Abdulsamad Ali and David Mugonyi
30 September 2008
Nairobi — Pirates who seized an Ukranian ship with military cargo allegedly meant for Kenya are negotiating ransom with vessel's owners, it emerged on Tuesday.
One of the pirates, Mr Sugule Ali, told the Nation that they were in constant touch with the owners as reports indicated that the sea bandits had killed three of their own over differences on whether to surrender or not.
Satellite phone
"The dialogue in on in all channels. We are in contact with the ship's owners," he added through a satellite phone.
However, he declined to be drawn into discussions on what will happen if the $20 million (Sh1.4 billion) ransom will not be paid.
"Let us not discuss that issue now we because were are still discussing with the ship owners," he added.
Mr Ali said they had put the body of a dead crew member in a freezer. He said the remaining crew members were in good spirit as were other captors.
Mr Ali said they were also in contact with warships that had surrounded them. He also declined to drawn into the controversy on whether the military cargo was destined for Kenya or Southern Sudan.
"We will not talk about the nitty-gritty of where the cargo was going because that is not our business."
A spokesperson for the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Ms Somaya Abdel Sadi yesterday dismissed allegations by the US Navy that the arms on the seized ship were meant for Southern Sudan.
South Sudan
"It is baseless to say they belong to Southern Sudan...the Kenyan Government has said as much," she said by telephone.
And an official at the Treasury referred the Nation to the Ministry of Defence, saying they did not do an inventory on how moneys were spent.
"Treasury only gives money according to the budget approved for each ministry. Asking them how they use it would amount to micromanaging them."
Three pirates have died after a fierce shoot about aboard the hijacked Ukrainian vessel after a disagreement, the Nation has learnt.
Although it was not clear what led to the shoot-out, it is suspected that a disagreement on whether to disembark the vessel led to the violence.
However, Mr Ali dismissed the allegations saying they were rumours being peddled by Mr Mwangura.
Mr Sugule Ali told the Nation when asked if they had differed: "Those are falsehoods being peddled out there...we are youthful men who are in this thing together."
Piracy sources said that pirates may have disobeyed the order of their gang leader, a common phenomena, leading to the shootout to silence those that proposed getting out.
At the time of the incident there were 50 pirates on board. Fifty others are nearby and keep interchanging roles.
The vessel now has four dead bodies, including one of the crew members who died under mysterious circumstances. The other 22 crew members are said to be safe and healthy.
The pirates got the ship owner's contacts from the pilot as the registered office in official documents in the ship had wrong details.
"The ship manager is registered as Tomex in Panama and the contacts given are fake. The ship owner is registered as Waterlux Ag in Panama and has already been contacted and is cooperating with the pirates," said the source.
Ransom price is also expected to reduce as negotiations continue. They had initially demanded 35 million US dollars on Thursday.
It also emerged on Tuesday that rescue forces led by America are in constant communication with the pirates through radio.
They are said to have agreed that they will not attack and that the pirates will not offload any of the military cargo.
The second hand RoRo was constructed in 1978 and it is reputed for its efficiency in offloading in shallow waters.
"That is why the forces struck the deal that they will not attack and the pirates will not remove any cargo from the vessel," said the source.
The rescue teams is also said to be preparing to escort the ship and raid it once at the high seas to ascertain the destination of the military hardware imported from Russia.
Former Mandera MP Billow Kerrow raised concern on why the Government was importing weapons as if the country was at war.
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Whats wrong with Somalia? We know you have a sea coast just like the air space, but surely it is not right that that sea coast is patrolled by Pirates instead of Legal Government Coast Guard? When is Somalia going to get organised into a decent, legal fully functional state reputable internationally. When I see a Somalian, I feel awful. That country has huge resources but its people have chosen to be sea faring thugs, land bandits and terrorists. Now do you think Kenyans will be happy with the hold up of that shipment? That is the source of… [Read Full Text]
Somalia is the wild west. There is no functioning government. Ethiopia needs to take it over.
What stupidity. Does anyone who reads these article possess either intelligence or education or knowledge of the world? True the west has ignored Africa other than protecting its own interest. That must stop. We need to protect all opressed? Just because they cannot make it to our shores does not mean they do not deserve to be free. Stop piracy. We should do as the mullahs did. They steal ships. We steal their life. The world needs to unite to follow this doctrine in these dire times. We cannot even deliver humanitarian aid because we allow these terrorists to live… [Read Full Text]
It would be nice to get this resolved.