Owner of Al-Nisr Al-Saudi says ransom payment approved

The ship, which has a crew of 13 Sri Lankans and one Greek, was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast on a voyage from Japan to Jeddah in March.
Kamal Arri, managing director of the International Bunkering Company, is the owner of the 5,136 ton ship.
“The only solution to free the ship from the Somali pirates is to pay the ransom like other companies in various countries that had their ships hijacked did,” he said.
Arri said an helicopter would drop the ransom amount to the pirates aboard the ship, which is anchored close to the Somali coast.
The aircraft will leave from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport.