US, Russian navy ships close in on Somali pirates

At least one US navy ship kept watch as pirates moored the MV Faina off the notorious Indian Ocean buccaneers' lair of Harardhere with their most spectacular bounty in close to 60 successful hijackings this year.

"San Diego-based destroyer USS Howard is on station and is in visual range of MV Faina, which is anchored off the Somalia coast near the harbour city of Hobyo," the US naval forces central command said.

"My crew is actively monitoring the situation, keeping constant watch on the vessel and the waters in the immediate vicinity," the ship's commanding officer, Curtis Goodnight, said in a statement.

The pirates said two other foreign navy vessels were in the vicinity besides the US destroyer.

There was no immediate confirmation of the two other ships' origin but a Russian navy officer told the Itar-Tass news agency that a vessel was being dispatched to the area.

"The Navy commander has ordered the Baltic Fleet to send the Neutrashimy patrol ship to the Somalia zone," Russian Navy Assistant Commander Igor Dygalo was quoted as saying.

The Belize-flagged ship's crew of 21 consists of Ukrainians, Russians and Latvians. According to a spokesman for the pirates, one crew member died of natural causes following the vessel's September 25 capture.

"What we are awaiting eagerly is the 20 million dollars, nothing less, nothing more," he said, apparently lowering the ransom from an earlier reported figure of 35 million dollars.

The ship was headed to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it was seized. Nairobi said the shipment was part of a contract with Ukraine to update some of its military hardware.

Meanwhile, the pirates claimed: "We are not afraid of their presence, that will not make us to abandon the ship or to refrain from asking (for) the money".

A Somali elder speaking from a coastal area near Harardhere confirmed that foreign navy forces were in sight and ruled out a scenario in which the pirates would offload the seized military equipment.