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The Spanish government will do "everything in its power" to secure the release of Basque tuna boat Alakrana, vice president Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega assured on Tuesday. The Ministry of Defence has taken the first steps to bring the two arrested Somali pirates involved in the move to Spain.

The executive is "to strengthen all efforts from the military, intelligence, and diplomatic standpoint, to reach a liberation," De la Vega said.

The central government is intensifying the efforts to free the fishing boat Alakrana after the court has ordered the transfer, detention and imprisonment of the two Somali detainees arguing that those pirates are authors of 36 counts of false imprisonment. They are also accused of weapons use and robbery with violence.

The commander of Operations of the Defence Staff, Gen. Jaime Dominguez Buj, said that they will do "everything that is possible" to bring the arrested to Spain, despite he warned about the complexity of the operation.

Meanwhile, the Alakrana remains anchored in the area of Haradhere, a few miles off the coast of Somalia, and Dominguez said on Monday that there were "no observable movements indicating changing attitudes of the hijackers."

Fear of reprisals

A skipper of the tuna boat of Bermeo, Jesus Mari Iribar, was worried about the possibility that those holding the ship may retaliate against the crew after the arrest of two of the Somali pirates.

The fishermen of the Basque tuna boat could talk with their families on Sunday, but Iribar has said he has not had more news concerning the state of the crew since then.

Basque government asks for more security measures

Basque government spokeswoman, Idoia Mendia, said on Monday that "it is not time for reproaches." She referred to the performance of central executive to the hijacking of Alakrana, and although she assessed the ''Atalanta'' plan to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, she also said that "further measures are necessary" to increase the safety of fishing vessels operating in the area.