Security

Pirates Get Millions for Arms-Laden Ship

Score one — a big one — for the pirates of Somalia. Back in September, hijackers took over the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns, and T-72 tanks. The pirates said they didn’t care about the weapons. They just wanted money — and lots of it — in return for […]

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Score one -- a big one -- for the pirates of Somalia.

Back in September, hijackers took over the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns, and T-72 tanks. The pirates said they didn't care about the weapons. They just wanted money -- and lots of it -- in return for the arms and the vessel. Well, it looks like they got what they wanted. The *New York Times *reports:

According to one of the pirates, the owners of the ship had paid the ransom; the pirates had counted the money; and now they were just waiting for nightfall to slip away from the ship.

"Only around 10
pirates are still on board," said the pirate, Isse Mohammed, on
Thursday afternoon. "They will disembark this evening."

Pirates have been taking ships off of the east Africa coast for years - without too many people paying attention. But when the Faina was hijacked, the issue suddenly became a global cause celebre. In response, "China,
India, Italy, Russia, France, the United States, Denmark, Saudi
Arabia, Malaysia, Greece, Turkey, Britain and Germany" all sent warships to the region, the* New York Times *notes. Mercenary firms lined up, to protect commercial ships. And still, the hijackings continue; pirates seized a German tanker, just last week.

*The pirates aboard the *Faina would not reveal how much they had netted in ransom — originally they were asking for more than $20 million.
According to businessmen on shore [and the Russian press], the ransom was around $3 million and the money was dropped by parachute from a small plane, which seems to be the new way to deliver pirate booty. Last month, a huge Saudi oil tanker that had been hijacked was freed in a similar way.

But the* MV Faina* case isn't quite over. "The true destination of the Faina's cargo remains a mystery,"
notes Daniel Sekulich. "Were the weapons and munitions truly destined for the Kenyan military or were they intended for rebels in southern
Sudan?"

[Photo: U.S. Navy]

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