Venezuela frees oil survey ship: Malaysian owner

[CARACAS] The Malaysian owner of a US-hired oil survey ship seized last week by Venezuela in a territorial dispute with neighbouring Guyana said on Tuesday that the boat and its 36-member crew have been released.

There was no confirmation from the governments of Venezuela or Guyana and the Venezuelan public prosecutor's office put out a statement detailing the formal charging of the ship's Ukrainian captain.

The Panama-flagged Teknik Perdana was carrying out a seabed survey for Texas-based Anadarko in conjunction with Guyanese authorities when Venezuela's navy boarded it last Thursday and escorted it to Margarita island.