Floating treasure, tempting sea. World's biggest ship hijacking by pirates off coast of Somalia for $3 mil ransom

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A parachute dropped by a small aircraft is observed by the U.S. Navy as it drops over the MV Sirius Star during an apparent payment via a parachuted container to pirates holding the Sirius Star off the coast of Somalia, January 9, 2009. Somali pirates then freed the Saudi supertanker seized in the world's biggest ship hijacking for a $3 million ransom - but five drowned when their boat capsized as they were making off with their share.

The crew of the hijacked Ukrainian merchant vessel MV Faina stand on the deck, under the watch of armed Somali pirates on November 9 after a US Navy request to check on their health and welfare, at sea off the coast of Somalia.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, ransom money is dropped near the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina while under observation by a U.S. Navy ship February 4, 2009 off the coast of Somalia near Hobyo. Pirates did not leave the ship until February 5.

The Belize flagged MV Faina is escorted by a Kenyan port authority tug vessel into the port of Mombasa, Kenya on February 12, 2009, after it was released by Somali pirates a week ago. It arrived in Mombasa amid a raging controversy over its cargo of battle tanks and ammunition. While Kenya has always said the shipment was for its armed forces, several experts and diplomats in the region have revealed it was in fact destined to the government of South Sudan and was the fifth delivery of its kind in less than two years.

The MV Sirius Star is observed at anchor by the US Navy on January 9, 2009 following an apparent payment via a parachuted container to pirates holding the Sirius Star. Suspected pirates can be seen on deck an up in the command center.

A French Atlantic plane passes over the French Frigate Le Floreal of the EPE (Embedded Protection Team), in the Gulf of Aden on January 10, 2009, as they escort a Danish ship with sensitive freight, off the coast of Djibouti, as part of an assignment to escort commercial ships in this area.

Search and seizure team members from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf close in to apprehend suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden February 11, 2009. The Vella Gulf is the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, a multi-national task force conducting counterpiracy operations to detect and deter piracy in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Gulf, Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

Search and seizure team members from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf close in to apprehend suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden February 12, 2009.

German Bundeswehr soldiers approach pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on March 3, 2009, after the German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz had received a distress call from a German-owned container ship saying she was under fire from pirates armed with bazookas and machine guns.

Some of the eight suspected Somali pirates at the Mombasa Law courts, Mombasa, Kenya, Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009, when the hearing of their piracy case started. The pirates were arrested early last month by naval officers from a British Naval Ship MV Knight Wave which has been on patrol along the Indian Ocean waters. Two British Naval officers were the first to give their evidence against the pirates. The hearing of the case will continue for three days.

Suspected Somali pirates sit in the dock inside a court of law in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa March 6, 2009. The United States had turned over seven suspected Somali pirates to Kenya for prosecution for the first time under a bilateral pact that opened the way for the U.S. Navy to capture pirates on the high seas.

French frigate, Le Floreal watches over the Danish ship "Puma" which is carrying sensitive cargo, on January 11, 2009, in the Gulf of Aden.

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Photos courtesy of Reuters / David B. Hudson / U.S. Navy photo / Handout, HO/AFP / Getty Images, Michael R. McCormick / U.S. Navy via Getty Images, Tony Karumba / AFP / Getty Images, David B. Hudson / AFP / Getty Images, Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images, Jason R. Zalasky / AFP / Getty Images, Bundeswehr / AFP / Getty Images, Reuters / Joseph Okanga

Original Source: Boston.com