A Lebanese commercial ship seized off the coast of Somalia last week might see an end to its case in the next two days, reports the Lebanese Daily Star citing sources within the company which owns the sailing vessel. “Ongoing negotiations will hopefully result in the release of the ship,” an official at I & S Marine Company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Lebanese newspaper on Sunday.
He disclosed that although there was no direct contact with the pirates, company officials “were negotiating with them through businessmen,” whose identities and nationalities he preferred to keep confidential.
Asked about previous statements by company officials that negotiations were conducted through diplomatic channels, the official said, “Today’s mediators are different from those dealt with earlier.”
A crew of 18, including four Lebanese, eight Ukrainians, four Egyptians and one Syrian, was aboard the Princess Sarah when it was hijacked late Tuesday. A day earlier, British Cornish coast guards picked up a call made from the same ship, according to a report on British Broadcasting Corporation news online published on Monday. The call was made via satellite after two speedboats off the coast of Somalia fired upon the ship. “They ordered him (the captain) to stop so they could board. But he refused to obey, despite being chased for an hour,” the BBC quoted a coast-guard source as saying.
The official at I&S Marine asserted the first attempt to take over the ship but said that the captain was forced to stay in the area due to bad weather. He said there was no cargo on board the 8,000-ton vessel.
Asked if the ransom, which the pirates have demanded, was still US$200,000, the official responded, “we’re still negotiating with them.” (Albawaba.com)
