Kidnaped American sailors freed after being taken hostage off Nigeria coast

 

The two American sailors kidnapped last month off the coast of Nigeria have been freed, the US State Department confirmed.

The captain and chief engineer on the C-Retriever, an oil-supply vessel, were taken Oct. 23 from the 222-foot ship in the Gulf of Guinea.

The captain and chief engineer of oil-supply ship C-Retriever were released after an unspecified ransom was paid.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed the sailors’ release and said the department “welcomes” the news. She declined to provide further details.

The U.S. company for whom the sailors worked, the maritime transportation company Edison Chouest Offshore, was negotiating for the sailors’ release. U.S. government policy generally bars it from paying ransom for its citizens, but the policy does not extend to private companies.