SOMALI BANDITS terrorising the busy shipping routes around the Horn of Africa suffered a rare setback when an Indian warship destroyed a pirate “mothership” after coming under fire in the Gulf of Aden.
The Indian navy said its frigate, one of the numerous international warships dispatched to patrol the waters around the Horn of Africa, had approached a suspicious vessel on Tuesday evening. It turned out to be a previously captured ship being used by pirates as a base to launch their speedboats far out to sea.
“The INS Tabar closed in on the mother vessel and asked her to stop for investigation,” an Indian navy spokesman said. “But on repeated calls, the vessel’s threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship if it approached.” After a heavy exchange of fire, the pirate ship was destroyed. Two speedboats escaped.
The naval battle came on a day when pirates seized three other ships: a Greek bulk carrier, a Thai fishing boat and an Iranian-chartered cargo ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat from Germany. The hijackings, which followed the capture at the weekend of the Sirius Star, the Saudi supertanker carrying $100m worth of oil bound for the US, sent a powerful message of the pirates’ potency.
The 330-metre oil tanker, the largest ship ever to be captured at sea, is reported to be anchored near the town of Harardheere on Somalia’s eastern seaboard. Its owner, Vela International, a subsidiary of the state oil company Saudi Aramco, yesterday opened negotiations for a ransom payment, according to Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
“I know the owners of the tanker are negotiating on the issue. We do not like to negotiate with terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens there,” he said. The ransom sought will almost certainly run into tens of millions of dollars.
Al-Jazeera yesterday broadcast an audio tape featuring what it said was the voice of Farah Abd Jameh, a pirate on the Sirius Star, making his demands.
“Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land,” he said. “Once they have agreed on the ransom it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker. 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.” No ransom amount was mentioned, however, and the authenticity of the tape could not be confirmed. – (Guardian service)