Author Topic: Pirates Threaten to Kill Pinoys, Other Crew of Hijacked Tanker (Read 975 times)

hazel · « **on:** December 11, 2007, 06:21:01 AM »

Agence France-Presse

Pirates holding a hijacked Japanese chemical tanker off the northeastern coast of Somalia have threatened to kill its Filipino crew and other seamen on board unless they receive a US$1-million (680,000 euros) ransom, the United Nations said Monday.

The Golden Nori, carrying tens of thousands of tons of inflammable benzene, was hijacked on October 28 along with 23 crew members from Myanmar, the Philippines and South Korea.

"The pirates are asking for one million US dollars as ransom, whilst Puntland authorities are asking the pirates to surrender peacefully to the Puntland coast," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

The pirates were threatening to kill them if the ransom was not paid, the statement said.

Authorities in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland, who are negotiating with the pirates, have sent militia to Bosaso harbor, a few nautical miles from where the vessel was held.

Two US Navy ships were blocking supplies to the tanker in a bid to force the pirates to abandon the vessel. The tanker was sailing from Singapore to Israel when it was hijacked.

But Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers' Assistance Program, said the presence of the US vessels was complicating the negotiations to free the vessel.

"What we are saying is that the US ships should keep a distance because their presence is complicating issues there," Mwangura told AFP.

The escape of a South Korean sailor from the vessel shortly after the freighter was captured on October 28 had also complicated talks between the pirates, Puntland officials and contacts in Singapore and Malaysia, he added.

Mwangura said the pirates opted for a high ransom because of the cost, type and ownership of the cargo, the value and nationality of the ship as well as the nationality of the crew.

The Golden Nori is the last vessel remaining under pirates' control off the Somali coastline after the Comoran-flagged cargo MV Al Marjan was released a fortnight ago.

A US-led multilateral task force is conducting counter-piracy operations off the volatile Horn of Africa.

Last month, the International Maritime Organization asked the Somali government to allow foreign warships and military aircraft to venture into its territory to combat piracy.

In theory, a 1992 UN arms embargo on Somalia bars foreign armies from entering Somali waters.

Rampant piracy off Somalia stopped briefly during the strict rule of an Islamist movement in the second half of 2006, but resumed after Ethiopian and Somali government troops ousted the Islamists at the end of 2006.

Numerous attacks have occurred this year off Somalia's 3,700 kilometer (2,300 mile) coastline, prompting the International Maritime Bureau to advise sailors to steer clear.

Somalia lies at the mouth of the Red Sea on a major trade route between Asia and Europe via the Suez canal. It has not had a functional government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre

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grazie7y · « **Reply #1 on:** December 11, 2007, 06:22:59 AM »

Thanks, haze for posting this here!

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hazel · « **Reply #2 on:** December 11, 2007, 06:23:35 AM »

I was scared, Graz kay my brother is a seaman.

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Author Topic: Pirates Threaten to Kill Pinoys, Other Crew of Hijacked Tanker (Read 975 times)

hazel

Pirates Threaten to Kill Pinoys, Other Crew of Hijacked Tanker

grazie7y

Re: Pirates Threaten to Kill Pinoys, Other Crew of Hijacked Tanker

hazel

Re: Pirates Threaten to Kill Pinoys, Other Crew of Hijacked Tanker