Somali Pirates threaten to blow up ship
Pirates threaten to blow up ship
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2008/10/374.jpg The MV Faina is carrying a shipment of battle tanks
Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship with a cargo of military tanks off the Somali coast have threatened to blow it up if they are not paid a ransom.
A pirate spokesman told news agencies by satellite telephone that the ransom of $20m (£12m) must be paid by Monday night or the ship would be destroyed.
He said the pirates were ready to die along with the crew.
US warships have surrounded the MV Faina and a Russian frigate is on its way to help in the operation.
The Kenya-bound ship, together with its mainly Ukrainian crew of 21 and cargo of 33 tanks, was seized on 25 September.
One member of the crew, believed to be Russian, died of a stroke shortly afterwards.
'Three days'
"We held a consultative meeting for more than three hours today and decided to blow up the ship and its cargo - us included - if the ship owners did not meet our ransom demand," Sugule Ali told the Associated Press from aboard the vessel.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2005/11/91.jpg https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2008/09/805.jpg
Pirates in small boats sail close to the MV Faina (Photo: US Navy)
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https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2008/05/367.jpgEnlarge Image
"After three days, starting from tomorrow, the news of the ship will be closed. Either we achieve our goal and get the ransom or perish along with the ship, its crew and cargo."
The pirate spokesman repeated the ultimatum in a conversation with the Spanish news agency Efe.
Piracy is rife in the busy shipping lanes near to Somalia's coast and along the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of boats have been hijacked this year.
Somalia has lacked a functioning central government since 1991 and has been afflicted by continual civil strife.
Ship held by pirates freed in gun battle
Soldiers of a regional government, with guns blazing, have freed a cargo ship that pirates had held off the Somali coast for five days, according to an official from the region.
The ship and the 11 crew members - nine Syrians and two Somalis - were freed after a gun battle in which one soldier was killed and three wounded, said Deputy Seaport Minister Abdiqadir Muse Geele. No hostages or pirates were hurt, Geele said.
The 10 pirates who had held the ship since Thursday surrendered when they ran out of ammunition, said Geele, who is a deputy minister in the government of the northern Somalia semiautonomous region of Puntland.
Also today, the US Navy said Somali pirates had not followed through on their threat to blow up an arms-laden Ukrainian ship.
The vessel, carrying a crew of 20 and a cargo of heavy weapons, is still in one piece, said Lt Stephanie Murdock, a spokeswoman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain. Pirates had threatened to destroy MV Faina by early today unless ransom was paid.
American warships continue to monitor the Faina, which is docked near the Somali port of Hobyo, Murdock said.
A spokesman for the pirates said yesterday they were considering extending the deadline. They have held the ship and its crew for almost three weeks.
Pirates have seized more than two dozen ships this year off Somalia's coast.
Ship held by pirates freed in gun battle - World - smh.com.au
