President congratulates South Korea on rescue of crew and ship from pirates |22 January 2011

“I am pleased to extend, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Seychelles, my sincere congratulations for the successful operation your forces have undertaken today to rescue 21 crew members of the South Korean-owned vessel Samho Jewelry.  

“The brave and intrepid action of South Korean forces in this instance has illustrated the determination of your country and people not to tolerate criminal acts on the high seas.  It is only with such courage and determination that we will truly be able to tackle the threat of piracy in the long term.

“As you are aware, on March 29, 2010, Seychelles experienced a similar attack when six Seychellois fishermen were captured by Somali pirates.   Immediately, our Coastguard ship Topaz launched a successful operation to free our fishermen, by firing on the engine of vessel, storming the hijacked ship and forcing the nine pirates to surrender.  A similar incident was repeated on November 21, 2010, when another Seychellois fishing vessel was captured with seven men aboard before successfully being liberated by Topaz after exchange of fire, where one pirate was killed.

“The solutions to the threat of piracy lie both on sea and on land, and my government looks forward to work with you to both improve the security situation in Somalia and improve safety of vessels at sea so that trade in our region can continue to grow.

“Seychelles, being a small nation with limited capacities, very much needs the assistance of all its international partners if we are to strengthen our cooperation to counter the scourge of piracy.

“I am confident that the close bonds of friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries and peoples will be further strengthened in the years to come.”