![]() ![]() Once the ransom was secured – often routed through banks in London and Dubai and parachuted like a special-delivery care package directly onto the deck of the ship – it was split amongst all the concerned parties. The captured ship was then steered to a friendly port – in Boyah's case, Eyl – where guards and interpreters were brought from the shore to look after the hostages during the ransom negotiation. ![]() Boyah guessed that only 20 per cent to 30 per cent of attempted hijackings met with success, for which he blamed speedy prey, technical problems, and foreign naval or domestic intervention. Instances of the crew fighting back were rare, and rarely effective, and the whole process, from spotting to capturing, took at most thirty minutes. ![]() But if they managed to pull even with their target, they tossed hooked rope ladders onto the decks and boarded the ship. ![]() If these scare tactics did not work, and if the target ship was capable of outperforming their outboard motors, the chase ended there. They brandished their weapons in an attempt to frighten the ship's crew into stopping, and even fired into the air. In attack groups spread amongst several small and speedy skiffs, Boyah and his men approached their target on all sides, swarming like a water-borne wolf pack. “He claimed to employ different tactics for different ships, but the basic strategy was crude in its simplicity. ![]()
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