Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The owners of an oil-laden Saudi Arabian supertanker hijacked off the coast of Somalia are in talks with pirates over a ransom.

Negotiators are aboard the Sirius Star, a man identifying himself as Farah Abd Jameh, a member of the group that hijacked the tanker, said in an audio tape aired today by Al Jazeera. He didn't say how much money his group wants to free the vessel, which belongs to Saudi Arabia's state-owned shipping line, Vela International Marine Ltd, and is carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude valued at $110 million.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal confirmed talks were under way. ``We do not like to negotiate with pirates, terrorists or hijackers,'' he said today after meeting in Rome with his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini.

The Sirius Star and its crew of 25 were seized about 420 nautical miles (833 kilometers) off Somalia on Nov. 15. In the past 48 hours, pirates captured ships from Hong Kong, Greece and Thailand in the worst spate of raids in the region.

Since January, at least 91 vessels have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden, an area of 1 million square miles (2.6 million square kilometers) flanked by Yemen and Somalia and leading to the Suez Canal. Since then, both Indian and British naval ships have engaged pirates in combat and commandos from France freed two French nationals held by hijackers.

Ransom payments have spurred raiders to step up their activities, and more than 14 vessels and 250 crew members remain hostage, the International Maritime Bureau says.

Anchored Off Puntland

The Sirius Star is anchored near Harardhare, a town in Somalia's semi-autonomous northern Puntland region, next to a Ukrainian-crewed vessel carrying at least 30 Soviet-designed T-72 tanks bound for Kenya, Colonel Abshir Abdi Jama, a national security official in Puntland said yesterday.

``We assure the safety of the ship carrying the ransom,'' the man said in the Al Jazeera broadcast, warning against any attempts to use counterfeit cash.

Pirates from war-torn Somalia, which hasn't had an effective government since the 1991 fall of the Siad Barre regime, have asked for $1 million ransoms on average this year, according to Chatham House, a London-based research organization that advises mainly European governments.

The pirates generally use speed boats for raids near the coast and captured fishing trawlers for attacks farther out to sea, according to Chatham House.

Pirates today freed a Hong Kong-flagged ship, Great Creation, and 25 crew members seized two months ago, Sinotrans Shipping Limited director Tian Zhongsham said in an e-mailed statement. The crew, including one Hong Kong resident, one Sri Lanken and 23 Chinese nationals are in good condition, with no injuries being reported, he said.

Indian Navy

An Indian Navy ship fired at a pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, the government in New Delhi said today. The Navy's Tabar encountered the boat 285 nautical miles southwest of Salalah in Oman. The Tabar has been on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden since Nov. 2.

The clash came a week after the Indian frigate rescued the Saudi Arabia-registered merchant vessel Timaha and a 38,000 metric-ton Indian bulk carrier from pirates.

On Nov. 13, British Royal Navy commandos gave chase to suspected pirates off the coast of Yemen, killing two of them in an ensuing gunfight and capturing eight. In September, French commandos freed two kidnapped nationals, killing one pirate and capturing six.

Cargo of Wheat

The Hong Kong-flagged Delight was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden yesterday. It was carrying 36,000 metric tons of wheat to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and had a crew of 25. The Thai- operated boat was also taken yesterday off the coast of Yemen as it sailed toward the Red Sea. The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry in Athens said it couldn't confirm a Greek-flagged or Greek-owned vessel had been seized.

``The pirates really demonstrate unexpected things and are sending a message to the world that they can do what they need to,'' Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers Association, said by phone from Kenya.

Pirates are honing their techniques and using Global Positioning System navigational aids and satellite phones to find potential targets, according to Chatham House.

The Sirius Star, bigger than the Chrysler Building, a 77- story Manhattan skyscraper, is the largest ship seized and the hijacking was the farthest out to sea that Somali pirates have struck, according to the U.S. Navy. Analysts said the chances of a military response to rescue the ship are slim.

Ecological Disaster

``Everything is possible but it would take extraordinary means and organization, and the risk of an ecological disaster is very high,'' Dominique Montecer, director of operations at GEOS, a French risk management company, said by phone from Paris yesterday. ``They are sitting on a bomb.''

The U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet hasn't had any communication with the pirates or the ship, spokesman Lieutenant Nate Christensen said by phone from Bahrain today.

Hijackers may force shippers to divert vessels from the Gulf of Aden, to take the longer route to Europe and North America around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, delaying deliveries to Europe and the U.S. and adding to costs.

The Indian Ocean is vast and patrolling it is extremely difficult, the Fifth Fleet's Christensen said.

``We patrol an area of 2.5 million square miles, from Pakistan to Kenya. The area is extensively large and we can't be everywhere at once,'' he said.

International Cooperation

When asked why the Sirius Star wasn't being taken back by force, he said an armed response would require a great deal of international agreement and cooperation.

``It's certainly a very complex environment to work in -- a Liberian-flagged vessel, owned by a Saudi company, in Somali waters, with so many different nationalities on board,'' Christensen said.

The pirates probably fired grappling hooks onto the supertanker's deck, allowing them to scale the ship's 10-meter- high (33-foot) side using rope ladders, said Roger Middleton, an analyst at Chatham House.

Ships are normally attacked by five or six pirates, though as many as 15 may have been involved this time, Middleton said. Once the pirates are on board they're normally joined by others, he said.

Frontline Ltd., the world's largest owner of tanker ships, said it has yet to make a final decision about sending carriers away from Somalia, Jens Martin Jensen, interim chief executive officer of the company's management unit, said by mobile phone from Singapore today.

Sirius Star Crew

The crew of the Sirius Star, 19 Filipinos, two Britons, two Poles, a Saudi and a Croatian, is ``believed to be safe'' and Vela is ``working toward their safe and speedy return,'' Vela said in a statement.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence today identified the two Britons as Peter French and James Grady. French serves as the ship's chief engineer and Grady is the second officer.

Saudi Arabia is unlikely to be considering an armed response to the hijacking because it may endanger the crew, according to Nick Day, London-based chief executive officer of Diligence Inc., a security and intelligence group.

To contact the reporters on this story: Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net; Flavia Krause-Jackson in Rome at fjackson@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 19, 2008 11:16 EST