Somali pirates release oil tanker after ransom paid (Roundup)

Jan 18, 2010, 11:56 GMT

Athens - Somali pirates released a Greek-flagged tanker and its 28 crew on Monday, one day after a massive ransom was dropped by air onto its deck, officials said.

The Maran Centaurus, with a crew of 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and a Romanian, was hijacked on November 29 last year about 750 nautical miles north-east of Seychelles.

The tanker, owned by Athens-based Maran Tankers Management Inc, was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States when it was seized.

None of the ship's 28 crew members had been hurt in the attack and were under naval escort to a safe port, said Maran Tankers Management Inc.

The vessel and crew were released after an aircraft air-dropped the ransom believed to be between 5.5 million-7 million dollars Sunday afternoon, the largest paid for a vessel held by Somali pirates.

The owners refused to release details of the talks which led to the tanker's release, saying they did not want to provide any information which could lead to further criminal acts of this nature.

Reports said a dispute between two rival pirate groups who attacked the pirates onboard in an unsuccessful attempt to get the ransom had delayed the ship's release.

On Sunday, pirates on board the tanker fired at a rival pirate groups in speedboats which attempted to take over the vessel.

Reports said the pirates in the speedboats threatened to set fire to the ship unless they also received a share of the ransom.

Piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia, which has not had an effective central government since 1991.

The International Maritime Bureau said last week that worldwide piracy attacks increased 39 per cent in 2009, with Somali pirates accounting for more than half.

Heavily-armed gangs from Somalia take to the seas in search of multimillion-dollar ransoms despite the presence of over a dozen international warships, which were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden last year to combat the piracy.

The pirates have expanded their operations further out into the Indian Ocean to avoid the patrols.