Tuvalu seeks help to free sailors

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The families of a group of seamen from Tuvalu held by Somali pirates are appealing to Australia and New Zealand for help to secure their release.

The men from the tiny South Pacific nation were working onboard the German cargo ship, the Hansa Stavanger.

They were taken hostage more than two months ago.

Somalia has been without a stable government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish, prompting international maritime patrols.

Eleven sailors from the tiny island nation of Tuvalu, a Fijian and others from Germany and Ukraine were seized by gunmen off the Horn of Africa in early April.

Their Somali captors have reportedly demanded a ransom of $15m (£9.1m).

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One attempt to free those onboard the Hansa Stavanger has already failed.

The German government sent an elite combat force to storm the ship last month before the mission was aborted because of concerns for the safety of the hostages.

Community concern

In Australia, Tuvaluan expatriate, Mapusaga Fumatagi, has grave fears for her cousin who is one of those being held.

She says these are deeply worrying times for the captives' families.

"You know, it has never been in their wildest dreams that [a] human being can do this to other human beings," she said.

"They are all sad, they are all scared, especially the close families of the 12 seafarers and Tuvalu as a whole has, sort of, come together to work something out, otherwise we are so hopeless that we don't have that kind of ransom," she added.

With a population of just 12,000 the plight of the sailors from Tuvalu has hit the small South Pacific nation hard.

About 40% of Tuvaluan men work on foreign freighters and their remittances are invaluable.

The families of the hostages have pleaded with New Zealand and Australia to do what they can to help.

At the end of May, Canberra announced it was to send a warship to East Africa as part of an international effort to combat piracy.

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