African Press International (API)

MOGADISHU, Sunday

A helicopter dropped a $4 million (Sh300m) ransom payment today onto the deck of a Chinese coal ship hijacked by Somali pirates in mid-October, a pirate source on board the vessel said.

The De Xin Hai and its 25 crew were carrying about 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to the Indian port of Mundra when it was seized by gunmen in the Indian Ocean some 700 miles east of the Horn of Africa. The ship was seized on October 19.

Meanwhile, here is a is a list of ships under the control of Somali pirates:

Win far 161: Taiwanese tuna boat, seized on April 6, 2009.

Kota Wajar: Seized on October 15, 2009. The 24,637-tonne container ship, seized 300 miles north of Seychelles, was heading for Mombasa from Singapore and had 21 crew on board.

Al Khaliq – Seized on October 22, 2009. The Panamanian-registered ship carried 26 crew, 24 of them Indian. It is owned and operated by SNP Shipping of Mumbai. The 38,305 dwt bulk carrier was seized west of the Seychelles.

Tuna fishing

Thai Union 3 – Seized on October 29, 2009. Pirates on two skiffs boarded the tuna fishing boat with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two Ghanaians on board. Filitsa: Seized on Nov. 10, 2009. The 23,709 dwt cargo ship had three Greek officers a Filipino crew. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been heading from Kuwait to Durban, South Africa, when it was attacked 500 miles northeast of the Seychelles.

Theresa VIII: Seized on Nov. 16, 2009. The chemical tanker was hijacked in the south Somali Basin, northwest of the Seychelles. The 22,294 dwt tanker had a crew of 28 North Koreans. The captain of the tanker died from gunshot wounds sustained during the hijack, a Somali pirate said.

Maran Centaurus: Seized Nov 29, 2009: The tanker was sailing from Kuwait to the Gulf of Mexico when it was seized near the Seychelles. The tanker had nine Greeks, two Ukrainians, one Romanian and 16 Filipinos on board.