A Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks seized by Somali pirates in September will be freed shortly following a ransom payment, Reuters quoted a Kenyan-based piracy monitoring group as saying today. "We hear the pirates are leaving the Faina now in small groups and it will be underway shortly," said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme. The MV Faina was captured in September with its 20-man crew and a cargo of Soviet-era T-72 tanks plus other weapons. Its seizure drew international attention, not only for its military cargo, but for a regional row over the destination of the tanks. A local man helping negotiate the release of the ship told Reuters yesterday the pirates had been paid a ransom of $3.2 million. Mwangura said earlier today that about 100 gunmen were aboard the vessel counting the cash. Somali pirates have captured three boats so far in 2009, after taking a record 42 last year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Anarchy and an Islamist insurgency onshore have fuelled the upsurge of piracy.
