5 Somali Pirates Drown With Ransom Share

A parachute dropped by a small aircraft drops over the MV Sirius Star at anchor, in this U.S. Navy...

A parachute dropped by a small aircraft drops over the MV Sirius Star at anchor, in this U.S. Navy photo, Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, following an apparent payment via a parachuted container to pirates holding the ship. Somali pirates released the oil-laden Saudi supertanker after receiving a $3 million ransom, a negotiator for the bandits said Friday. The ship owner did not confirm it. The brand new tanker, with a 25-member crew, was seized in the Indian Ocean Nov. 15 in a dramatic escalation of high seas crime.(AP Photo/U.S. Navy,Air Crewman 2nd Class David B. Hudson)

(AP)

Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, a pirate and port town resident said Saturday.

Pirate Daud Nure says the boat with eight people on board overturned in a storm after dozens of pirates left the Sirius Star following a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden that ended Friday.

He said five people died and three people reached shore after swimming for several hours. Daud Nure was not part of the pirate operation but knew those involved.

Jamal Abdulle, a resident of the Somali coastal town of Haradhere, close to where the ship had been anchored, also confirmed that the boat sank and that the eight's portion of the ransom money that had been shared among dozens of pirates was lost.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi said Saturday that the crew of the Sirius Star was safe and that the tanker had left Somali territorial waters and was on its way home.

A Saudi Oil Ministry official said the ship was headed for Dammam, on Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast, but gave no estimated time of arrival. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The Liberian-flagged ship is owned by Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of Saudi oil company Aramco. A spokesman for the Dubai-based Vela, Mihir Sapru, would not provide details of the ship's destination or plans once in port.

"We are very relieved to know that all the crew members are safe and I am glad to say that they are all in good health and high spirits," said a statement by Saleh K'aki, president and CEO of Vela. "This has been a very trying time for them and certainly for their families. We are very happy to report to their families that they will be on their way home soon."

K'aki added that the "throughout this ordeal, our sole objective was the safe and timely release of the crew. That has been achieved today."