Ukrainian sailors of Ariana finally arrive home

All 24 Ukrainian sailors of the Ariana ship, which was freed by Somali pirates already easrly December 2009, have arrived in Ukraine according to a statement by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said that on Wednesday, January 6, at 12:15 a plane with the Ukrainian sailors arrived in the Odesa airport.

Relatives, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, state officials met the Ukrainian sailors at the airport.

The statement reads that the Ukrainian sailors returned to Ukraine due to the daily work of President Viktor Yushchenko, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, central and regional bodies of the government.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly with the diplomatic missions in Britain, the United States, Greece, Kenya, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia coordinated the efforts on provision of security of the Ukrainian sailors of the ship from the moment of the release of the ship near the coast of Somalia until the arrival of the ship in the port of Salala in Oman.

The final stage of the release of the Ariana ship and escort of the ship to the port in Oman was performed jointly with the forces fighting piracy from the European Union and NATO.

According to the statement, Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko has defined the protection of Ukrainian citizens abroad and Ukraine's active participation in the international efforts on fight against piracy, including its participation in the Atalanta operation of the European Union, as priority-driven tasks of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2010.

On December 10, President Viktor Yushchenko announced that Somali pirates freed 24 Ukrainian crewmembers of the Ariana ship after receiving a ransom.

The Malta-flagged Ariana vessel was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean 250 miles southwest of the Seychelles Islands in the early hours of May 2, 2009.

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