Tank-laden Ukrainian ship could be freed soon

[unhappycamper]

Tank-laden Ukrainian ship could be freed soon
By Steve Gutterman - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 30, 2008 17:49:24 EST

MOSCOW— Somali pirates have agreed on a ransom for a Ukrainian freighter carrying tanks and other heavy weapons and it could be released within days, a spokesman said Sunday.

Mikhail Voitenko said the MV Faina could be freed with its crew if agreement is reached on how to get the ransom money to the pirates, who seized the ship off the coast of Somalia in late September. He said there were negotiations on Friday.

“The owner has confirmed there is every reason to hope that it will be released in the coming week,” said Voitenko, editor of Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht, a shipping news Web site.

He said he is acting as spokesman for the Faina’s owner, Vadim Alperin. A man who answered the phone at Ukraine-based Tomex Team, the ship’s technical manager, confirmed that Voitenko was the owner’s spokesman. The man refused to give his name.

Pirate attacks off Somalia have surged more than 75 percent this year, and the seizure of the Faina raised particular concern because of its cargo of 33 tanks and other weapons and ammunition. Its Russian captain died days after the hijacking, and the ship and its 20-member crew are still being held off Somalia.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/11/AP_Piracy_113008/%2e