MOGADISHU — Rival Somali pirate gangs tussled Sunday over a multi-million dollar ransom for the Greek oil tanker Maran Centaurus seized in November with 28 crew members, pirates and a maritime official said.

It was however unclear the exact amount paid for the vessel, with the pirates saying they had received 5.5 million dollars while Andrew Mwangura of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme said seven million had been dropped by a chopper.

“The ransom was brought in this afternoon and it is 5.5 million US dollars,” said Ahmed Ganey, a member of the gang that hijacked the ship.

“The argument intensified when the ransom money was brought. Some of the pirates are on board the ship while others are on-shore and refusing anybody to get down or to go on board,” said Ganey, who was on-shore.

A gang from Somalia’s northern pirate lair of Harardhere demanded the lion’s share of the spoil, a move disputed by those from Somalia’s breakaway region of Puntland. Members from both groups are holding the ship.

Ecoterra International, a green NGO that also monitors illegal maritime activities in the region, said a ransom had been paid, but did not specify the amount.

“The problem is now that the pirates on the vessel will not be able to return to the shore because of the infighting,” it said in a statement.

“At present there is a stand-off and nobody can predict how the release will develop.”

The Maran Centaurus was captured on November 29 near the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles while sailing from Kuwait to the Gulf of Mexico.

The tanker has a crew of 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and one Romanian and is carrying around two million barrels of crude oil.

The Maran Centaurus is the second oil tanker captured by the rampaging Somali pirates, following the hijacking of the Sirius Star in November 2008 with a cargo estimated to be worth around 100 million dollars.

The Sirius Star was released in January 2009.

_______

AFP

Comments

comments