Somali Pirates Ask For Nearly $3Mil Ransom To Free Ship & 23 Crew

Somali pirates have been holding the MV Albedo captive for over a year. A Pakistani negotiator for the Malaysian-owned vessel now claims he has reached an agreement to free the crew in exchange for a nearly $3 million ransom.

The negotiator can ensure the freedom of the 23 captured crewmen after a ransom payment of $2.85 million per their agreement. As he did not confirm who exactly is providing the money, he did say it will be delivered via plane by April 20 to the kidnappers.

The ship was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in November 2010 en route to Kenya. Its crew members come from Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Fox News reports that the negotiator is an official in Pakistan's Sindh province and that he reached out to the ship's hijackers through Dubai-based Somali merchants.