It's appalling that these dangerous criminals are holding powerful oil companies to ransom like this.
I simply don't understand why, with the sophisticated satellite communications technology available to ships nowadays, something like this could happen. Why did they not spot the pirates approaching the ship before it was too late? This is certainly not an isolated incident and the ship's employees should have been on high alert for such an attack especially off the coast of Somalia.
This goes to show that no matter how rich, powerful and well equipped these oil companies and their transporters are, they still have weaknesses that can easily exploited with criminal gangs regardless of their comparative poverty and lack of resources. Perhaps it's time for these companies to go back to basics and take a good look at their staff training and whether indeed they are employing the right staff in the right places.

It is totally ridiculous that these 'pirates' have been rewarded for their actions. It simply encourages others to jump on the bandwagon. It won't be long before the next incident and who knows whether the ending will be quite so happy for the crew and their families.

I don't know, it's like that old question isn't it - would you negotiate with terrorists? I guess it depends whether or not human lives are at stake. There are those who would say it's better to shell out some money than have people killed.

The shocking news of these pirates actions just goes to prove that their is no end to people's greed and relentlessness. It's certainly time for change, we just have to wait and see how influential and positive this change will be

I understand that five of the pirates drowned when their boat capsized as they headed back to shore with the ransom. That's a pretty good example of karma in action.

And some of the pirates managed to swim to shore. I thought this ship was hijacked 200 miles off the coast of Somalia????