Lost At Sea, $3 Million And 5 Pirates

I don’t know why, but I’m fascinated by piracy on the high seas.  Its not that I advocate violence or theft,  its just I find the audacity of it in this day in age, amazing.  They’ve got the First World and their insurance companies freaking out.  The US, the Chinese, the Europeans all have naval vessels in the region to stop them.

The biggest prize ever captured, The Sirius Star, was hijacked last November.  The crew of 25 was overwhelmed by Somalian pirates.  The combined value of the supertanker and the oil cargo was over $250 million.  The pirates wanted $25 million, because really what are they going to do with a ship the size of a skyscraper?   The Saudi shipowners settled on $3 million for the ransom.   Which when you do the math on the insurance cost of losing the ship and oil– is a bargain.  The money was dropped via parachute onto the deck of the ship.  The pirates grabbed the cash, left the crew and ship, and boarded a motorboat headed for the shore.

If this had been a movie, they would have gotten away as the credits rolled.  But fate in the form of rough seas stepped in and capsized the boat.  Of the nine pirates, four survived and the rest drowned with the cash.   Reportedly, one body washed up on shore with a bag of more than $150,000.  Piracy is a deadly business, but you could boil it down to one of those MasterCard ads.

Sirius Star supertanker… $250 million

Ransom paid by Saudis…  $3 million

Life jackets for escape boat… priceless.

Death and stupidity aside, Time Magazine reported this week that:

… the size of the bounty paid for the Sirius Star, rather than its loss at sea, will inspire Somali pirates to raise their game.

The International Maritime Bureau says some 200 crew members and at least 12 more ships remain under pirate control, including the MV Faina, which is carrying 33 Ukrainian battle tanks and other war material. Kenya, which says the tanks are destined for its military forces, insists it will not pay a ransom.

“As you are aware, our cargo in the MV Faina is still in the hands of pirates,” Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said on Monday. “However long it takes, Kenya is not willing to pay ransom and will not pay any ransom.” The Faina’s captain told Agence France-Presse that the ship remains captive because he refuses to negotiate.

But the pirates are undeterred by the U.S.’s mustering naval allies or the tough talk of the Kenyans and others. In Somalia, young men are lining up to join the ranks of the pirates, regardless of what may happen to them. “We have heard of the risks, but the profit is too great,” one former pirate, Mohammed Farah, from the city of Garowe in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, told TIME.

“Even now, pirates are marrying the most beautiful ladies, with nonstop dancing at weddings that go a couple of days,” Farah said. “Some pirates are even sending their girlfriends to hospitals abroad to give birth. Imagine that.”