There are reports the hijackers of a Saudi oil tanker have demanded a $25 million ransom, but the US Navy and the vessel's operators were unable to confirm this.
French news agency AFP quoted one of the pirates yesterday as saying they had demanded a $25 million ransom and set a 10-day deadline.
"I've read the reports but I can't confirm anything independently on that," a spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet told Reuters. He said the navy believed the Sirius Starwas still docked on the Somali coast at Haradheere.
A spokesman for Vela International, the Dubai-based shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, declined to comment on reports of a ransom demand.
Vela operates the Sirius Star, which is owned by Saudi Aramco. The giant vessel with a capacity of two million barrels of oil, was seized by Somali pirates around a week ago.
Dozens of Somali Islamist insurgents entered a port on Friday in search of the pirate group behind the seizure of the Saudi supertanker. Separately, police in the capital Mogadishu said they ambushed and shot dead 17 Islamist militants.
Yesterday, one of the world's biggest shipping firms said it will no longer send part of its huge merchant fleet through the Suez Canal because of piracy off Somalia's coast.
Danish shipper Moller-Maersk is routing some of its 50 oil tankers around the Cape of Good Hope instead.
Norway's Frontline, which ferries much of the Middle East's oil to world markets, said it was considering a similar step.
The scores of attacks in Somali waters this year have driven up insurance costs for shipping firms, and the decision to divert cargo around South Africa risks pushing up prices for manufactured goods and commodities.
The United Nations Security Council voted yesterday to impose sanctions on anyone contributing to violence and instability in Somalia.
Reuters