Seized S.Korean supertanker heading for Hobyo Habar-gidir Hawiye pirate stronghold Town

MOGADISHU (AFP) – The South Korean supertanker Samho Dream, captured Sunday by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, was Tuesday heading for the port of Hobyo, a pirate chief told AFP.
"The supertanker is coming here. There are dozens of pirates on board," Abdi Yare said by phone from Hobyo.
Fishermen in Hobyo, a pirate stronghold 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Mogadishu, confirmed the tanker was expected to arrive there shortly.
"I've seen dozens of pirates heading out to sea this morning to escort the ship into land. But I think it's still some way from the coast," said Jama Hussein Adan, a Hobyo fisherman.
Another pirate who identified himself as Hassan said the South Korean ship was attacked by a mixed group of pirates made up partly of men from Hobyo and partly of men from Garaad, further north in the breakaway region of Puntland.
"Pirates from Hobyo and from Puntland joined forces to capture the tanker and they will drop anchor off Hobyo to start the usual negotiations," said Hassan.
The 300,000-tonne Samho Dream with its 24 crew -- five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos -- was seized Sunday as it transported an undisclosed quantity of crude oil from Iraq to the US state of Louisiana.
Earlier Tuesday a foreign ministry official in Seoul said a South Korean warship had caught up with the Samho Dream but was keeping its distance from the vessel for the sake of the crew's safety.
"At around 1:20 am (1620 GMT Monday), the destroyer... arrived in waters where the Samho Dream was sailing and she is now operating near the tanker," he told reporters on condition of anonymity.
"The hijacked vessel is now moving towards Somalia," he confirmed.
The Samho Dream is the third supertanker captured by Somali pirates.
Late last November they seized the Maran Centaurus, a Greek 332-metre-long supertanker that was carrying two million barrels of crude oil. It was freed in January after a ransom of between 5.5 million and seven million dollars was paid.
In November 2008 pirates seized the Saudi tanker the Sirius Star, which they freed in early 2009 for what the pirates said was a three million-dollar ransom.