By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The 24 crew members aboard a South Korean supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates are believed to be safe, Seoul officials said Thursday.
The 300,000-ton Samho Dream arrived at the home port of the pirates, some 7 kilometers off the coast of Somalia, the officials said.
The tanker with five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos on board was seized Sunday while traveling from Iraq to the United States.
"The captain conveyed a warning from the pirates that any provocative action would jeopardize the safety of the seized crew members," an official at Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said of a message relayed to a South Korean navy destroyer tracking the seized vessel.
The Cheonghae Unit was tracking the seized oil tanker but keeping its distance for fear that any attempt to intercept the ship could put the crew in danger.
The pirates are believed to be equipped with heavy arms.
The South Korean anti-piracy naval force is considering intercepting the seized tanker if necessary, while the owner of the ship was trying to negotiate with the pirates, the officials said.
The owner of the supertanker has made its first contact with the pirates, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"The pirates have told the unit through the ship's captain that all crew members are currently safe, but their lives will be at risk if the destroyer tried to close in on the Samho Dream," the ministry said in a press release.
"The government will continue to assist (the ship's owner) to secure an early and safe release of the ship and its crew," it said.
The Cheonghae Unit consists of the 4,500-ton Chungmoogong Yi Sun-shin KDX-II destroyer and its 300 personnel. It began operations in the piracy-ridden Somali waters in April last year.
The unit's main mission is to escort South Korean cargo vessels sailing through the Gulf of Aden. But if required, it is supposed to monitor, inspect, stop and seize pirates' vessels as part of the Combined Task Force 151, under the command of the Combined Forces Maritime Component Command based in Bahrain.
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