Schadenfreude!!!

[CJvR]

Remember the oiltanker pirates?

Well they got their ransom, 3 million $ para-dropped.

Then during their getaway their boat sank!!!
LOL!

5 pirates and most of the cash deposited in Davy Jones locker.

Swedish source:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article4156988.ab

[TempestSong]

For those of us who don't read Swedish, how did it sink? Punishment direct from fate itself.

Though I wonder if they'll hold up to their end of the deal if they still have the tanker.

[CJvR]

Turned over by high waves apparently.

[Enigma]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0901 ... lia_piracy

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, a pirate and port town resident said Saturday.

Pirate Daud Nure says the boat with eight people on board overturned in a storm after dozens of pirates left the Sirius Star following a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden that ended Friday.

He said five people died and three people reached shore after swimming for several hours. Daud Nure was not part of the pirate operation but knew those involved.

Jamal Abdulle, a resident of the Somali coastal town of Haradhere, close to where the ship was anchored also confirmed that the boat sank and that the eight's portion of the ransom money that had been shared between dozens of pirates was lost.

U.S. Navy photos showed a parachute, carrying what they described as "an apparent payment," floating toward the tanker. The Sirius Star and its 25-member crew had been held since Nov. 15. Its cargo of crude oil was valued at US$100 million at the time.

The capture was seen as a dramatic demonstration of the pirates' ability to strike high value targets hundreds of miles offshore.

On the same day the Saudi ship was freed, pirates released a captured Iranian-chartered cargo ship, Iran's state television reported Saturday. It said the ship Daylight was carrying 36 tons of wheat when it was attacked in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 18 and seized by pirates. All 25 crew are in good health and the vessel is sailing toward Iran, the TV report said.

The U.S. Navy announced this week it will head a new anti-piracy taskforce after more than 100 ships were attacked last year.

NATO and the European Union already have warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden and have intervened to prevent several ships from being captured.

More than a dozen ships with about 300 crew members are still being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia, including the weapons-laden Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, which was seized in September.

The multimillion dollar ransoms are one of the few ways to earn a living in the impoverished, war-ravaged country. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and nearly half of its population depends on aid.

[Admiral Valdemar]

God, if he exists, has a sense of humour. Sadistic fucker can make me smile sometimes.

[Rye]

Poseidon, if he exists, has a sense of humour. Sadistic fucker can make me smile sometimes.

Fixed for more appropriate deity. Seems to me that the Lord of the Seas got sick of these arseholes using his waters for their immoral pursuits and he took their ill gotten goods and lives as payment. It makes me wonder if private sub owners and wreck hunters will go to retrieve the booty or if it'll be some official affair.

[Admiral Valdemar]

What if Neptune beat him to it?

[Hawkwings]

Same god, different names

[Sarevok]

Were they really sunk by waves or Saudis hired some mercenaries to sink them then claimed the waves did it ?

[Admiral Valdemar]

Well, duh.

It's too bad it wasn't all of them, though. That would've been truly poetic.

[Mayabird]

If it makes you feel better, some of them might drown while trying to recover the lost money. Or they might get shot by some robbers who want money without having to go through the trouble of hijacking a oil tanker themselves.

[mr friendly guy]

or they might wash up on the shore

Dead pirate washes up with $200,000Monday, January 12, 2009

The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom has washed ashore with $US153,000 ($A215,000) in cash, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.

Five pirates drowned at the weekend when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $US3 million ($A4.2 million) ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker.

Local resident Omar Abdi Hassan said one of the bodies had been found on a beach near the coastal town of Haradhere on Sunday and relatives were searching for the other four.

"One of them was discovered and they are still looking for the other ones. He had $US153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket," he said.

The US navy released photos of a parachute dropping a package onto the deck of the Sirius Star, and said the package was likely to be the ransom delivery.

But five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather. Three other pirates survived but also lost their share of the ransom.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service, said the incident was unlikely to deter attacks.

"The loss or potential loss of the ransom means the pirates will be all the more keen to get the next ransom in," he said. "There are people lining up to be pirates."

The Sirius Star had been held near the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, which was loaded with 33 Soviet-designed battle tanks and crates of small arms.

The same day the Sirius Star was released, the family members of the Faina crew appealed for help, saying they were not being kept informed about the negotiations or the state of their loved ones' health.

But a pirate spokesman assured The Associated Press that the 20 crew members on the MV Faina were doing well.

"The cargo is still there unharmed and the crew is healthy," Sugule Ali said. "Once the negotiations end in mutual understanding, the ship, its crew and the cargo as well will be released."

There have been several false alarms about the release of the MV Faina since it was seized last September. Ali said the pirates were still negotiating with the ship's owners.

"Nothing has changed from our previous demand of $US20 million ($A28 million) ransom for the release of the ship, but as negotiations continue we are likely to reduce the amount," he said. He declined to give further details.

American warships have been closely monitoring the Faina amid fears that some of the weapons onboard could be taken onshore and fall into the hands of Islamic insurgents.

The shaky Somali government is battling insurgents the US State Department says are linked to al-Qaeda. But the situation is complicated by clan militias and rivalries within the Islamist movement.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and its lawless coastline is a perfect haven for pirates, who attacked 111 ships in the Gulf of Aden and kidnapped 42 of them last year alone. The multi-million dollar ransoms are one of the only ways to make money in the impoverished Horn of Africa nation.

An international flotilla including US warships has been patrolling the area. The flotilla has stopped many attacks, but the area is too vast to keep all ships safe.

[CJvR]

The pirates were on the way back with their loot when they spotted all to other pirates gathered on the beach eager to take a cut of the ransom for themselves. When the welcome comitty fired in the air the pirates paniced and put the helm over a bit to sharp causing the boat to capsize. Not even honest pirates are safe in Somalian waters anymore...

[JME2]

I was curious how this whole matter ended and reading this account of their fate was absolurely priceless...