pirates are @ it again [Update, 2/22/11]

[racecar]

MOGADISHU - Somali pirates said on Saturday they had received a record ransom of $9.5 million US for the release of Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker they hijacked in the Indian Ocean in early April this year.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, confirmed the supertanker was free, and that a Singapore-registered ship with 19 Chinese sailors onboard hijacked in June in the Gulf of Aden had also been released.

The Samho Dream, which can carry more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, was hijacked and its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos taken hostage, while carrying as much as $170 million worth of crude oil from Iraq to the United States.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government for almost two decades and is awash with weapons. The mayhem on land has allowed piracy to boom in the strategic waterways off its shores linking Europe to Asia and Africa.

The hijacked vessels are taken to the Somali coast and held until money is paid, although negotiations can take months.

“I can confirm Samho Dream is now free, but still in Somali waters,” said Mwangura, who is based in the Kenyan Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. “It is a large ship and it’s unlikely that it can dock in Mombasa, maybe it will dock somewhere along South Africa’s coast or elsewhere to replenish its supplies.”

He told Reuters the ransom paid for Samho Dream would be the highest paid out to the pirates since they started hijacking vessels in the past several years.

“They initially demanded $20 million. What I can confirm is that negotiators tell me they agreed to make the drop with an amount in excess of $9 million. This would be the highest sum paid out to pirates so far.”

It was not immediately clear how much ransom had been paid for the Singapore-registered Golden Blessing. The ship was seized on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.

Mwangura said the actual ransoms would be confirmed later.

'JACKPOT'

“This is the jackpot they have been looking for, it will encourage other youth to join in piracy or the supply of arms and technical ability to pirates,” he said.

Somali pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing ships, including tankers and dry bulkers, in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, despite the efforts of foreign navies to clamp down on such attacks.

“We received an amount of $9.5 million early in the morning, now we are dividing the ransom and will abandon the ship (soon),” a pirate who gave his name as Ali told Reuters earlier, referring to the ransom paid for Samho Dream.

“We have abandoned the ship and set it free and it is sailing away, the crew is safe,” he said.

Somali pirates are holding 28 vessels with more than 494 hostages, Mwangura said.

(Additional reporting and writing by James Macharia; editing by Myra MacDonald)

@ lease they keep their promise, so just paid up and your free to go..

 

[Dr Shroom]

International dealing with these pirates is way too lax in my opinion.

 

[ForeverSublime]

I'd like to see a modern twist on Monty Python's "Blackmail" with Somali Pirates putting up ransoms on eBay. Add in a twist of Somali Pirates vs. Nigerian Scammers and you've got yourself a winning skit.

 

[Phyeir]

I don't now meritime laws at all, but knowing they operate in these seas, how does something like a super tanker not have their own cache of weapons to fight them off? Hell, even put on some of those massive water jets that the whaling ships have to fight off those Sea Shepard guys.

 

[BigTinz]

Did they give em real money? Seems they would do like 1/4 real 3/4 fake....and maybe poison the bills...

 

[Dr Shroom]

Just shoot those fucking bastards. I'm sure they'd get the death sentence in Somalia anyway if they get caught.

 

[evil wasabi]

I don't now meritime laws at all, but knowing they operate in these seas, how does something like a super tanker not have their own cache of weapons to fight them off? Hell, even put on some of those massive water jets that the whaling ships have to fight off those Sea Shepard guys.

Each coastal country has jurisdiction leading out into their waters of something like 100 to 200 kilometers. I remember studying this in my Law of the Sea class way way back in time. Once out in international waters, a ship is out of anyone's jurisdiction. There is a hot pursuit exception.

In a maritime sense, you would think that the flag of the ship would have some say, but that's not really for pirates. That's like if you have a collision at sea, or someone commits a crime on the boat, then you would bring up the flag as a point of argument for choice of law. Africa should be strong armed into signing a treaty with the UN to allow any country license to protect its own ships from African pirates. Right now, ships are pretty much unprotected whenever they approach Africa.

 

[Lagduf]

International law be damned. Shoot the pirates. No one will know.

 

[Poonman]

lol 175 million in oil from Iraq to the US.


Give them "freedom" and get oil in return. Nice deal.

 

[Retro2DGamer]

Almost thought this thread was about video game pirating. Not sure which is worse.

 

[Zero Satori]

Almost thought this thread was about video game pirating. Not sure which is worse.

I would venture to guess that video game piracy has more financial impact than the Somalian pirates do.

 

[Phyeir]

I would venture to guess that video game piracy has more financial impact than the Somalian pirates do.

Just wait for the day the pirates take a ship that has the first new copies of the newest Mass Effect game or w/e... you'll see a mad rush of anti-Somali pirate activity fuel by nerd sweat the likes of which the world has never seen. The army will take them all down.

Sure, half of the army will not have known the touch of a woman, but they'll kill a man to get their games.

 

[Dr Shroom]

They can take our oil...BUT THEY WILL NEVER TAKE OUR GAMES!

 

[Retro2DGamer]

They can keep our Shaq Fu's and ET's though

 

[aria]

Add in a twist of Somali Pirates vs. Nigerian Scammers and you've got yourself a winning skit.

Hell, I would just want to see that play out

I don't now meritime laws at all, but knowing they operate in these seas, how does something like a super tanker not have their own cache of weapons to fight them off? Hell, even put on some of those massive water jets that the whaling ships have to fight off those Sea Shepard guys.

The problem with carrying weapons (besides the risk of having explosives on an oil tanker), is that if you make a mistake and fire on someone who isn't a pirate --you're the pirate. That's why you see more non-lethal defensive systems. The problem with many of those weapons is a RPG or AK can quickly render them useless. The best thing I've heard about are the sonic weapons.

 

[SNKorSWM]

How wierd, it seems that the Asians handle these pirates better. Wasn't there a Chinese(?) vessel successfully resisting the pirates for 5 hours until help arrived, without any lethal weapons onboard?

 

[K_K]

How wierd, it seems that the Asians handle these pirates better. Wasn't there a Chinese(?) vessel successfully resisting the pirates for 5 hours until help arrived, without any lethal weapons onboard?

yes they hired aquaman.

 

[SNKorSWM]

That or Peter Pan.

 

[evil wasabi]

International law be damned. Shoot the pirates. No one will know.

this is where corsairs come in handy. my dream profession, still dreaming.

 

[aria]

So the pirates, which have been even more out of control, have murdered four Americans they captured on a yacht --before you ask why the yacht was near Somalia: it wasn't, it was near India --the pirates have been going over 1000 miles away in desperation now that the world military crackdowns are pressuring their other areas.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/22/somalia.us.yacht/index.html

 

[SNKorSWM]

Looks like that huge stack of bibles weren't of much help after all......or perhaps they were killed because of it.