Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has enjoyed relative stability compared to the rest of Somalia but remains unrecognised internationally.
A man called Yusuf Ali, who said he was among the gang of pirates holding the MV Leila, told Horn Cable TV on Monday the pirates hope to get a small ransom for the ship, but also want the authorities in Somaliland to release their comrades.
“We will not release the ship until the prisoners are released. Somaliland harasses us and jails us for 20 years while in Yemen we only serve 7 years,” said Yusuf Ali, speaking from an undisclosed location.
“We hijacked the ship in order to send a message to the businessmen to convince their government to release our colleagues.”
Somali pirates typically hijack merchant vessels to earn hefty ransoms and seizing ships to try and arrange a prisoner swap is a rare development.
Somaliland’s parliament recently passed new legislation recognising piracy as a crime and allowing pirates convicted abroad to be transferred to the enclave, in a move to signal its commitment to fighting maritime attacks off Somalia’s shores.
Under the new legislation, piracy will carry a maximum jail term of 25 years. Previously, it had to charge suspected pirates with armed robbery.
Somaliland says it has more than 100 pirates in its prisons.