Somali pirates who hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned supertanker, are demanding US$25m for the ship's return, according to Mohamed Said, one of the pirates. "We are demanding US$25m from the Saudi owners of the tanker. We do not want long-term discussions to resolve the matter," he said on Thursday.

"The Saudis have 10 days to comply, otherwise we will take action that could be disastrous."

Seized at the weekend in the Indian Ocean some 800km off the coast of Kenya, the Sirius Star is now anchored off the Somali coast at Haradheere, roughly in the centre of the country's coastline.  The supertanker was loaded to capacity with two million barrels of oil when it was seized along with 25 crew members; 19 from the Philippines, two from Britain, two from Poland, one Croatian and one Saudi.
 
It was the biggest vessel ever hijacked.

Somali pirates have now seized three ships off the coast of the Horn of Africa in the past three days.