A hefty ransom secured the release of Bangladeshi cargo liner M V Jahan Moni from Somali pirates with the negotiations brokered by foreigners, shipping sources said Sunday.
On December 5, the armed pirates had captured the ship with its 26 crew including the wife of the chief engineer, from the sea off the Indian port of Cochin, when it was on its way to Greece carrying mineral ore from Indonesia, the owners said.
A shipping source connected with the owner of the hijacked ship said that a ransom of four million US dollars was paid to the Somali pirates to secure release of the ship.
When contacted, managing director of S.R.Shipping, Mohammad Shahjahan, the ship owner, denied having paid any ransom to secure the release of Jahan Moni.
He would only say, ‘The ship’s release was secured only trough negotiations with the Somali pirates.’
He said that they agreed to release the ship and all the formalities in this regard had been completed.
‘We are just waiting for the message of release,’ he said.
The general manager of S.R.Shipping, Meherul Karim, said that the vessel was scheduled to be released on Sunday midnight after all the formalities with Somali pirates were completed.
‘We are waiting with patience to get the confirmation that Jahan Moni was released by the Somali pirates,’ he said.
He, however, declined to elaborate the matter.
Another official of S.R.Shipping, however, admitted that a hefty ransom had to be paid to secure the release of Jahan Moni.
But he refused to share exactly how much had to be paid to the pirates.
Initially, the Somali pirates had demanded nine million US dollars in ransom for releasing the ship and its crew, the sources in the company said.
They said that the pirates placed the demand through the crew of Jahan Moni, still on board the hijacked vessel.
They said that one of the pirates had frequently contacted the officials of S.R.Shipping to get the ransom.
And gradually, they said, through negotiations brokered by some foreigners a settlement was reached, securing the release of the ship and its crew.
Courtesy of New Age
