MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somali pirates Tuesday were engaged in talks over ransoms for several vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker, an Ukrainian freighter carrying arms and their latest catch, a Yemeni cargo ship. As the world mulled a response to the problem which has sowed panic in the shipping industry and threatens an ailing global economy, increasingly brazen pirates continued to dodge navy ships to prey on foreign vessels. Officials from Yemen, which shares the Gulf of Aden's shores with Somalia, said Tuesday that a Yemeni cargo ship carrying building materials was seized last week.
"The pirates are demanding a ransom of two million dollars," said one official.
Somali pirates have carried out around 100 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean since the start of this year. They still hold 17 ships and more than 250 crew.
Mohammed Said, the leader of the group holding the Sirius Star who announced to AFP last week that he was demanding 25 million dollars to free the ship, said Tuesday that talks were ongoing. "The negotiations with the owners of the tanker continue. I hope they understand the situation," the pirate said. "We're treating the people on the ship very courteously and this will not change unless the other side behaves aggressively," he added.
Two British crew members told ITV News Tuesday they were being well treated by their captors.
"Everything is OK, we've got no mistreatment or anything, we're being treated quite well," Peter French, the chief engineer on the Sirius Star, told the British TV channel by telephone.
The pirates have been in the world's spotlight since hijacking the Sirius Star -- a 330-metre Saudi super-tanker carrying two million barrels of crude oil -- on November 15.
Sailors from Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia are also among the crew of the ship, which is now anchored off the Somali coastal village of Harardhere.
Islamist fighters controlling much of southern and central Somalia have vowed to root out piracy, but the pirates have beefed up their military set-up around Harardhere and warned any attack would have "disastrous" consequences.
On Tuesday, Kenyan officials said they had been conducting drills in the event of an oil spill should efforts to free the Sirius Star turn awry. "The moment the ship was taken, it was a concern to us, because you know the amount of oil it is carrying," said Captain Dave Muli, a search and rescue manager with the Kenya Maritime Authority. Environmental groups have also expressed concern over the presence of depleted uranium on the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship seized two months ago as it was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa with 33 tanks and other weaponry.
Meanwhile, the Anatolia news agency reported that the Turkish owner of a chemicals-laden tanker seized off Yemen two weeks ago was close to a deal with the pirates on a ransom.
"We have talked to the pirates four or five times.... They have told us how much ransom they want. We have started bargaining on this amount. At this point, we are close to an agreement," said Kubilay Marangoz, a lawyer for the YDC Maritime company which owns the vessel.
Foreign powers have volunteered naval force to patrol the area, shipping companies have re-routed some of their fleets and private security outfits have offered their services to combat the new scourge.
A number of oil-rich Gulf states met in Oman Tuesday vowing to work with key naval powers to win the battle against pirates.
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal denounced piracy as "a demon that we must eradicate in the same way as terrorism."
But many experts argue the piracy problem will never be completely resolved if the root causes are not tackled.
Somalia has been plagued by relentless fighting involving a myriad of clans, Islamist groups, as well as Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces.
Asian and European fishing fleets have also systematically depleted Somalia's marine resources, one of the main justifications offered by pirates who have argued they are not seeking ransoms but imposing fines.
AFP
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