Pirates want ransom for sailors

2006-03-08 10:52

Kuala Lumpur - Somalian pirates are believed to be demanding large ransoms for 32 captive sailors from India and other countries whose ships were hijacked in Africa's most perilous waters, says a maritime watchdog on Wednesday.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre, said that owners of the Indian-flagged merchant ship Bhaktisagar began talks this week to secure the freedom of 21 Indian crew members who were taken hostage on February 26, off the Somali coast.

Choong said that 11 seafarers comprising six Somalians, three Tanzanians, an Indian and Sri Lankan had been held for more than three months by Somali gunmen who stormed their Georgian-registered cargo vessel, MV Julia-54, in early December.

Vessels warned

Choong said: "In such cases, the pirates would usually demand ransoms that run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"This is why we're constantly warning vessels to stay at least 322km offshore from the Somalian coast."

The International Maritime Bureau said that the number of pirate attacks in Somalian waters surged to 35 last year from two in 2004.

The raids were part of the anarchy wracking Somalia, which had had no effective government since 1991, after warlords ousted a dictatorship and later turned on each other.

Many shipping firms had reportedly resorted to paying ransoms for seized ships and crew, saying they have few alternatives.

Choong said: "It's not clear where the money goes, but possibly to buy weapons for the power struggle."

Choong said western naval ships, including United States, Dutch and Belgian forces, had been stepping up patrols off Somalia to improve security, but the stretch of the country's 3 000km coastline made it difficult to completely prevent attacks.

- AP