The Pirates released the Saudi supertanker (carrying the equivalent of nearly one day's production of Saudi oil) over the weekend. The payment they received: a measly $3 million. Though hijacking an oil tanker ratcheted up the world's attention (and media coverage) to their acts, apparently oil doesn't fetch much ransom--given the fact that there's plenty more of it coming out of the ground, for now. (The $3 million was probably more about getting the crew back than the crude back.)
Still I was wrong in my prediction that they wouldn't get a cent for the tanker.
Ironically, several of the tanker pirates then drowned in rough seas during their escape to land. The body of one washed ashore with $153,000 in his pocket.
