Somali pirates deny report of shoot-out

Pirates holding a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks and weapons today claimed they were celebrating the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr despite being surrounded by American warships and helicopters.

They also denied a report of a shoot-out aboard the seized ship.

No solution to their €14m ransom demand for the cargo ship Faina was yet in sight.

“We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating Eid,” pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said. “Nothing has changed.”

Ali did not say whether the ship’s crew would be included in the feast that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

One of the 21 crew members has died, of an apparent heart attack.

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme said there was an unconfirmed report that three Somali pirates were killed last night in a dispute over whether to surrender, but he said he had not spoken to any witnesses.

But the pirate spokesman insisted that was not true.

“We didn’t dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shootout,” Ali said.

There was no way to independently verify either account.

The US 5th Fleet also said it had no new information to report today on the six-day stand-off.

Elsewhere in Somalia, pirates freed a Malaysian tanker today after a ransom was paid, according to a Malaysian shipping company.

The blue-and-white Ukrainian ship Faina has been buzzed by American helicopters since Sunday.

Pirates hijacked the Faina and its cargo of 33 Soviet-designed tanks and weapons last Thursday while the ship was passing through the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Ali said the vessel was surrounded by four warships but he could not identify where the ships were from.

The USS guided missile destroyer Howard has been watching the pirate ship for several days and has spoken the pirates and crew by radio.

Yesterday, US naval officials said several other American ships had joined the watch, but declined to give details.

US Navy officials said they have allowed the pirates to resupply the ship with food and water, but not to unload any of its military cargo, which included T-72 tanks, ammunition and heavy weapons that US Defence officials have said included rocket launchers.

The US fears the armaments may end up with al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants who have been fighting an insurgency against the shaky, UN-backed Somali transitional government since late 2006, when the Islamists were driven out after six months in power.

More than 9,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the Iraq-style insurgency.

“Our goal is to ensure the safety of the crew, to not allow off-loading of dangerous cargo and to make certain Faina can return to legitimate shipping,” said Rear Adm. Kendall Card, commander of the task force monitoring the ship.

Russia has also dispatched a warship to the area, but it will take about a week to get there.

American military officials and diplomats say the weapons are destined for southern Sudan.

The oil-rich south was promised a referendum in 2011 on independence from the rest of Sudan as part of a peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war three years ago. Southern Sudanese officials said they were “surprised” to hear reports that the tanks and arms were destined for them.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian shipping line MISC Berhad said Somalia pirates released the seized palm oil tanker, MT Bunga Melati 2, on Monday, two days after its first vessel was released.

Chairman Hassan Marican said a ransom was paid for both vessels but declined to reveal the amount. All 79 crew on both ships are safe but were traumatised and will undergo counselling, he said.

Piracy has become a lucrative criminal racket in impoverished Somalia, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year in ransom. There have been 24 reported attacks in Somalia this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, to the north of Somalia. But recently pirates have been targeting Indian Ocean waters off eastern Somalia.

In all, 62 ships have been attacked in the notorious African waters this year. A total of 26 ships were hijacked, and 12 remain in the hands of the pirates along with more than 200 crew members.

International warships are patrolling the area and have created a special security corridor under a US-led initiative, but attacks have not abated.