Somali pirates holding the Algerian-flagged MV Blida demanded $7 million in ransom and vowed to kill the hostages if their demands are not met, according one of the pirates holding the vessel who spoke to Somalia Report by phone on Tuesday evening.
“We are demanding $7 million for a ransom,” said Mohamoud Haji Ismail, the self-declared pirate spokesman, while on-board the vessel which is anchored off Garacad in Mudug region of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
The spokesman, responding to a speech by Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Belaiz who claimed that his government wouldn’t pay any ransom, vowed revenge.
“If the vessel’s owner will not pay a ransom, we don’t care. We will keep on our duty. We have a negotiation with the owners but we are not pleased about the rate. Our last message is that we will put to death the hostages by a knife if they don’t accept our ransom demands,” said the spokesman angrily.
When our correspondent asked about the health of the hostages, Ismail said they were in poor condition and that, “they are at risk because most of them are elders. There is food shortage.”
The MV Blida has a crew of 27 (17 Algerians, 6 Ukrainians, 2 Filipinos, 1 Jordanian and 1 Indonesian) including the master of the vessel who is Ukrainian.
In a strange twist, the pirate spokesman could not explain what the vessel was carrying (reportedly clinker) despite the fact the ship has been held for nearly eight months, and seemed to evade the most simple questions. His focus was the ransom, not the details.
The 20,586 ton bulk carrier was hijacked on January 1st of this year approximately 130 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman as she transited to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
She is managed by Sekur Holdings and owned by International Bulk Carriers.
This article was posted via somaliareport.com. To find out more, please visit MaritimeSecurity.Asia
