Medeshi
''If we do not get money we beat the crew badly''
Richard Meade - Tuesday 7 July 2009
A DEFIANT warning from a senior Somali pirate that violence could be used against hijacked crews has raised serious concerns that ransom negotiation tactics are being intensified as pirates push for more money.
In an exclusive interview with Lloyd’s List, a senior Somali pirate giving the name Garaad Mohammed boasted that his pirate gangs could not be stopped by naval forces and warned that crew would be “punished” if shipowners did not pay full ransoms on demand.
Security sources who have seen a full transcript of the interview agree that the threat is “credible” and have suggested that the timing of the approach to the press should be seen as an escalation of the negotiating tactics now being employed by the pirates.
Last week Lloyd’s List received information suggesting that up to five vessels and their crews being held hostage in Somalia were due to be released “imminently”.
However, a number of those ransom negotiations are understood to have stalled after pirates tried to push up the asking price and internal disputes between rival pirate gangs brought one negotiation to a stalemate.
The interview with Mr Mohammed, which was set up via sources close to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, came shortly after one of the negotiations entered what one security source described as “a difficult situation”.
“It is interesting timing and I would suggest that because of the stage of the negotiations under way the pirates are trying to gain some extra leverage by speaking [to the press],” said Nato anti-piracy operation spokesman Chris Davies.
While Mr Mohammed’s precise identity could not be verified, several security sources confirmed that the information given and the level of detail displayed by Mr Mohammed indicate he is the genuine article.
“I don’t call myself a pirate. I call myself a Somali coastguard,” he told Lloyd’s List, speaking via mobile phone from his base near Harardera in the Mudug province of Somalia.
Despite his protestations about not being a pirate, Mr Mohammed was very keen boast about his prolific career to date as a successful hijacker of ships.
“I can’t count how many,” he said referring to specific attacks he had been involved in.
He claimed direct involvement with the high profile hijackings of the Ukrainian ro-ro Faina captured last year and the very large crude carrier Sirius Star as well as the LPG tanker Longchamp, Malta-flagged bulker Ariana and the German boxship Hansa Stavanger.
In the case of the Hansa Stavanger, negotiations over an estimated $3m ransom are understood to have stalled over recent days, but Mr Mohammed remained confident that he would personally get paid up to $300,000 once the problems had been ironed out.
The specific problems were not mentioned but security sources suggest that pirates are finding it increasingly tricky to secure ever-higher ransom amounts.
Mr Mohammed was clear that these frustrations would result in direct action on the part of the pirates.
“If we get our demands we treat [the ship’s crew] well. But if the shipowner does not get us the money soon we punish, we punish and we beat them badly,” he said.
“For 20 years we don’t have a central government, for 20 years the world betrayed us. America, Africa, Arab league. We are going to punish them as they punished us. And we are going to make business”.
In response to the claims made by Mr Mohammed, International Maritime Organization head of maritime security Chris Trelawny told Lloyd’s List: “It would not be appropriate for the IMO secretariat to comment on hearsay opinions of alleged, or even self-confessed, criminals.
“What is important is that the steps currently being taken by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, working with regional authorities and clan elders to marginalise the pirates and to dissuade young men from resorting to crime.”
A DEFIANT warning from a senior Somali pirate that violence could be used against hijacked crews has raised serious concerns that ransom negotiation tactics are being intensified as pirates push for more money.
In an exclusive interview with Lloyd’s List, a senior Somali pirate giving the name Garaad Mohammed boasted that his pirate gangs could not be stopped by naval forces and warned that crew would be “punished” if shipowners did not pay full ransoms on demand.
Security sources who have seen a full transcript of the interview agree that the threat is “credible” and have suggested that the timing of the approach to the press should be seen as an escalation of the negotiating tactics now being employed by the pirates.
Last week Lloyd’s List received information suggesting that up to five vessels and their crews being held hostage in Somalia were due to be released “imminently”.
However, a number of those ransom negotiations are understood to have stalled after pirates tried to push up the asking price and internal disputes between rival pirate gangs brought one negotiation to a stalemate.
The interview with Mr Mohammed, which was set up via sources close to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, came shortly after one of the negotiations entered what one security source described as “a difficult situation”.
“It is interesting timing and I would suggest that because of the stage of the negotiations under way the pirates are trying to gain some extra leverage by speaking [to the press],” said Nato anti-piracy operation spokesman Chris Davies.
While Mr Mohammed’s precise identity could not be verified, several security sources confirmed that the information given and the level of detail displayed by Mr Mohammed indicate he is the genuine article.
“I don’t call myself a pirate. I call myself a Somali coastguard,” he told Lloyd’s List, speaking via mobile phone from his base near Harardera in the Mudug province of Somalia.
Despite his protestations about not being a pirate, Mr Mohammed was very keen boast about his prolific career to date as a successful hijacker of ships.
“I can’t count how many,” he said referring to specific attacks he had been involved in.
He claimed direct involvement with the high profile hijackings of the Ukrainian ro-ro Faina captured last year and the very large crude carrier Sirius Star as well as the LPG tanker Longchamp, Malta-flagged bulker Ariana and the German boxship Hansa Stavanger.
In the case of the Hansa Stavanger, negotiations over an estimated $3m ransom are understood to have stalled over recent days, but Mr Mohammed remained confident that he would personally get paid up to $300,000 once the problems had been ironed out.
The specific problems were not mentioned but security sources suggest that pirates are finding it increasingly tricky to secure ever-higher ransom amounts.
Mr Mohammed was clear that these frustrations would result in direct action on the part of the pirates.
“If we get our demands we treat [the ship’s crew] well. But if the shipowner does not get us the money soon we punish, we punish and we beat them badly,” he said.
“For 20 years we don’t have a central government, for 20 years the world betrayed us. America, Africa, Arab league. We are going to punish them as they punished us. And we are going to make business”.
In response to the claims made by Mr Mohammed, International Maritime Organization head of maritime security Chris Trelawny told Lloyd’s List: “It would not be appropriate for the IMO secretariat to comment on hearsay opinions of alleged, or even self-confessed, criminals.
“What is important is that the steps currently being taken by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, working with regional authorities and clan elders to marginalise the pirates and to dissuade young men from resorting to crime.”
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