Recall that on September 22, 2018, the vessel GLARUS (IMO 9220471, flag of Switzerland, operated by Massoel Shipping SA) was attacked by pirates in the Nigeria’s territorial waters.
Among the 19 crew members on board, 3 were Ukrainians; whereas the other mariners were the citizens of Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Philippines.
During the attack, around 45 nautical miles southwest of Bonny Island, “the pirate gang boarded the GLARUS by means of long ladders and cut the razor wire on deck to gain access to the vessel and eventually the bridge,” Massoel said in its statement.
12 seafarers, including Ukrainian crew member Valerii Zubitsky, were seized as hostages and taken to an unknown destination. The other 2 Ukrainians have managed to hide and remain onboard the vessel, however, one of them got a gunshot wound in his leg.
Since the very beginning, the case has been closely followed not only by the unions representing the affected seafarers, but by the union of Switzerland, whose collective agreement covers the GLARUS vessel.
Surely, there was much involvement from the respective authorities of all the states involved. Any information leakage could jeopardize the safety of the hostages, therefore any discussions were conducted under the strictest confidentiality.
All in all it took four weeks for talks, arrangements and other actions – more or less standard time required for the release of seamen hijacked by Nigerian pirates.
On October 28, the 12 released seafarers arrived to Switzerland, all understood to be in good health, considering circumstances. Of course no details were given on release and conditions of the release, but almost undoubtedly seamen were released after ransom was paid.
On October 29, the Ukrainian seafarer Valerii Zubitsky arrived to Odessa. His family came to the airport to meet Valeriy, as well as the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in Odessa, the MTWTU officers and the numerous media reporters.
On November 2 Valerii Zubitsky visited the MTWTU office where spoke with the Union’s First Vice Chairman Oleg Grygoriuk. The seafarer told that he feels good and does not require any psychological assistance, joking that his wife has been the best psychologist for him for 30 years already.
