The Russian military rescued from pirates on the Panamanian container ship “Lucia” a crew of 22 people consisting of 20 Ukrainians, a Romanian and one citizen of the Russian Federation. This was announced by the commander of the detachment of warships of the Northern Fleet, captain of the first rank Stanislav Varik, RIA Novosti reports.
Last Monday, October 25, a marine unit from the ship “Vice Admiral Kulakov” prevented the seizure of a container ship sailing under the flag of Panama to Cameroon by unknown armed persons in the Gulf of Guinea.
After receiving a distress signal, a helicopter with marines was lifted from the Russian ship. Seeing him, the pirates left the ship and disappeared by boat. An anti-terror group landed on board the “Lucia”, she released the crew and conducted an inspection of the vessel.
According to Varick, all the crew members of the ship were alive, they took refuge in the aft part of the ship. After the appearance of the Russian military, the sailors came on deck, “warmly welcomed and thanked for the rescue.”
Now the vessel is being escorted by a detachment of ships, navigation control will be carried out during today, he added. The captain noted that the actions of the detachment of ships of the Northern Fleet confirmed the training of personnel and the readiness of weapons.