Al-NISR Al-Saudi: 20 Million ransom Really?

The ship owners yesterday said the insurance company[IGP&I] agreed to pay a ransom of $20 million to win the release of Al-Nisr Al-Saudi. When contacted, Merchant Shipping Director General Shantha Weerakoon said he was aware about the Saudi ship owners’ willingness to pay the ransom to get the crew and the ship released.

Al-Nisr: Pirates given satellite phone talk-time

Negotiations can last 6-8 weeks for the release of the product tanker Al-Nisr Al-Saudi held by Somali pirates.
"The shipping company has credited funds for the satellite phone for talk-time" a spokesperson for the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
All contact has gone through SALAMA (Saudi IAIC Cooperative Insurance Co.) via its head office in Jeddah, An official from the IGP&L (International Group of P&I Clubs) which is coordinating action between the pirates and the insurance company, arrived in Riyadh on March 8. "The negotiation process is continuing for want of any other solution,” said Kamal Muhammed Al-Urri, IBC CEO. The ship was destined to operate as part of the International Bunkering Company operations in the Gulf of Jeddah where it would refuel other ships at sea.

SALAMA, the largest Takaful and Re- Takaful Group has tied up with BNP Paribas Investment Partners. The partnership offers BNP Paribas’s flagship Islamic Fund, the Global Equity Optimizer, with investor returns linked to Shariah compliant global equity markets, including Asia, Europe and the USA.

The fund uses an actively managed optimisation strategy which has consistently outperformed the global benchmark, the DowJones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index.

SALAMA is pleased to provide it’s customers with Shariah compliant insurance together with value added investment services that can cater to clients long term investment needs, which are compliant to Shari’ah principles.

SALAMA presents diverse Shariah compliant unit linked insurance products to its discerning clients and with BNP Paribas’s asset management services it is possible to offer the best of class Shari’ah compliant investment opportunities.

Noel D’Mello, the Head of Family Takaful, SALAMA, commented, “SALAMA has entered into several tactical tie ups with renowned Islamic Fund Investment companies and distributor alliances to spread Shariah compliant savings and insurance products within the UAE.”

Al-Nisr: talking by satellite with pirates

“An official from the IGP&L (International Group of P&I Clubs) which is coordinating action between the pirates and the insurance company, arrived in Riyadh on March 8 to discuss matters with the Jeddah-based International Bunkering Company (IBCO) which owns the Saudi product tanker Al-Nisr Al-Saudi. ”Somali pirates who hijacked the Saudi ship Al-Nisr Al-Saudi on March 1 have said they will not harm the vessel's crew. The shipping company had established contact with the pirates through satellite communication



International Group of P&I Clubs,


American Steamship Owners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association, Inc
Assuranceforeningen Skuld

* Skuld Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association (Bermuda) Ltd.

Gard P&I (Bermuda) Ltd.

* Assuranceforeningen Gard

The Britannia Steam Ship Insurance Association Limited
The Japan Ship Owners' Mutual Protection & Indemnity Association
The London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Limited
The North of England Protecting & Indemnity Association Limited
The Shipowners' Mutual Protection & Indemnity Association (Luxembourg)
The Standard Steamship Owners’ Protection & Indemnity Association (Bermuda) Limited

* The Standard Steamship Owners’ Protection and Indemnity Association (Europe) Ltd.
* The Standard Steamship Owners’ Protection and Indemnity Association (London) Ltd.
* The Standard Steamship Owners’ Protection and Indemnity Association (Asia) Ltd.
- A reinsured subsidiary association

The Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association (Bermuda) Limited

* The Steamship Mutual Underwriting Association Ltd.

The Swedish Club
United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Limited

* United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Europe) Ltd.

The West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association (Luxembourg)

The scope of cover available from P&I Clubs are detailed in their individual rulebooks, but generally, this comprises:

* Injury, illness and death of crew, passengers and stevedores.
* Repatriation of crew and substitute expenses.
* Diversion and other expenses incurred in landing refugees, sick persons and stowaways.
* Collision liability.
* Excess collision liability.
* Pollution by oil or other substances.
* Property damage.
* Towage contract liabilities, and liability under other contracts and indemnities.
* a Cargo loss, shortage and damage.
* Unrecoverable general average contributions.
* Salvor's expenses under the 1980 Lloyd's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement.
* Fines, certain legal and other costs.
* Wreck removal.
* Excess War Risks liability.



The Sri Lankans are Jacob Xavier, Venis Robinson Parceloan, Hewa Pathage Ranga Jayasinghe, Wijemuni Elmo, Ansalam Soyza, Selvarasa Rajavel, Balakrishnan Jayarajan, Robert Joseph, Kanagasabapathy Thusyananthan, Arumai Sekeram, Basil Rajah, Lakshmikanthan Gajenthiran , Arockiasamy Pillai, Britto Lawrence, Saverimuttu Atputharajah and Rajagopal Jeyakumar.
The ship’s captains is Georgios Skalimis, a Greek.