Easline-Guangzhou

The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has unanimously endorsed the decision of a panel of judges that the 2011 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea should go to Captain Seog Hae-gyun of the Republic of Korea, master of the chemical tanker Samho Jewelry. Captain Seog was nominated by the Republic of Korea for his heroic actions to keep his vessel and crew safe, while suffering vicious assaults, following a hijack by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The council agreed that Captain Seog displayed truly extraordinary bravery and concern for his crew after his ship was hijacked in the Indian Ocean in January 2011, going far beyond the call of duty, at great risk and danger to himself. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/326277/imo-awards-korean-ship-captain

A South Korean court has sentenced the leader of a group of Somali pirates to life in prison on charges of hijacking South Korean ship Samho Jewelry in the Arabian Sea in January and shooting the ship's captain. The Busan District Court said Friday that three other pirates were sentenced to prison terms of 13 to 15 years. A fifth pirate is set to be tried separately in June. The pirates were arrested after a team of South Korean commandos raided the seized South Korean-operated cargo ship and killed eight other pirates. The commandos rescued all 21 crew members, including the ship's captain, who was shot in the stomach by one of the pirates during the raid. Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/27/skorean-court-hands-life-sentence-to-somali/#ixzz1NYdtMP00 - vcstar.com

Five Somali pirates will go on trial in South Korea Monday on charges punishable by life imprisonment, four months after they were seized in a dramatic commando raid on the hijacked ship 'Samho Jewelry' in the Indian Ocean. Tight security will be in force at the court in the southern city of Busan when the five answer charges including maritime robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder.