Web site: Crew member says pirates want ransom

The Associated Press ,  Moscow   |  Sat, 09/27/2008 7:12 PM  |  World

Pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks off the Horn of Africa are seeking ransom and have anchored close to the Somali shore, a man identified as the vessel's first mate said in an audio report on a Russian news Web site Saturday.

In a telephone conversation posted on the site Life.ru and apparently initiated by the news site, a man who said he was first mate Vladimir Nikolsky told the caller he was speaking in English at the behest of the pirates who hijacked the 530-foot (162-meter) cargo ship Faina on Thursday.

"They asking that we make contact with the owners about his money," the man said. Asked how much they were demanding, he replied, "I'm not sure, approximately - I cannot say the exact price." He suggested the hijackers indicated that would be matter for negotiations.

"They would like to speak directly to our owner," he said later.

The man said the Faina was anchored near the town of Hobyo and that two other apparently hijacked ships were nearby. Most of the 35 people on the ship - 21 of them crew - were being kept in a single room, he added.

Ukraine's defense chief said Friday that the Faina was carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. Russia's navy said it dispatched a warship to the area, and the United States said U.S naval ships were monitoring the situation.

Nobody aboard the Faina was injured, but the captain, Vladimir Kolobkov, was suffering from heatstroke and his condition was "not so good," the man identified as Nikolsky said.

Ukrainian news agencies have said the ship's operator is Tomex Team, a company based in the Black Sea port of Odessa. A person who answered the phone at the company's office on Saturday declined to comment and refused to give his name.

Kenyan Defense Department spokesman Bogita Ongeri said on Saturday that Kenyan authorities have had no contact with the pirates and have not received any demands for ransom.

Ongeri said that the Ukrainian vessel was seized in international waters in the Gulf of Aden. He said that the pirates hijacked the ship beyond 200 nautical miles away from the coast of the northeastern Somali region of Puntland. Two hundred nautical miles in maritime law mark the end of a country's territorial waters.

It was unclear exactly when the conversation with the purported crewman took place, and phone calls to Life.ru were not answered.

Speaking in imperfect English, the man said he had recently spoken to the captain of what he said was a U.S. Coast Guard ship, who asked about the situation aboard the Faina.

"I tell him that everything in normal condition," he said.

While Ukrainian officials had said there were 21 people aboard - 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and a Latvian - Nikolsky said there were 21 crew and a total of 35 people aboard. Life.ru showed images of Russian passports for both Nikolsky and the captain, Kolobkov.

"Everybody in normal condition. Not good, but normal," the purported crewman said.

He said he was speaking from the ship's bridge but that the rest of the crew were all "collected in one room without free air."

At the beginning of the posted audio report, the reporter asks a person answering a call if she can speak to a Russian on board. After a few barked words in an unfamiliar language, the man identified as Nikolsky starts speaking.

He explains that he has been ordered to speak only English "so that they understand."

At the end, when the reporter asks whether he sees a way out, he replies: "You are so clever that you are understanding everything" and switches to Russian, saying "kotiki, kotiki, kotiki" - part of the word for "seals" - an apparent reference to the possibility of an operation by special amphibious forces to rescue the hostages.

Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press on Friday that the missile frigate Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, left the Baltic Sea port of Baltiisk a day before the hijacking to cooperate with other unspecified countries in anti-piracy efforts.

But he said the ship was then ordered directly to the Somalia coast after Thursday's attack.

Its precise mission was unclear. A spokesman for Russia's Baltic Fleet, Sergei Kuks, told the ITAR-Tass news agency that it was premature to say exactly what the Intrepid and its crew would do and whether they wold participate in an effort to free the hostages.

He said it could take about a week for the Intrepid to reach Somalia's coast, ITAR-Tass reported.

Russian navy officials declined to comment Saturday.
 
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