Above: A parachute dropped an apparent payment via a
parachuted container to pirates holding MV Sirius Star
at anchor (U.S. Navy photo, Friday, Jan. 9, 2009).
Somali pirates released the oil-laden Saudi
supertanker after receiving a $3 million ransom,
a negotiator for the bandits said Friday.
The ship owner did not confirm it. The brand
new tanker, with a 25-member crew, was seized
in the Indian Ocean Nov. 15 in a dramatic escalation
of high seas crime.(AP Photo/U.S. Navy,Air Crewman
2nd Class David B. Hudson)
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN –
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 in cash, a resident said Sunday, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.
Five pirates drowned Friday when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $3 million ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker. Local resident Omar Abdi Hassan said one of the bodies had been found on a beach near the coastal town of Haradhere and relatives were searching for the other four.
“One of them was discovered and they are still looking for the other ones. He had $153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket,” he said Sunday.
The U.S. navy released photos of a parachute dropping a package onto the deck of the Sirius Star, and said the package was likely to be the ransom delivery.
But five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather. Three other pirates survived but also lost their share of the ransom. Read More.
Hmmm…I wish I was at the shore to pick up the loot…Yes, and even throw away my usually wise words to the Monsoon winds to go with the bad smell of sea crime aka. Because crime never pays…