Name Hansa Stavanger Yard number 271 Construction started 18 July 1996 Length 170 m | Laid down 18 July 1996 Launched 9 March 1997 | |
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Operator Leonhardt & Blumberg Reederei | ||
Pressekonferenz mv hansa stavanger buchver ffentlichung
MV Hansa Stavanger is a German container ship, captured by Somali pirates on 4 April 2009. Around May 1, 2009, the USS Boxer (LHD-4) and a screen of German Navy warships assisted approximately 200 members of the German special police unit GSG-9 in approaching the hijacked ship. During the last phase of the operation, James Jones, the U.S. President's security advisor, withheld final approval for the operation out of concern for the safety of the 25 sailors aboard the vessel. This led the German Department of Defense to abort the planned attack on the freighter and the GSG-9 unit returned to their base of operations at the airport of Mombassa, Kenya.
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Among the captured sailors held hostage were eleven Tuvaluans and one Fijian. A ransom of $US 15 million had been demanded. The government of Tuvalu indicated it was incapable of paying, and expressed great concern for its citizens. In August 2009 the ship was released after a ransom of two million dollars was paid.
Literature
Kotiuk, Krzysztof (2010), Frohe Ostern Hansa Stavanger: 121 Tage in der Hand von Piraten (in German), Bielefeld: Delius Klasing, p. 219, ISBN 978-3-7688-3129-1