MOSCOW, May 21 (UPI) -- A Russian Maritime Trade Union official said a ship captain kidnapped by Nigerian pirates made contact with the owner of his vessel.
"An executive of the company Balthellas Chartering S.A. called the Russian trade union and said Capt. Boris Tersintsev, who had been kidnapped by Nigerian pirates, had made contact with the company," Yuri Sukhorukov, deputy chairman of the union, told ITAR-Tass.
Sukhorukov said Tersintsev, captain of the North Spirit, indicated he was being kept at a location in Nigeria.
"At this moment, three persons are kept by the pirates -- the captain, the chief mechanic and the captain of the ship Argo," Sukhorukov said. "All of them were kidnapped simultaneously. The three are alive and well-fed and nothing extraordinary, except for moral troubles, has happened to them."
He said union officials plan to begin ransom talks with the pirates Friday.
