IRISH ENGINEER Fred Parle has been freed after being held captive for more than six weeks on a boat which was captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
Mr Parle (68), a father of four from Aughamore, Co Sligo, was the chief engineer of the Danish-owned tug the Svitzer Korsakov. He is expected to reach dry land by tomorrow, Pat Adamson, spokesman for Svitzer said yesterday.
Hijackers boarded the 113ft tug boat on February 1st and held the vessel off the northeast coast of Somalia with its Irish chief engineer, four Russian crew and its British captain on board.
However, on Monday the captain and crew "assumed command of the vessel and will be proceeding towards the Gulf with a military escort", the company spokesman said.
A $700,000 ransom is understood to have been paid, according to local Somali officials.
However, because of the growing number of attacks on merchant ships it would be "irresponsible" for the boat's owner to give details of its "ongoing dialogue with the hijackers over the course of the incident," Mr Adamson said.
Locals in Aughamore on the shores of Lough Gill were delighted on hearing about Mr Parle's release yesterday.
"His friends are overjoyed. He's a great storyteller and we will have a good night when he returns," said Francis Sexton who has been involved in the Sligo Sub Aqua Club with Mr Parle for more than 30 years.
"It was hard on his wife Deirdre and his four sons.
"They didn't know what was happening but they got news now and then.
"They didn't know how it was going to turn out, once the hijackers got the ransom. But it's grand it turned out well," he said.
Mr Parle is a respected man who is very involved in the community and "over the last while there has been huge concerns by his friends and neighbours for his safety," said local Fine Gael councillor Tony McLoughlin.
He is "an experienced sailor and a cool-headed man," according to local councillor Albert Higgins (FF) who said locals were confident that his experience helped him to get through.
The destination port for the tug has not yet been decided. However once onshore, the crew will be debriefed as they will have a lot of valuable information about the hijackers, Mr Adamson said, praising the crew for its "courage, leadership and strength . . . during their ordeal".
