Pirates to collect ransom for MV Faina

In September we told you of MV Faina, the Belize-flagged merchant vessel which was seized by pirates. Almost three months after the capture, it appears that the hijackers will get millions of dollars in ransom payments. According to reports in the international media, the pirates had originally asked for thirty-five million dollars, but reduced that figure to twenty million and should get their funds in the next couple days. However, who will be making the payment or how much will be given has not been disclosed. On September twenty-fifth the twenty-person crew of the MV Faina was travelling to Kenya, whose government had bought the weapons from Ukraine, when it was seized by pirates some two hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship’s cargo comprised thirty-three Soviet-made tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms. Several days after the capture, the vessel’s Russian Master, Captain Vladimir Kolobkov died as a result of a heart attack. His body remains on the ship in a giant cooler to slow down decomposition. The Faina was registered with the International Marine Registry Belize in 2003.