The Saudi tanker, Sirius Star, has been released after a ransom of $3 million dollars was paid to the pirates holding the ship off the cost of Somalia.
A small plane was seen apparently dropping the ransom by parachute onto the tanker. The ship’s owner has refused to comment.
The vessel, with 25 crew, is the biggest tanker ever to be hijacked.
Coalition naval forces in Bahrain said it appeared that the pirates on the Sirius Star had received a ransom payment in a container parachuted from a plane. There were more than 100 reported pirate attacks in the busy shipping lanes off eastern and northern Somalia last year. The solution? An international force headed by the US is due to be established by the end of the month to tackle the problem.
Updated: February 5, 2026 (Originally published January 9, 2009)
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