Ransom In Hand, Pirates Free Tanker, Crew

Hostages Released After Greek Ship Owner's Pay Somali Pirates

(AP)  Somali pirates have released a hijacked Greek-owned tanker with all 19 crew safe and the oil cargo intact, Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said Saturday. The ship's management company said a ransom was paid but did not say how much.

The Liberian-flagged tanker MV Genius, seized Sept. 26, was released Friday and is about 500 miles off Somalia on its way to the United Arab Emirates, ministry spokesman Constantine Gialelis said.

The pirates had seized the 6,765 gross-ton vessel in the Gulf of Aden near the Horn of Africa, waters that have become highly dangerous for shipping.

Gialelis said the Georgian, Sri Lankan and Syrian crew was safe.

A representative of Piraeus-based Mare Shipmanagement, the tanker's management company, told The Associated Press that the pirates had contacted the owners right after the ship was hijacked and had demanded a ransom.

"Our primary concern is the safety of the ship and its crew. ... They released it when ransom was paid," Ctesiphon Koukoulas told the AP by telephone, without specifying the amount.

He said he could not divulge details because of safety concerns for the crews of other ships held by pirates in the area. At least one other Greek-owned ship is held there.

In the past two weeks, Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have seized eight vessels, including a huge Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

Several hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates dock the hijacked ships near the eastern and southern Somali coast and negotiate for ransom.

Koukoulas, whose company manages five ships, said the pirates keep the ships they hijack "at a secure location" on the Somali coast. The cargo vessels crossing the busy seaway are advised by warships patrolling the area on what route to take but "the best one can do is pray that it doesn't happen to them," he said.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Friday that the Saudi government was not negotiating with pirates and would not do so, but that what the ship's owners did was up to them.

The same day, a radical Islamic group in Somalia said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized and that it would fight the pirates holding the Saudi supertanker.

NATO has four warships, including a Greek frigate, on duty off the 2,400 mile coastline of Somalia, an impoverished nation caught up in an Islamic insurgency that has had no functioning government since 1991.

The four-ship contingent was dispatched to the region under a U.N. mandate to escort vessels chartered by the World Food Program to Somali ports, and to conduct patrols designed to deter pirates from attacking merchant ships transiting the Gulf of Aden.

The Greek and Italian warships are escorting cargo ships chartered by the U.N. food agency to carry aid from Mombasa, Kenya, to Mogadishu, Somalia. Turkish and British frigates are conducting deterrence patrols in the Gulf of Aden, where they engaged in a firefight last week with pirates attempting to hijack a Danish ship.

Next month, the European Union takes over the NATO mission, sending four ships to replace the four now patrolling under the NATO flag.

The U.S. 5th Fleet based in Bahrain also contributes to the policing of the coast with several ships stationed in the region. Working alongside are frigates from several other nations - including Russia, India, Malaysia and Denmark.

[doorgunner3]

arpet bombing of ports in Somalia. The utter destruction of all port facilities and Somali ships therein. Then, for good measure, bomb Mogadishu.
Of course, the new president-elect won''''t do this: he might be bombing a fellow church-goer.

Posted by Gatofeo


Of course, this brilliant plan would only worsen the problem.

But you probably knew that.

As for your Obama slur, guess what? He is your President. You can go on with your third grade insults, or you can join with your fellow citizens to clean up the Bush vandalism.

Unless, of course, you think the vandalism was cool.

[doorgunner3]

If these nations cannot, or will not take care of this problem, let the shipping companies hire Blackwater. Oh, but wait, then we would prosecute them for doing what they were hired for.

Posted by my2centss

Blackwater and the other no-bod, Cheney-fed criminals deserve criminal prosecution far and beyond what they are actually facing.

It''s a travesty.

Meanwhile, no one is going to end this piracy until the failed state of Somalia is restored to something resembling sovereignty.

[sensiblejack]

Gheemaster is taking too much of an isolationist view...the cargo of these ships, be it Oil , Grains spare parts, is destined for all over the world, and interdicting free trade on the high seas is an internatuional responsibility. Lets face it how many nations are prepared and capable of doing something effective.....Great work from India in firing the first salvo....but we are who and what we are ...like it or not.

[my2centss]

If these nations cannot, or will not take care of this problem, let the shipping companies hire Blackwater. Oh, but wait, then we would prosecute them for doing what they were hired for.

[gheemaster38]

Why is it American arrogance lead us to believe we should be envolved in all the conflicts even if it does not involve us? A ship of Marines, Napalm, etc? Those are not American ships. In fact, most of them are ships from countries we have problems with. For those of you who think a ship of Marines will do justice, Remember what happened in Somalia back in the early 90''s? a few good men got there *** handed to them and ran out of town by these stick welding people. AS for Ron''s idea we know that came from his racist black heart not his empty brain. I am sure he is the type of person that says he has black friends when it is convenient. Besides, the US has other worries like when and if we finally pull out of Iraq and that country over throws the government- will we go back and spend another 3 or 4 trillion trying to establish "American democracy" again. I say we mind our own affairs here and let the rest of the world work it out. Until we become number 1 again.

[checkthepast]

What''''s "church" got to do with it?

Posted by menmotoscutr

Its got everything to do with it, its what the fighting is all about. if you dont agree with the followers of allah, you must die.

Carpet bombing of ports in Somalia. The utter destruction of all port facilities and Somali ships therein. Then, for good measure, bomb Mogadishu.
Of course, the new president-elect won''''t do this: he might be bombing a fellow church-goer. Posted by Gatofeo
--
Why bother? It isn''t our oil; they are not our ships; what are they doing to harm US that warrants eradicating a population with which we disagree? Maybe Allah has it wrong, but Ali did not. "They haven''t done anything bad to me, why should I go and kill them?" What''s "church" got to do with it?

how can we solve this on the long run?? Posted by obamasNUTZ
---
Why is it OUR responsibility to solve this? India seems to know how to solve India''s problem. Get the idea?

[gatofeo]

Carpet bombing of ports in Somalia. The utter destruction of all port facilities and Somali ships therein. Then, for good measure, bomb Mogadishu.
Of course, the new president-elect won''t do this: he might be bombing a fellow church-goer.

[emeraldblue]

Hide a tracking devise in the ransom, wait until it''s delivered to the warlord pirate pimp, then send a drone to take him out. After a few bosses are gone, the pirates will go back to fishing.