The pirates aboard the Saudi-owned oil supertanker have delayed the release of the ship after receiving the ransom because some of their colleagues have drowned over board. The international community was expecting the pirates to release the ship after the three million dollar ransom money was parachuted onto the ship. Four pirates drowned in an attempt to leave the ship during rough seas. Surveyor report that the waves in that area could reach up to seven feet. Only one of the pirates trying to leave the ship survived. This incident affects the ability of the pirates to be able to leave the ship and hand it over to the authorities. The oil tanker was carrying about two million barrels of crude oil when it was seized of the coast of Somalia in November 2008. Some of the ransom money was lost when the pirate's boat capsized but the rest of the money is still aboard the ship with the rest of the pirates. International concern has grown over the increased number of hijackings off the coast of East Africa. The deputy Copmbined Maritime Forces commander stated that, "While the potential release of the Sirius Star is unboutly excellent news, we must not forget that nearly three hundred other merchant mariners on other ships are still being held captive." In 2006-2008 alone there have been approximately 785 report pirate attacks in off the coast of East Africa according to CNN.
This comes as a sigh of relief to the international community. The pirates are willing to go through with their sidde of the agreement and the crew and ship will soon be set free. I was actually surprised that the pirates only asked for a three million dollar ransom as the ship and its oil cargo combined is probably worth over 100 million dollars. Three million is still a lot of money but when you compare it to what the ship's worth to the Saudi owners they could have lost over 100 million dollars worth of oil and ship. I was also surprise when I heard that the pirates have counterfeit detecting machines aboard the ship. This shows that they had planned this carfully and did not just set put into the open sea looking for a ship to hijack. They must have known that the Sirius Star was going to pass through the Gulf of Aden. Hopefully they do not find any counterfeit bills because US surveying reports show that they allready lost some of the ransom to the sea and I doubt they will not threaten a crew members life. It is really astonishing how many pirate attacks have occured off the coast of East Africa in the past two years. It is hard to beleive that the world super powers with their naval capabilities cannot take on a few pirates who have no where near the military capabilities.
