Pirates have letterhead to go with sizable demands

A AAi C oA u o nAit PtRACY

companies for just these kinds of situations.

In the event of a hijacking, they will pay up, just as Jamal and his ilk request.

Because the number of attacks has declined, piracy coverage prices have, too, said Amanda Holt, a vicepresident in the financial and professional liability unit at insurance brokerage Marsh in Norwich, England.

“Often if you buy piracy coverage you’ll get a discount on your war premium. It makes a lot of sense for ship owners and managers.”

A ship- owner looking to insure a single transit can now get $ 5 million in coverage for anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000, assuming the ship has armed guards.

In this case, that means negotiating how and when the money is paid, and of course how much.

Jamal provided the ship owners a breakdown of the value of their tanker, the oil it contained and also the worth of the crew ( at least in his opinion), presenting a final demand figure for them to consider.

“We will send to you after when we arrange something for the demanding ransom money and after when we finish the meeting among my group and resolve my problem,” he wrote in the second page of the kidnap packet.

One expert in ransom negotiation situations said it was little surprise that Jamal and his colleagues were so well organized, their meager circumstances in one of the world’s most strife-torn countries notwithstanding.

“They want to get the money. If they present themselves and behave as someone who will live up to their commitment to give us the package in good condition, we are much more likely to go ahead and pay the ransom easily and efficiently,” said Derek S.T. Baldwin, director of worldwide operations for IBIS International, which operates in 45 countries worldwide.

“If they present themselves as a non-structured group of disorganized loons they stand an awful lot better chance of having an extraction team show up on their front porch and shoot them,” said Baldwin, an attorney by training whose firm has been involved in a number of ransom situations over the years.

As for Jamal, his fate remains unclear. There is no mention of him to be found on the Internet, and Interpol did not return a request for comment on his legal status.

The hostage taking in this particular case ended peacefully, though the source of the documents declined to say if or how much of a ransom was paid.