Turkish sailors kidnapped off Nigeria, rescued 3 weeks after

All 15 remaining crew members of the Liberian-flagged ship the Mozart were rescued on Friday, Feb. 12 after the cargo vessel had fallen victim to a pirate attack off Nigeria in January.

Two maritime companies involve, Borealis Maritime and Boden Maritime stated that the entire crew was now safe and in contact with their families, adding that they would return to Turkey as soon as possible.

We thank the Turkish and Nigerian governments for their support during these challenging three weeks, all government agencies and officials, the entire Borealis community working on the land and at sea, and everyone who helped us solve this problem, the statement said.

The statement also expressed the firms' condolences for one crew member who lost his life during the attack, while commending three others who remained on board for their courage and discipline in bringing the ship back to a secure area.

Separately, Turkey's foreign minister said the crew members were in good health and would be brought to Turkey from Nigeria's capital Abuja by Turkish Airlines.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told TRT Haber, that after this incident, efforts had been launched to increase the intelligence precautions to prevent such incidents.

Though we saved our citizens, Turkey will provide the necessary support to avoid these incidents.

Six out of 15 rescued Turkish sailors were brought on Saturday Feb. 13 to the Nigerian capital Abuja under local security forces’ guard and reached the Turkish embassy in the city.

Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria Melih Ulueren, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization members, and embassy officials welcomed the crew members. 

Upon their arrival at the embassy, the sailors talked to their families over the phone.

In a pirate attack on Jan. 23, 15 of Mozart's 19 crew members were abducted, while one of them, an Azerbaijani national, was killed.

The vessel was managed by Borealis Maritime, a firm based in London and Hamburg, Germany