Pirates torched a Seychelles vessel off the coast of Somalia after releasing its seven crew members for a ransom, two members of the pirate group said Wednesday.
The Indian Ocean Explorer, a maritime research ship from the Seychelle islands, was captured by Somali pirates between March 28 and 31 in the Indian Ocean.
The seven crew members were released without the ship and they returned home Tuesday.
"We set fire to it three nights ago," said Abdullahi Qaaray, a member of the pirate group who acted as an interpreter during the ransom negotiations.
"We had asked the owners for $1 million but in the end he paid us only $450, 000," he told AFP by phone from a village near Haradhere.
"We said we would burn the ship because he was refusing to pay all the ransom. And the owner told us that we could sink it or burn it ... We used some fuel and set it on fire, the ship is sunk now, you cannot even see it anymore."
Qaaray insisted that destroying the ship wasn't a condition set by the owner for the payment of the ransom but only a decision made by the pirates to ensure the valuable marine exploration vessel couldn't be recovered.
Abdi Ganey, one of the gunmen in the pirate group, also confirmed the ship was destroyed.
"We released the hostages after an agreement was reached but the owners were really reluctant to negotiate," he told AFP. "They paid us a small amount and there was no way they were getting the ship, it had to go."
Officials in Somalia confirmed the ship had been destroyed.
According to Ecoterra International, an environmentalist NGO monitoring illegal marine activities in the region, Somali pirates have carried out 140 attacks so far this year, including 46 successful sea-jackings.
Last year, another 49 ships were captured by the pirates but the marauding sea-bandits, who have turned Somalia's waters into the world's most dangerous, hadn't been in the habit off destroying their bounty.
The release of the ship and the crew is generally negotiated as a whole.
The Indian Ocean Explorer's destruction means that at least 13 ships are still in pirate hands, as well as more than 200 crew members.
Dow Jones Newswires
06-24-090837ET
Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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