker Tri Samudra
Intermoda, were flown to Jakarta after PT Humpuss Transport Tbk.,
the owner of the ship, paid a ransom of Rp 600 million
(US$64,000). This was less than the Rp 2 billion earlier demanded
by the pirates, said Lt. Col. Nora Lelyana, chief of Dumai Naval
Base.

The officer said that the tanker was hijacked on Saturday,
March 12. "The two are in good health," she said.

Nora said that the release had not involved security
personnel. The pirates had threatened that they would kill the
hostages if they discovered security personnel involved in the
negotiations.

From Lhokseumawe waters, the two were taken to a Lhokseumawe
beach, then transported to Medan by car, where the exchange of
ransom and hostages took place between the pirates and
representatives of PT Humpuss Transport.

The two hostages were identified as Made Marjuned, the tanker
captain, and Andi Sulaiman, the head machinist.

The tanker, which was carrying methanol, was on its way from
Samarinda, East Kalimantan to Medan. It was hijacked by a group
of 30 armed men in Berhala waters, North Sumatra on March 12.

The pirates stole Rp 25 million from the tanker's crew, and
took hostage two crew members.

The remaining 14 crew then took the ship to the Sei Pakning
seaport in Bengkalis regency, Riau province for security reasons.
All of them have returned to Jakarta.