Somali pirates free Saudi supertanker, five drown

Somali pirates freed a Saudi supertanker seized in the world's biggest ship hijacking for a $3 million ransom yesterday - but five drowned when their boat capsized as they were making off with their share.

The capture of the Sirius Star and its $100 million cargo of crude in November drew attention to a surge in piracy off Somalia that has brought global navies rushing to protect one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

Farah Osman, an associate of the pirates speaking to Reuters from Haradheere port near where the tanker was held, said the gang had wanted more money but finally agreed to accept $3 million. A regional maritime group confirmed the ship's release.

"The last batch of gunmen have disembarked from the Sirius Star. She is now steaming out to safe waters," said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance programme, based in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Pirates' associate Mr Osman said the gang argued over how to split the ransom money, then at least five were drowned in rough waters that engulfed one of the boats that left the Saudi ship.

"Five of the first eight pirates who took their share of the ransom from the Saudi ship died after their boat capsized," he said.

"Two of them swam and survived. One is still missing. The weather was so terrible that it blew the boat over, then sank it. We got five dead bodies and we are still searching for the missing one. The waves were disastrous."

The Sirius Star was captured in November with 25 crew members, 450 miles southeast of Kenya, in the boldest seizure to date by Somali pirates.

There was no immediate comment from Vela International, the Dubai-based shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, which operates the ship. The Sirius was heading south, possibly to anchor off Mombasa for resupplying or to go on to South Africa, Mwangura said.

The rampant piracy off Somalia worsened dramatically in 2008 while an Islamist insurgency fuelled chaos onshore.

The piracy in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes has sent insurance prices soaring, made some owners choose to go round South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and brought an unprecedented deployment of foreign warships to the region.