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Hijacker arrested again
A 34-year-old man serving a prison sentence for the hijacking of the 'FWN Rapide', and subsequent hostage-taking of the crew, was arrested again on Nov 12, 2024. He will stand trial again, this time for the hijacking of the German m/v 'BBC Caribbean', now sailing as 'Kimberly', in the Gulf of Guinea in 2017. The convicted man's DNA profile was found to match a DNA trace from Germany. This was a trace on a cigarette butt found on board the freighter. The BBC Caribbean was attacked in international waters on Feb 5, 2017, by pirates armed with AK47 Kalashnikovs. During the hijacking, eight crew members were overpowered and held for weeks in Nigeria under threat of violence. Three crew members had managed to hide on board and were not discovered by the pirates. With a new crew, they sailed the 'BBC Caribbean' to the port of Las Palmas. There, among other things, abandoned cartridge cases of 9mm bullets, 7 cigarette butts, fingerprints and DNA traces were secured. The hostage crew members were taken under threat of automatic firearms in a wooden skiff to the mainland of Nigeria. According to statements from the victims, the pirates celebrated their success on the way with alcohol, pills and marijuana, repeatedly shooting into the air. The pirates were met with jubilation and more shots in the air at a makeshift shelter further in the Niger Delta. The investigation into the hijacking of the 'FWN Rapide', which was attacked on the high seas en route to Nigeria, led to the arrest of the leader of the pirates in South Africa in 2018. In the criminal proceedings that followed his extradition to the Netherlands, the man was sentenced to a prison term of eight years and six months by the Rotterdam District Court in 2022. There was no appeal. In consultation with the German authorities, the Netherlands has made an additional request to South Africa to also prosecute the man for the hostage-taking of the crew of the' BBC Caribbean' and the hijacking of the ship. Based on the German, translated investigation file, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) has compiled a case file for the Rotterdam District Court. The suspect arrested this week by detectives from the National Expertise and Operations Unit (LX) was remanded in custody for two weeks by the examining magistrate in the new criminal case on Nov 14.
Nigerian arrested for piracy
An 28-year-old Nigerian was arrested in South Africa on suspicion of abduction and taking hostage 11 of the 14 crew members of the "FWN Rapide" in April, when the ship was sailing from Ghana to Port Harcourt in Nigeria. The hostages were released after one month. Two other crew members were able to escape and another one hid in time. In the flag state Netherlands, a criminal investigation was immediately initiated after the abduction. This was followed by an international arrest warrant. The suspect was arrested when he was in transit in South Africa. The arrested pirate did not act alone, but it was unclear how many pirates were involved. The investigation was still ongoing.
Crew of FWN Rapide released after one month
On May 23 the Russian MFA announced that 11 kidnapped crew members of the "FWN Rapide" were released by the pirates, presumably on May 22, including the Russian master. No other details were given. The men semmed to have been released after a ransom was paid. All of them were said to be safe.
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