[Iran Press TV] Somali pirates claim they have abandoned a South Korean oil supertanker after receiving a 9.5-million-dollar ransom for the vessel.The release comes nearly seven months after the pirates hijacked the Marshall Islands-flagged Samho Dream as it was passing through the Indian Ocean on its way to the United States from Iraq.
A pirate who identified himself as Abdi Wasuge told Press TV that the bandidos had received about USD 10 million in exchange for the vessel and its crew.
The supertanker was carrying USD 170 million worth of crude oil with a crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos onboard.
While Saturday's alleged ransom payoff is one of the largest so far, many shipping and insurance companies are believed to have paid up to USD 12 million in ransom for hijacked ships. This is hard to verify as the companies or governments involved seldom acknowledge the ransom deals.
Earlier, the Chinese transport ministry said a rescue operation successfully helped free a Singapore-flagged fat merchantman with 19 Chinese crew hijacked off the coast of Somalia.
"The 19 Chinese crew and the ship Golden Blessing were rescued safely at 1:03 a.m. Beijing time (1703 GMT Friday)," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
The ministry statement did not elaborate on how the petroleum and chemical tanker had been rescued. MV Golden Blessing was pirated in late June while travelling to India from Soddy Arabia.
Sea bandidos from the lawless Horn of Africa nation have turned piracy into a lucrative business, with ransom demands seldom less than two million dollars.
Despite the presence of international anti-piracy forces, the number of attacks has continued to surge since 2007. Some analysts say the lack of a judicial system to try "suspected pirates" jugged in failed hijacking attempts has contributed to the surge in piracy.
On Friday, a court in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa released 17 suspected Somali pirates jugged in joint operation between the US and South Korean navies in May 2009, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The court said the prosecution failed to offer solid evidence. The move comes a month after Nairobi decided not to renew a piracy deal with Western countries to try Somali pirates.