Pirates kill four aboard ship in North Aceh

Pirates kill four aboard ship in North Aceh

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Pirates shot dead four crew members of a ship in waters off North
Aceh, after a palm oil company failed to pay the gunmen a Rp 400
million (US$47,616) ransom, police said on Thursday.

The bodies of the victims -- Nana Sutrisna, 35, Harianto
Ginting, 30, Ahmad Yani, 28, and Nikolas Rentowuwu, 34 -- were
taken home on Thursday in Belawan, North Sumatra, a day after
being found by residents in Peureulak village, Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam.

"I'm heartbroken that pirates killed my son. What did he do to
them? It's extremely savage behavior. I hope the police capture
them," Yani's father Syamsuddin said in tears at his home in
Belawan.

Syamsuddin said he received the news about the death of his
son from Peurelak Police chief First Insp. Dedi.

Dedi told Syamsuddin that Yani and his three colleagues were
shot dead by unidentified gunmen in waters off Aceh because the
company that owned the cargo on the tanker ship, PT Musim Mas,
did not pay the ransom demanded by pirates.

Survivor Juber Tambah, who escaped the ship, said armed
pirates seized his ship MT Cherry-201 on Jan. 5, while sailing in
Aceh waters to Belawan Port. It was loaded with 1,000 tons of
crude palm oil belonging to PT Musim Mas.

The gunmen then took 13 people hostage but released the
captain, Moris Sinaga, so he could convey their demands for a
ransom of Rp 400 million to company management in Belawan.

Juber said the company later made direct contact with the
pirates, who reiterated their demands for Rp 400 million to free
the 12 hostages.

PT Musim Mas later bargained with the gunmen to reduce the
ransom and the pirates agreed to decrease the amount to Rp 100
million.

But, the company renegotiated again, saying it could only
afford to pay the pirates Rp 70 million and promising to send the
ransom immediately, he said.

However, the gunmen lost patience after waiting for one month
without being paid.

They shot dead four crew members, Juber said. He and eight
other hostages jumped overboard to escape.

The four crew were killed also because they defied their
captors' orders to drive the ship away from security officers, he
said.

It was not clear when PT Musim Mas management had reported the
matter to police. Company executives could not be reached for
comment on Thursday.

North Sumatra water police senior offer Adj. Comr. Ikhwan
confirmed the deaths and said security forces were hunting the
culprits.

"We are investigating the case," he said.