MARIA SOLTIN

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Tanker freed from pirates

On April 9, 2019, the Spanish patrol boat "Serviola" observed the "Maria Soltin" which behaved strangely and had a small boat nearby in the Gulf of Guinea. When the Nigerian vessel did not respond to the radio, it was time for action. The master of the Spanish patrol boat launched two smaller RIBs to investigate the Nigerian ship closer. When they approached the ship, they still got no response from the ship and saw that it was trying to flee. When the two RIBs arrived, the captain could tell them that the ship had been hijacked four days earlier by nine pirates armed with AK-47 rifles. During the calls from "Serviola", the pirates had pointed their rifles towards the captain and ordered him not to respond. But they were frightened by the "Serviola"'s persistence and fled before the patrol vessel arrived, tanking wiith them all the money and valuables they had stolen from the 12 crew members aboard the Nigerian ship. After receiving supplies from the "Serviola", the "Maria Soltin" sailed to Lagos. Spanish report with photos and video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1115903936156839938 http://www.emad.mde.es/MOPS/novoperaciones/noticias/2019/04/Listado/190409-serviola-libera-mercante.html