Algerian vessel, MV Blida and 25 Crew Reported to be Released by Somali Pirates
Source: Somalia Report
After 11 months in captivity, MV Blida and her crew of 25 have been freed by Somalia pirates after they agreed to accept a US$2 ransom from the shipowners, much lower than the US$7 million originally demanded, a pirate told Somalia Report on Thursday.
 |
| Released by Pirates, MV Blida (Photo:Somalia Report/EUNAVFOR) |
The vessel and crew are safe and heading towards Mombasa, Kenya, but had to endure a further attack from pirates as they departed the Somali coast, say sources.
Mohamed Ahmed, a reliable source who told Somalia Report about the release of the Danish yachting family 24 hours before the news became public, said the cash was dropped on Wednesday evening. After counting and dividing the money, the pirate group released the vessel on Thursday morning, he said. Two other pirates and a local official confirmed the news.
This comes after months of wrangling, changes in negotiators, threats to kill the crew and demands for ransom ranging from $4 - $7 million.
The vessel was attacked on January 1, 2011 approximately 130 miles south east of the Port of Salalah, Oman on her way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at the time of the attack. The Algerian owned ship had a load of clinker and a crew of 27 including Algerian, Philippine, and Ukraine nationals.
Crew members of the vessel were comprised of 17 Algerians, 6 Ukrainians, 2 Filipinos, 1 Jordanian and 1 Indonesian national, but two crew members were later take off the vessel in October by the US Navy for medical reasons.
Ransom Confusion
There was some confusion at first and the normal speedy contact with pirates was delayed until February. To complicate matters, Algerian law forbids paying of ransom and the ship owners only had a small war-risk insurance policy, not the larger KRE plans that the pirates are used to plundering. The Algerian government clearly stated that no ransom would be paid.
Despite this hard public stance, private negotiations began between Garaad's pirate group and the owners. By August, the pirates were publicly demanding $7 million dollars. At that time, according to pirate spokesperson Mahamoud Haji Ismael, the pirates were prepared to kill all the hostages and were frustrated that the seemingly older crew was in such poor health.
They were additionally frustrated by the owner's stubborn refusal to move past a small ransom counter-offer. Most pirates request double their expected price, expecting owners to negotiate downward over a 90 to 120 day period. This normal tactic was not successful.
Garaad then assigned another negotiator named "Ali" who finally negotiated and agreed to a $2.6M ransom, the maximum allowed under the war-risk insurance carried by the ship. A signed agreement with the pirates was drafted with instructions on how to pay the money. A plane was arranged for the drop but at the last minute, Garaad blew his top when he learned of the low amount and cancelled the deal.
Trusted negotiator Looyan was put in place. Looyan has negotiated over 20 ships, including the massive oil tanker ransoms that pushed the record above 12 million dollars. Looyan is also targeted for arrest and sanctions by the UN in their latest report.
Garaad is former military and was trained by the HART program in Bosasso in 1999. He is the single most successful pirate in Somalia and unlike his contemporaries, such as Booyah, has escaped jail, or retirement like Afweyne.
Somalia Report contacted Garaad to find out what happened.
“We changed our negotiator Ali to Looyaan, so Looyaan was our negotiator since the last three days," he said. “We changed Ali because we are not confident in him. During the negotiation we demanded a final ransom of $4.5 million. Ali told the owners that we demanded $2.6million."
Negotiator Looyan was also contacted by Somalia Report during the change. “Yes, I am the new negotiator, we don’t want to talk about the ransom that we are demanding. First we are transferring two of the crew members who are seriously sick to navy ships without any ransom. It is a humanitarian gesture. After we transfer these patients to navy ships, then we will open the negotiation about the ransom,” he said.
Looyan's version of the cancelled drop differed.
“The owners told us that they would send a airplane to take these patients and we refused that action. We will transfer them to the nearest warship. We are still demanding $4.5 million,” said Looyaan.
A spokesman for the owner said that the pirates broke their word and he has a signed contract to prove it. This is the third time pirates have broken their word, most recently in the case of MV Dover.
The ship manager of the vessel is the Greece-based Sekur Holdings Inc., while her registered owner is International Bulk Carriers of Algeria, a subsidiary of the Algerian National Company of Navigation (Compangnie Nationale de Navigation).
For a detailed profile and background, please see Somalia Report piracy report from August 12.
OCEANUSLive.org
Information, Security, Safety; Shared