has been washed ashore with $153,000 (about Sh12 million) still in his pockets, agencies reported on Tuesday. The pirate was among five others who drowned last Friday when their boat capsized after they received $3 million (Sh233.7 million) ransom for the release of mv Sirius Star, a super oil tanker seized late last year.  Photographs taken by the US Navy last week showed a package at the end of a parachute floating gently down onto the deck of the ship. This package is believed to have contained the money.The pirates released the tanker after receiving the money but their boat capsized as they headed for the mainland. 

In the dark

Reports by the Associated Press in Mogadishu indicated that one of the bodies had been found on a beach near Harard with the money in a plastic bag in his pocket. The mv Sirius Star had been held near the Ukrainian cargo ship mv Faina, carrying 33 Soviet-designed T-72 tanks and crates of small arms headed for Mombasa. The same day the oil tanker was released, family members of the mv Faina crew appealed for help, saying they were being kept in the dark.  AP also reported that a pirate spokesman said yesterday that the 20 crew members on the mv Faina were doing well. “Once the negotiations end in mutual understanding, the ship, its crew and cargo will be released,” the pirate said. On Monday, Kenya’s Foreign minister Moses Wetang’ula criticised the payment of the ransom for mv Sirius Star and insisted that Kenya would not pay for the release of mv Faina. “I wish to register our displeasure on the payment of ransom for the release of the oil tanker. Paying encourages criminal acts and we do not support such initiatives,” he said.He said Kenya would never pay ransom. “It is not perishable cargo, those guys can keep those tanks and weapons as long as they wish. But we will eventually get them. That I have no doubt,” he said.