Somali Pirates Free Greek Ship, Claim Ransom Was $5.7 Million

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsSomali pirates have released the Greek-owned bulk carrier Free Goddess and its 21 Filipino crew members after holding the vessel for more than eight months, the secretary general of the Seafarers Union of Kenya said on Friday.

Andrew Mwangura, whose role involves contact with ships sailing the Indian Ocean and catering for crews’ welfare, said a ransom was dropped onto the vessel from the air on Oct. 10.

“The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Free Goddess is now free and she is heading to Salalah, Oman, for … fuel, fresh water and a crew change,” Mwangura told Reuters.

Pirates said the ship had been held at Garad, a haven in Puntland that they use.

“We took $5.7 million ransom after holding the ship for months,” a pirate in Garad called Mohamed told Reuters.

The amount of the ransom could not immediately be verified independently.

Mwangura i s a former head of The East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, a n independent organization for the welfare of seafarers and a piracy monitoring group.

International navies have cracked down on pirates, including strikes on their coastal bases, and ship firms are increasingly using armed guards and defensive measures on vessels including barbed wire, scaring off Somali seaborne gangs.

That reduced the number of incidents involving Somali pirates to 69 in the first half of 2012, compared with 163 in the same period last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

However, the commander of the European Union’s anti-piracy task force has warned that pirates would “try their luck” again following a lull in attacks on the high seas off Somalia now that the monsoon period has ended.

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu and Abdqani Hassan in Puntland and Richard Lough in Nairobi; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by James Macharia)

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: International NewsTopics: ransom, ship ransom, Somali pirates, Somali pirates Greek shipHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Insurers Face Tougher Times as Somali Piracy Drops

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsA dramatic fall in pirate attacks off the Somali coast is forcing down the cost of piracy insurance for commercial ships, taking the shine off a fast-growing and lucrative market for London-based insurers.

International navies have cracked down on pirates, including strikes on their coastal bases, and ship firms are increasingly using armed guards and defensive measures on vessels including barbed wire, scaring off Somali seaborne gangs.

That reduced the number of incidents involving Somali pirates to just 69 in the first half of 2012, compared with 163 in the same period last year, according to watchdog the International Maritime Bureau.

“The chance of pirates being able to carry out successful hijackings is now very slim, which is probably deterring many would-be pirates from going to sea,” said Rory Lamrock, an intelligence analyst with security firm AKE.

War torn Somalia is next to the Gulf of Aden’s busy shipping lanes, and poverty has in recent years tempted many young men to take up piracy, storming commercial vessels and holding their crews and cargo to ransom.

Last year, they netted $160 million, and cost the world economy some $7 billion, according to the American One Earth Future foundation.

The drop in Somali pirate activity is weighing on the market for so-called marine kidnap and ransom insurance, which has grown from scratch to be worth about $250 million in little more than five years, according to informal industry estimates.

Spending on marine K&R cover, which indemnifies ship owners against the cost of paying ransoms and recovering vessels and crew, has halved compared with two years ago, estimates Will Miller of Special Contingency Risks, a unit of insurance broker Willis.

“We are seeing a softening in the rates that underwriters are charging for piracy cover,” Miller said. “The key driver is the implementation of more robust security measures on board by the shipping community.”

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