Pirates Release Dutch Ship, Navy Discovers Crew Casualties

The Dutch ship MV Marathon has been released by her pirate hijackers off the coast of Somalia. The revelations upon release suggest a struggle during the hijacking left 1 crew member dead and 8 wounded. This is the AFP story.

Somali pirates shot dead a Ukrainian sailor during the hijack of a Dutch ship, the Dutch defence ministry said, adding that rescuers discovered the body when the ship was released Tuesday.

The pirates released the MV Marathon, which had been held since May 7 when the crewman was killed. The Dutch navy found the body when a warship met the vessel after it cleared the Somali coast.

Another of the eight crew members was wounded, ministry spokesman Marcel Pullen told AFP.

Pullen said the man was killed when the pirates took the vessel on May 7 in the Gulf of Aden. "The crew are all Ukrainian. They are all exhausted," he said.

The MV Marathon was being escorted to a "safe port" by the Dutch frigate De Zeven Provincien, the spokesman said, refusing to reveal the location.

It is unclear if the condition of the crew was known during negotiations, and the use of the word discovery by the Dutch suggests the Dutch Navy was unaware, even if the negotiators were. This doesn't really represent an escalation of the dangers of piracy, the dangers have always existed, it is just this time the pirates actually hit who they were shooting at.

It is also unclear if the crew attempted to fight back from this early information, but the details would suggest they did, unsuccessfully. This is not the first time a crew member of a western flagged ship has died during an act of piracy off Somalia, but it is the first time in a long time.