DUBAI // Seven Indian crewmen from a UAE-owned ship seized by Somali pirates were still being held hostage last night despite the payment of a ransom.
It is the first time pirates have reneged on a ransom deal since they began capturing ships off the coast of Somalia six years ago.
The remaining eight crew of the MV Asphalt Venture, including the captain, are in control of the ship anchored off the Somali town of Harardhere.
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One of the pirates, who identified himself as Ahmed, said they had been paid a $3.6 million (Dh13.2m) ransom but kept seven crew hostage in retaliation for the capture of 120 pirates by Indian authorities in the past few months.
"We have taken some of its Indian crew back because the Indian government is currently holding our men. We need the Indian government to free our men so that we can release their citizens," he said.
The 4,000-tonne vessel had been en route to South Africa last September when it was seized about 100 nautical miles off the coast of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
The ransom was paid and the ship released at the weekend, but without six officers and one seaman.
The crew could not be reached yesterday by the Sharjah shipowner, Bitumen Invest AS, or the Indian ship manager, OMCI Ship Management.
"It was a done deal. Fifteen were supposed to be released," said Sunil Puri, speaking on behalf of both companies. "We are taking all steps but as of now we haven't been able to re-establish contact with the pirates."
The surprise refusal to release the seven crewmen is another escalation in the struggle between the international community and Somali pirates, who currently hold 26 vessels and 532 seafarers, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Dozens of navies have set up joint counter-piracy operations in the region, particularly in the Gulf of Aden. In response the pirates have spread further east and south into the Indian Ocean.
In recent months more navies operating independently have attacked pirates on hijacked ships, often detaining and sometimes killing them.
UAE Special Forces stormed a bulk carrier hijacked in the Arabian Sea on its way from Australia to Jebel Ali this month, rescued the crew and arrested the pirates.
Indian forces have had four confrontations with pirates this year. After the third, in March, a pirate named Bile Hussein warned that Indian hostages might face rougher treatment as a result.
"They better release them, considering their people travelling in the waters, or we shall jail their people like that," he said. "They have to be ready for their citizens to be mistreated in the near future."
Kidnapped crewmen have been facing rougher treatment since late last year. Some have reported being hung upside down or dragged through the water, said Wing Cdr Paddy O'Kennedy, a spokesman for the counter-piracy EU Naval Force.
"I wouldn't say it's the norm but it's becoming more frequent," he said.
One reason may be that, with pirates demanding higher ransoms, negotiations are taking longer and pirates are becoming frustrated and taking it out on the hostages, he said.
The average negotiation now lasts about seven months, according to Nato.
Another reason may be that piracy is increasingly led by crime rings rather than fishermen upset by foreign vessels trespassing in their waters.
"The business model is so good that you've now got organised criminal gangs inside Somalia taking over the operations," said Cdr O'Kennedy.
"For pirates who used to be fishermen, violence isn't particularly part of their makeup," he said. "These organised criminal gangs use violence as a matter of course."
The navies have few options to help the seven captive seamen, he said. "Unfortunately these hostages now become just the same as they were before the deal."
chuang@thenational.ae
* additional reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press