Somali pirates free ship after owners pay US$5m ransom

Somali pirates freed a Bangladesh-flagged cargo vessel and its 23 crew yesterday after the shipowners paid a ransom, the company said.

The MV Abdullah was carrying more than 55,000 tonnes of coal from Maputo to the United Arab Emirates when it was seized by dozens of pirates about 1,000km off the Somali coast a month ago.

The seizure came amid a surge in Somali pirate activity, with international naval forces diverted from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea to guard against attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Iranbacked Houthi rebels.

The MV Abdullah’s owners, KSRM Group, negotiated with the bulk carrier’s captors and the vessel sailed for Dubai yesterday, a spokesman said.

“We struck a deal with the pirates,” said Mizanul Islam of SR Shipping, the group’s maritime arm. “We cannot say more about the money. All the crew are safe and secure.”

The ship was released after a US$5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates.

“The money was brought to us two nights ago as usual... We checked whether the money was fake or not. Then we divided the money into groups and left, avoiding the government forces,” said Abdirashiid Yusuf, one of the pirates, yesterday.

The vessel’s capture came after the first successful case of Somali piracy since 2017 was recorded in December. A series of incidents since then has fuelled concerns about a resurgence ofIndian Ocean raids by pirates exploiting a security gap after the redeployment of international forces.

Houthi gunmen have launched attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden targeting what they deem to be Israeli-linked vessels in response to Israel’s war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Last month, Indian commandos boarded and recaptured the vessel seized in December, the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen, around 480km off the Somali coast.

All 17 hostages were rescued and 35 alleged pirates were brought to Mumbai to face prosecution.

Analysts say the Somali pirate threat remains well below its 2011 peak, when gunmen launched attacks as far as 3,655km from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.