Owners of hijacked Saudi supertanker working for release of crew
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/19/2008 8:48 PM
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The owners of the Saudi supertanker which was hijacked by Somali pirates are working for the safety of all of its 25 crew on board.
"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah B. Ka'aki, President and CEO of Vela International Marine Ltd. said in a latest press statement posted on the company’s website.
According to the press statement, Sirius Star, the fully laden oil tanker is now believed to be at anchor off the coast of Somalia.
“All 25 crew members on board are believed to be safe,” the statement added.
The crew consists of two British, two Polish, one Croatian, one Saudi and 19 Filipino nationals.
"We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return," Ka’aki said.
The tanker was seized earlier this week by a group of armed pirates approximately 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.
Vela added it continues to monitor the situation and coordinate with the relevant embassies.
“At this time, Vela is awaiting further contact from the pirates in control of the vessel,” the statement said, adding that it will make no further public comments on the incident due to the “sensitive nature of the matter and in the interest of the safety of the crew on board the vessel”.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday that an Indian warship destroyed a pirate “mother vessel” in the Gulf of Aden as bandits demanded a ransom for Sirius Star.
The Indian frigate INS Tabar, one of dozens of warships from several countries protecting shipping lanes in the area, attacked the Somali pirate ship late Tuesday after coming under fire, navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said.
"The INS Tabar closed in on the mother vessel and asked her to stop for investigation," the New Delhi navy spokesman said. "But on repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship" if it approached," he added.
An exchange of fire ensued, causing explosions and the Indian navy ships then used heavy guns.
"From what we see in photographs the pirate vessel is completely destroyed," a senior officer said on condition he not be named.
The piracy crisis has grown since the capture of the Saudi super-tanker. The huge vessel was carrying a full load of two million barrels of oil worth an estimated 100 million dollars.
Al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite television channel, broadcast an audio tape that it said was one of the pirates making a ransom demand.
"Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land. Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker," said the man identified as Farah Abd Jameh, who did not indicate the amount to be paid.
"We assure the safety of the ship that carries the ransom. We will mechanically count the money and we have machines that can detect fake money," the man said on an audio tape produced by the Arab television network.
Somali pirates have hijacked three ships since capturing the Sirius Star.
Andrew Mwangura, from the East African Seafarers Association, said a Thai fishing boat, a Hong Kong-registered cargo and a Greek bulk carrier were seized on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden.
The Greek merchant marine ministry said it had no word of a Greek-flagged or Greek-owned vessel being seized.
But Chinese officials said the Hong Kong-flagged MV Delight, with 25-crew, was seized in the Gulf of Aden. It was carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
On the same day, pirates operating near the Yemen coast hijacked a Thai fishing boat registered in Kiribati which was heading towards the Red Sea.
The Indian navy's intervention was the first time a mother ship was destroyed, in the most significant blow to pirates to date.
Pirates use mother ships, generally hijacked trawlers, to tow speedboats from which they launch their attacks.
The Indian navy action could hamper the pirates in the Gulf of Aden in the near future but the group holding the Sirius Star operates from other mother ships further south.
The Gulf of Aden controls access to the Suez Canal, which allows ships to go between Europe to Asia without having to take the longer and more expensive route around the southern tip of Africa. It is a crucially important route for oil tankers.
NATO, the United States and a number of European nations have all sent ships to the region to try to stop the piracy, which has only increased instead.
The German navy said Tuesday one of its frigates had foiled attacks on two ships in the Gulf of Aden, using a helicopter to chase off pirates who fled in their speedboats.
The International Maritime Bureau has called on the United Nations to act over the piracy.
"The situation is already out of control," said Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting centre at the IMB in Kuala Lumpur.
"The United Nations and the international community must find ways to stop this menace," Choong said. "With no strong deterrent, low risk to the pirates and high returns, the attacks will continue."
