PIRATES holding a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks denied yesterday that three of their number had been killed in a gunfight and reiterated their demands for multi-million-dollar ransom.
A group monitoring the situation had earlier said three of the Somali pirates had died in a shoot-out between rival gunmen on the MV Faina, seized six days ago in the most high-profile of a wave of hijackings off lawless Somalia this year.
"We wan
t $20 million (£11 million] ransom from the ship and we are 53 Somalis," said Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates on the Faina, which is being shadowed by United States navy vessels. "I will not talk about mediators or negotiation because we are at risk. I will not name where we are particularly, but we are on the coast of Somalia."
He added that the pirates would stay on board until their demands were met.
The capture of the Faina has sparked controversy over the destination of its cargo and thrown a spotlight on rampant piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping areas connecting Europe to Asia and the Middle East.
The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, monitoring the hijacking via relatives of the crew and contacts with pirates, had earlier said that factions had argued over whether to free the cargo and crew.
But the pirates denied there had been any fighting.
"We didn't dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shoot-out," Ali said by satellite telephone. "We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating Eid. Nothing has changed."
The Islamic feast Eid marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Two other pirates and a regional leader had earlier said there had been no shoot-out. Ali said one of the 21 crew members had died due to illness
The US navy has said the ship, which had been heading for Mombasa in Kenya, was carrying T-72 tanks, grenade-launchers and ammunition ultimately bound for south Sudan.
Ali said the vessel was surrounded by four warships, but he could not identify where they were from. The US guided missile destroyer Howard has been watching the pirate ship for several days and has spoken the pirates and crew by radio.
A US defence official in Washington said the pirates had been moving from ship to shore and back again, taking provisions, including livestock.
He said between 40 and 50 pirates were involved in the hijacking, but a second US official said only about 30 of them were on the ship itself.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian shipping line MISC Berhad said yesterday that Somali pirates had released the seized palm-oil tanker MT Bunga Melati 2 on Monday, two days after another vessel was released.
Hassan Marican, the chairman, said a ransom had been paid for both vessels, but he declined to reveal the amount. All 79 crew on both ships were safe but traumatised and would undergo counselling, he said.
Piracy has become a lucrative criminal racket in impoverished Somalia, raking in tens of millions of dollars a year in ransom. There have been 24 reported attacks this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden, to the north of Somalia, but recently pirates have been targeting Indian Ocean waters to the east.
In all, 62 ships have been attacked in the notorious African waters this year. A total of 26 ships were hijacked and 12 remain in the hands of the pirates, along with more than 200 crew members.
Warships are patrolling the area and have created a special security corridor under an international initiative, but the attacks have not abated.
BACKGROUND
THE maritime industry united yesterday to condemn governments and naval powers for failing to protect merchant shipping from acts of piracy off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.
"If civil aircraft were being hijacked on a daily basis, the response of governments would be very different," leading trade bodies and transport unions said in a joint statement. "Yet ships are seemingly out of sight and out of mind. This apparent indifference to the lives of merchant seafarers and the consequences for society at large is simply unacceptable."
More than 90 per cent by volume of the world's traded goods are carried by sea.
The full article contains 727 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
