Georgia, Tbilisi, Jan. 10 / Trend N. Kirtskhalia /
The Georgian sailors, taken hostage by Somali pirates, contacted their relatives again after a month pause. They reported about the difficult situation on the ship and the harsh conditions in which they have been forced to stay.
Sergo Devidze, the head of the campaign for saving Georgian sailors, said that the casualties among the sailors are not excluded in such circumstances.
According to the hostages, the situation aggravates each day. The pirates have not given them food and water on the fifth day running. The pirates wake the hostages up and brutally beat them at night or dawn, demanding a ransom.
The sailors have called for lawyers to contact the pirates and try to negotiate with them.
Roughly, 13 Georgian sailors of the Greek ship were held hostage by Somali pirates last summer, with the pirates demanding $1 million to release them. The Georgian Trade Unions have launched a campaign to collect the funds for the rescue, however, they have failed to collect the necessary sum.
The relatives of the kidnapped sailors have appealed to the Georgian President to help them.