Tag: MV Albedo

While the latest footage purportedly showing seven Pakistanis among 22 sailors held hostage by Somali pirates for ransom might have upset the families who have been waiting for their release for the past 18 months, the authorities engaged in the process of getting them released against ransom payment were on Monday confident about 'good news' within the next few days.

MV Albedo: Pakistan may cut deal with pirates for its 7 hostages

Gang applying pressure to relatives in order to secure ransom Information reaching Somalia Report late Wednesday suggests that Somali pirates have moved the 23 hostages of the the Malaysian-flagged container ship, MV ALBEDO, to land.The pirate gang holding the hijacked Malaysian tanker, the MV Albedo, have taken the crew from the ship and are now holding them on land. Pirate sources close to the gang in Handulle told Somalia Report that Guushaye, the pirate's leader and his gang landed the crew late yesterday."Since the negotiation to release the vessel failed at the end of May, the group were taking more steps. They landed more goods from the vessel and late on Wednesday they landed the crew and right now they are holding the crew on land," Mukhtaar Carab, a pirate based in Handulle, told Somalia Report on Thursday.Other pirate sources in Handulle contacted by Somalia Report confirmed that Guushaye had indeed brought the crew ashore. They stated that the pirates became angry after the ransom was not paid on time. "This group are aware that the relatives are paying only to ransom the crew, but the owner are not ready to pay money for the vessel, so they (pirates) need ...

22 hostages of the MV Albedo A security team from Malaysia will arrive in Dubai today to begin talks with Somali tribal leaders, seeking to break the impasse in talks between Somali pirates and the families of 22 hostages on the MV Albedo.The talks are aimed at seeking assistance from influential Somali leaders to have the hostages released.The crewmen have been held captive off the coast of Somalia for the past 19 months. Their cargo vessel was seized in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden after setting sail for Kenya from Jebel Ali.Representatives of the Malaysian-based ship owner Omid Khosrojerdi and clan elders from Somalia will arrive in Dubai today, a source involved in the talks said."The Malaysian team is a professional security team appointed by the owner and they will handle negotiations with the pirates," he said."The elders, the clan leaders, are coming via Kenya for the meeting. They are not part of the pirates or the piracy network, but can help us try to solve any problems."We are trying our best to handle everything, speak closely and directly to the elders, and finalise all arrangements."He would not give details of the probable release date of the crew ...

crew of MV Albedo is still held hostage The crew of MV Albedo, a merchant vessel, hijacked in November 2010, is still held hostage off the coast of Somalia, due to unmet commitments of donors other than Pakistanis, it was learnt here on Monday.Following negotiations with Somali pirates it was decided that $2.85 million would be paid in lieu of expenses borne for keeping the hostages and vessel for the past 18 months.The vessel is a Malaysian flagship whose owner Omid had committed to manage $1.25 million besides asking Pakistani community to arrange remaining $1.6 million for the release of hostages onboard the MV Albedo.The families of the Pakistani crew appealed philanthropists and dignitaries to help them raise $1.6 million and launched a massive fund collection drive through media besides door-to-door collection and personal efforts.The target of $1.6 million seemed a distant destiny but under the support of President Asif Ali Zardari, noted Pakistani philanthropists came forward and offered their full cooperation. Considering all these efforts and after final collections, the Malaysian counterpart was requested to increase their amount from $1.25 million to $1.75 million. On May 15, the Malaysian counterpart confirmed that they had arranged a sum of $1.1 ...

Pirates extended the deadline for payment of US$2.85 million The Somali hijackers of the MV Albedo have extended the deadline for payment of US$2.85 million(Dh10.4m) in exchange for the crew's release by another three days.Although family members had hoped to defer the payment until next month, the pirates have now asked for the funds by Thursday."They extended the first April 20 deadline to April 23, and now have asked for the money to be dropped off on April 26," said Ahmed Chinoy, the chairman of Pakistan's Citizens Police Liaison Committee, which is mediating with the pirates on behalf of the relatives of the hostages."Frankly, we don't have that money with us yet," Mr Chinoy said. "We are still in the process of collecting funds."There is a substantial shortfall of 150 million Pakistan rupees (Dh6m) in the amount the pirates have demanded for "expenses", including medicine and food for the crew.The money has been raised by the citizen's group, charity organisations, relatives, the Malaysian ship owner and contributions from the public on the website savemvalbedo.com.Dozens of relatives of the hostages in Pakistan are campaigning for funds from the public this week in front of a Karachi landmark, the Mazaar-E-Qaid-D-Azam."It's a lot ...