Two Russian sailors from the North Spirit ship who were captured off Cameroon in mid-May and transferred to Nigeria have been released for a ransom, the Russian Professional Union of Sailors said on Sunday, referring to the ship-owners.
The North Spirit vessel with a Russian-Ukrainian crew, flying the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and owned by Greece's Balthellas Chartering S.A., was attacked on May 16 while anchored in Cameroon's largest port of Douala.
The sailors' union declined to specify the amount of the ransom. It was earlier reported that Nigerian militants had demanded a $1.5 million ransom for the release of the two Russian sailors.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, has been linked to attacks on foreign-owned companies in the oil-rich but impoverished region.
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti)
