‘Ro Ro Laila’ Lankan crew released, says FM
March 18, 2010 10:49 pm
The three Sri Lankan crew members of MV ‘Ro Ro Laila’, consisting of the vessel’s Captain, Chief Engineer and a crew member have all been released. However, their departure has been delayed as the company had not been able to find replacements for them in time, states a media release from the Foreign Ministry.
Action has now been
taken to urgently appoint the replacement crew. Once this process is completed,
the crew will be repatriated to
However, regarding the 13 Sri Lankan crew members in the hijacked Saudi Arabian vessel, ‘MV Al Nasr Al Saudi’ the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister had this to say during the media briefing today (March 18):
A Saudi Arabian vessel ‘MV Al Nasr Al Saudi’ was hijacked by
pirates along the Yemeni coast and then moved to the
Following this incident, I immediately called for a report
from the Sri Lanka Embassy in
The Sri Lanka Embassy in
Following these meetings, the General Manager of the
shipping company had stated that the family members of the thirteen Sri Lankan
crew members had been apprised of the incident through their local
representative in
The Consulate was also informed that the shipping company had established contacts with the pirates through satellite communication and the pirates have assured the shipping company that they would not harm the Sri Lankan crew members.
In addition, the Captain of the vessel had also spoken with
the Company officials and had informed that since all the crew members were on
board the vessels, they had all necessary basic facilities and that they were
in good health. On the request of our Consulate, the company had also made
arrangements to credit talk time through a satellite phone to enable the crew
members to speak to their families in
Currently the company is awaiting the arrival of a
professional negotiating team from