On 2nd May 2011 MT Gemeni was hijacked.
On the Monday after the hijack-- we appeared at the offices of Glory Shipmanagement-- owner and manager of this stiricken vessel to offer our expertise to resolve the case within 2 weeks in a ship storming.. at a cost slightly below the asked for ransom.
We were met by a hostile Malay manager who refused to identify himself or give us a card.
We met him again 2 days later to the same response at their offices in Temasek Towers in Singapore.
We told him that sooner or later the hull and crew would be separated and bargained for separately.
Read below-- we are not prophets-- we are security specialists and our words are true.
We do think the South Korean Government will ask Glory Shipmanagement to settle this ransom bill--- at 5 M USD per sailor.
We do think it was ignorant, for the Glory Shipmanagement not to be open to our security solution, and for the Malay man not to even bring us up to higher management.
Life to them is just very cheap-- while they sit in their air-conditioned offices comfortably to contemplate their next most profitable moves.
In all likelihood-- Glory Shipmanagement will abandon the South Korean sailors below. They do not have cash to foot the ransom bill.
The best outcome should have been to storm the ship and save all this renegotiation troubles.
~~~~
Somalia Report By MOHAMED BEERDHIGE, ANDREW MWANGURA
Pirates have released the Singapore-flagged MT Gemini and 21 crew members, although they have kept a hold of four South Korean seamen who were on the ship, pirates and maritime officials said Thursday.
The MT Gemini was taken on April 30, and pirates had initially demanded $5 million for its release. There was no information on the size of the ransom.
\"The Singaporean vessel has been released on Wednesday late after payment, but they kept the South Korean crew ... because they want six of their colleagues jailed in South Korea to be released,\" Mu\'min Ali, a Haradhere-based pirate, told Somalia Report. \"The ransom amount is not clear, as pirate groups don\'t like to reveal how much they got these days.\"
The vessel was left anchored at Hobyo, he said.
Nairobi-based diplomats said the vessel would shortly get underway, and that the four Koreans were taken to an unknown destination on shore.
The Singapore-based owner Glory Ship Management confirmed the release in a statement.
\"The pirates ... released 21 of the 25 crew on board but took four South Korean seamen, including the captain, ashore at the last moment despite earlier promises to release the entire all-man crew,\" Reuters news agency reported the company as saying. \"We are relieved that 21 of the crew have been released and are in good health. We will expedite their speedy return home. In the meantime we are expending all efforts to secure the release of the four South Koreans still held as hostage.\"
In July pirates threatened to kill the crew South Korean hostages.
The 25 crew was made up of 13 Indonesians, 5 Chinese, 3 Myanmar, and 4 South Koreans.
Pirates have released the Singapore-flagged MT Gemini and 21 crew members, although they have kept a hold of four South Korean seamen who were on the ship, pirates and maritime officials said Thursday.
The MT Gemini was taken on April 30, and pirates had initially demanded $5 million for its release. There was no information on the size of the ransom.
\"The Singaporean vessel has been released on Wednesday late after payment, but they kept the South Korean crew ... because they want six of their colleagues jailed in South Korea to be released,\" Mu\'min Ali, a Haradhere-based pirate, told Somalia Report. \"The ransom amount is not clear, as pirate groups don\'t like to reveal how much they got these days.\"
The vessel was left anchored at Hobyo, he said.
Nairobi-based diplomats said the vessel would shortly get underway, and that the four Koreans were taken to an unknown destination on shore.
The Singapore-based owner Glory Ship Management confirmed the release in a statement.
\"The pirates ... released 21 of the 25 crew on board but took four South Korean seamen, including the captain, ashore at the last moment despite earlier promises to release the entire all-man crew,\" Reuters news agency reported the company as saying. \"We are relieved that 21 of the crew have been released and are in good health. We will expedite their speedy return home. In the meantime we are expending all efforts to secure the release of the four South Koreans still held as hostage.\"
In July pirates threatened to kill the crew South Korean hostages.
The 25 crew was made up of 13 Indonesians, 5 Chinese, 3 Myanmar, and 4 South Koreans.
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