Company Ship Craft has now confirmed that it is true that the six-man crew - including two Danes - on board at the company freighter Leopard, has disappeared after the ship Wednesday came under attack by pirates in Gulf of Aden.
"Our focus now is to verify the crew situation and get them home safely. The current situation is that we are not in possession of confirmed information about where the crew find themselves ", says company director Claus Bech, in a written statement to the press. It informs Ritzau.
Opposite
politiken.dk confirmed a press officer for the NATO naval force in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday night, soldiers from the Turkish Friday Gaziantep has boarded the Danish ship.
"When we were told that Leopard was attacked, put the Turkish vessel Gaziantep headed for the spot, and when they came close to a helicopter flew repeatedly over the ship. We had been told that the crew had gone into a security room, but we could not get in touch with them, "said Lieutenant Commander Jacqui Sheriff told the newspaper.
The helicopter flew over several times, but since there were no signs of life, was a force from the Turkish ship aboard the Leopard. You searched Mon ship for several hours without finding signs of life.
"There was no one on board and we had to ascertain that the crew was taken hostage by pirates," says Jacqui Sheriff to
politiken.dk.
Of the communication company has released, it is not apparent whether the pirates have claimed a ransom for the crew. And it is not clear whether the cargo is intact - that the pirates have removed sections of or the entire load.
Leopard is approved to operate with such weapons, and the company is known to sail with this type of cargo. But it is not known if the ship had weapons or other war equipment on board when it was attacked by pirates on Wednesday.
Ship Craft also said that the company next Wednesday has been in close contact with all relevant authorities to mobilize the necessary assistance.
From the official Danish side there is deafening silence on the matter.
"We have no comment", said Ambassador and Head of Communications in Foreign Affairs, Klavs Holm, according politiken.dk. Nor did the Danish armed forces want to comment on the matter.
Neither has it been possible to have neither confirmed nor denied the information that the crew can be brought on board a pirate mother ship and that it is about the hijacked of Taiwanese fishing vessel Jin Chun Tsai 68th