Arvin

After the "Eglantine" has been freed, and is continuing on to Iran with its sugar shipment, the Bolivian government announced on Apr 3. The ship with a crew of 23 was seized by Somali pirates off Hoarafushi island in the Maldives, the first hijacking in the waters of the archipelago. The vessel was sailing securely to port to deliver its cargo of Brazilian sugar, according to the Bolivian International Ship Registry office. Maldivian and Indian forces earlier were shadowing the vessel but did not board it. The Maldivian authorities were alerted to the hijacking by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System which maintains an operation in the Maldives.

Somali pirates have released an Iranian bulk carrier after a week, a British naval official based in Dubai said yesterday. The MV Eglantine, a Bolivian-flagged ship with 23 crew members was seized on March 26 off the south-western coast of India.

The Maldives have abandoned an attempt to rescue the "Eglantine" hijacked by pirates because it has drifted away from its territorial waters. After the ship was hijacked in the Indian Ocean waters off the Maldives on Mar 26, a coast guard vessel began tracking the vessel. In the evening of Mar it abandoned the operation after the ship left Maldivian waters.