The Turkish ship Mozart, hijacked by pirates off the coast of Nigeria on January 23, is currently off the coast of Gabon, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with Turkish NTV, APA reports.
Mr. Cavusoglu said that body of Azerbaijani engineer Farman Ismayilov is in the ship: "After the ship reaches the port, the necessary steps will be taken to send the body to Azerbaijan."
Turkish Minister said that all steps would be taken to release the 15 hostages. "The pirates who kidnapped our citizens have not yet contacted or expressed their demands," he said.
Note that A Turkish cargo ship with 19 crew members was hijacked by pirates Saturday in the Gulf of Guinea. Fifteen crew members moving from Lagos, Nigeria to Cape Town, South Africa were kidnapped. The militants killed the only Azerbaijani on board Farman Ismayilov, while three remained with the pirates, David Johnson, the head of the UK-based EOS Risk Group said in the statement.
The ship, Mozart, of Istanbul-based Boden company, was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Sao Tome, he added.
A tape recording shared on Twitter and believed to be belonging to the captain of the ship says: "I don't know where I'm going. The pirates dismantled all cables, nothing is working. Only the navigator works. They gave me a route, I'm moving accordingly."
pia.az
