Tuesday, February 09, 2010
By Abdi Guled and Abdi Sheikh
"Some of our friends have already disembarked and the rest will get off the ship soon," one of the pirates, Hassan, told Reuters by telephone from the coastal pirate base of Haradheere. "We hope it will peacefully sail away in the coming hours."
The name of the vessel was not immediately clear, but a regional maritime source said it was believed to be the MV Al Khaliq, thought to be carrying 24 Indians and 2 Burmese crew.
The source said negotiations for the release of the MV Al Khaliq had been going on for weeks. It was loaded with wheat grain when it was seized on October 22 west of the Seychelles.
The number of piracy attacks worldwide leapt almost 40 percent last year, with gunmen from the failed Horn of Africa state accounting for more than half the 406 reported incidents, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Typically, the heavily armed Somali pirates hold captured ships and their crews hostage until ransoms are paid.
Source: Reuters