Somali Pirates Demand $400,000 For Release Tuna Vessel ff

Somali pirates are demanding $400 000 for the release of a South Korean fishing vessel seized with a crew of 25 Asians this week off the coast of the lawless nation, elders said on Friday.

Village elders -the traditional power base of rural Somalia- in the area near where the ship is being held said the gunmen who commandeered the vessel were seeking payment of a “fine” for illegal fishing and not a ransom.

”This is not a vessel that brought humanitarian aid to Somalia, it is not a commercial ship passing through international waters,” said one elder taking part in negotiations to free the Dong Won 628 and its crew.

”It came to take our marine resources maybe by making deals with the wrong people, who claim to be national officials,” he told Agence France-Press by phone from the port of Obbia, about 400km north of Mogadishu where the ship is believed to be held.

”I can personally say that $400 000 would be acceptable, a fine offer on both sides,” said the elder, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This is not a ransom but a fine for illegally fishing in Somalia.”

Somali pirates have in the past demanded a $300 000-dollar “fine” and $1 000 per crew member for the release of ships and sailors they have seized for alleged illegal use of Somalia's waters.

As the talks were set to continue, a maritime official in neighboring Kenya said the 350-tonne vessel's owners, Dongwon Fisheries, had obtained a fishing license from Somalia's fledgling and largely powerless transitional government.

The South Korean firm was paying $4 500 per month for fishing rights, mainly to catch tuna, in Somalia's Exclusive Economic Zone, according to the official who said the contract was valid from March to May 10.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers’ Assistance Progra said he had seen a copy of the license signed by company officials and Hassan Abshir Farah, the natural resources minister in the transitional government.

Farah could not be reached for comment.

Contracts with the year-old transitional government are often not recognized by local warlords, militia and elders in Somalia, which has been in the throes of anarchy since the 1991 oust of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre.

Numerous fishing vessels have been seized by Somali pirates who, since last year, have staged an increasing number of attacks on commercial ships plying the waters of the country's un-patrolled 3 700km coast.

The seizure of the Dong Won 628, which was hijacked on Tuesday with its crew of eight Koreans, nine Indonesians, five Vietnamese and three Chinese, was the 41st attack on a ship off Somalia since March last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.