The son of one of the crew members on board hijacked ship MV Suez said negotiations between the vessel's owner, Red Sea Navigation, and the boat’s Somali hijackers, have broken down.
Osama Ibrahim al-Wakil told Al-Masry Al-Youm his father made a telephone call from Somalia on Tuesday at 1 PM, during which Mohamed Sobhy, director of Red Sea Navigation, refused the pirates' request for ransom.
Al-Wakil said that earlier in the morning his father had phoned his family to bring them the good news that the crew would be released soon.
He then phoned again, at 1 PM, to say that negotiations had failed.
Al-Wakil said Red Sea Navigation officials were divided on the issue of paying a ransom, and that Sobhy’s talk of refusal to pay the ransom contradicted the position of the company's co-owner, Abdel Meguid Matar, who had said he was ready to pay.
Before the breakdown of negotiations announcement, relatives of the hostages said members of the ship's crew had called them at 1 AM on Tuesday to declare a breakthrough in the crisis.
Meanwhile, Matar said negotiations between the Eritrean government, other bodies and the pirates are underway.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
