Arms ship pirates refuse to back down
Pirates holding a hijacked arms ship today insisted they would not release it for less than $20m (€14.4m) and warned they would repel any commando-style rescue attempts.
US warships have surrounded the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, which was seized last Thursday off the central coast of Somalia as it transported 33 Soviet-designed tanks and heavy weapons to Kenya.
“We would never reduce the ransom,” pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said via satellite phone.
The Somali government yesterday authorised foreign powers to use whatever force was needed to free the ship.
Asked about fears that a foreign country might attack – as French commandos have done in the past to free hijacked ships – Ali insisted his pirates would fight back.
“That will never happen again,” said Ali, sounding calm and relaxed despite US helicopters buzzing overhead. “Anyone who tries to attack us or deceive us will face bad repercussions.”
The pirates and the shipping company have been negotiating over the ransom demand.
“We have nothing to do with insurgents or terrorist organisations, we only need money,” Ali said, adding that a plan was in place to release the ship and its surviving crew of 20 once the pirates had received the ransom. One crew member has died of a suspected heart attack.
Moscow has sent a warship to protect the few Russian hostages on board the Faina, but it will take several more days to arrive. The Russians have used commando tactics to end several sieges in the past, but scores of hostages died.
The high-profile hijacking off Somalia’s lawless coast has highlighted how the country’s increasingly brazen pirates are drawing the concern of global superpowers.
Yesterday at least eight European Union countries offered to form a new force to help protect the vital shipping lanes off Somalia.
Some 26 ships were hijacked of the notorious African waters this year.
Pirates off Somalia’s coast have raked in up to £15 million in ransoms this year alone, a London-based think tank said. The report found that the millions being earned by pirates in ransom were being funnelled into the war between the shaky Somali government and the Islamic insurgents.
A Danish intelligence company specialising in maritime security said that Somali pirates make an average of £500,000 (€638,316) per hijacked vessel and hold ships for an average of five weeks before freeing them.
Risk Intelligence also reported that piracy is skyrocketing in Somalia. It said pirates held 374 people captive in September after raids, compared to seizing 292 hostages in all of 2007.
