POLITICS - Five of the eight pirates who hijacked a Saudi oil tanker drowned with their share of a $3 million ransom, the day after the bundle of cash was apparently dropped by parachute onto the deck of the ship. Three of the eight pirates managed to swim to shore after the boat they were in overturned in rough seas.The Sirius Star and its 25 crew sailed safely away Friday at the end of a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden, where pirates attacked over 100 ships last year. Hundreds more kidnapped sailors remain in the hands of pirates.
On the same day the Saudi ship was freed, pirates released the captured Iranian-chartered cargo ship Delight which is carrying 36 tonnes of wheat. The ship Delight was attacked in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 18 and seized by pirates. All 25 crew are in good health and the vessel is sailing toward Iran. Iran would not say how much the ransom was.
Piracy is one of the few ways to make money in Somalia. Half the population is starving and a whole generation has grown up knowing nothing but war. Somali pirates gained more than $30 million in ransoms in 2008.
Somalia's lawless coastline borders one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, which links the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Attacks have continued despite the routine patrols by warships from France, Germany, Britain, Canada, the United States, India and China.
The naval coalition has been closely monitoring both the Sirius Star and the Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with military tanks that has been held hostage since September. The seizure of the Sirius Star on Nov. 15 prompted fears that the pirates might release some of the cargo of crude oil into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster as a way of pressuring negotiators. At the time, the oil was valued at $100 million.
The U.S. Navy announced this week it will create a new anti-piracy task force to protect America's oil interests in the region.
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