Bartamaha (Nairobi):- The owner of Al Nisr Al Saudi ship, which has been hijacked by Somali pirates, said the insurance company has agreed to pay a ransom of $20 million to win the release of the ship and its 14-member crew — 13 Sri Lankans and a Greek.

Kamal Arri, manager of International Bunkering Company, said his company had received a preliminary approval from Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to pay the ransom. “We are now waiting for the Interior Ministry’s approval,” he told Arab News on Sunday.

He requested Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif to intervene in the matter to win the release of the ship and crew as quickly as possible.

He said the insurance company’s refusal to provide fuel could lead to the ship drifting powerless and possibly being damaged or sunk.

“Being the ship’s owner, we have already sent a cable to the Interior Ministry to allow quick payment of ransom by the insurance company,” he added.

Arri said the crew have been going through a difficult time after repeated warnings from the pirates that they would be killed if ransom was not paid.

Arri said his company suffered a loss of SR30 million as a result of the hijack, which took place in the Gulf of Aden five months ago while the ship was returning to Jeddah from Japan. The 5,136-ton ship was not carrying any oil at the time of hijacking, which took place while the ship was on its maiden voyage.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has asked the ship owner to explain the prolonged difficulties being faced by the ship’s crew in the light of complaints lodged by Sri Lankan and Greek authorities.

Arri said he had contacted the IMO and informed them that efforts are being made to pay the ransom to win the release of the ship and crew.

He said the pirates are torturing the crew and forcing them to sleep on deck.

“The consulates of Sri Lanka and Greece have been contacting us, inquiring about the safety of crew members,” he said.

Somali pirates have hijacked at least 83 vessels with hundreds of crew members since 2005. Foreign navies have been deployed off the Gulf of Aden since the start of 2009, operating convoys and setting up safer transit corridors through the most dangerous waters.

Saudi naval forces started their efforts to combat piracy in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden in November last year after some Saudi ships were hijacked by the pirates including the oil tanker Sirius Star of Saudi Aramco. The Sirius Star is the biggest ship ever to be hijacked, with a capacity of two million barrels. It was hijacked in November 2009 in the Indian Ocean.

Many ship owners in the Kingdom have suffered losses as a result of piracy in international waters.

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Source:-Arab News.

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