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The highest amount for ransom was given to Somali pirates to release tanker sailing under the Greek flag and carrying two million tons of oil, says an in.gr article. 

The ransom was thrown from an airplane on top of the platform of the kidnapped oil tanker. Most likely the money that the pirates have asked for and took were somewhere between $5,5 and $7 million. The tanker has been in the hands of the pirates since November of last year when they attacked and seized it in the waters of the Indian Ocean near the Seychelles. 

The tanker "Maran Centaurus" was occupied on 29 November. Its crew consists of nine Greeks, a Romanian, two Ukrainians and 16 Filipino seamen. The ship was traveling from Saudi Arabia to the USA. 

So far, it is not clear when the pirates will release the tanker, as there are two other hostile groups, which argue that the ransom is theirs. Yesterday morning the pirates on the ship started a shootout with another group of pirates, who surrounded the oil tanker on motorboats and threatened to set it on fire unless they agreed to divide the money. 

By yesterday evening the ship had not yet been released and the bad adventure for the sailors has still not found its end. Pirates of the semi-autonomous region Pudland who took over Maran Centaurus say they have no intention to share money with the pirates from Harandere, where the kidnapped ship is anchored. 

In turn the pirates from Harandere threatened that if they do not get some of the money they will shoot at the ship, which will not only endanger the lives of the sailors, but will also cause an ecological catastrophe on the shores of Somalia. Clearly the clash between the two rival groups of pirates is pretty dangerous because the residents of Harandere left the city. They were afraid of a possible explosion of the ship during the upcoming days. 

A resident of the area said that "the pirates are well armed and if they begin to fire this can be detrimental to the whole area," says Imerisia newspaper. The distribution of ransoms is common practice in the region, when keeping in mind that at the end of 2009, Somali pirates were holding 12 ships with a total of 263 crew members, for whom they have asked for ransoms.