European Union Naval Forces

MV Orna, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in December 2010.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali pirates who have been holding a hijacked ship for nearly two years killed a Syrian hostage crew member and wounded another to protest a delayed ransom payment, a pirate leader said.

This is believed to be the first time Somali pirates have killed a hostage because of a delay in ransom.

Hassan Abdi, a pirate commander in Haradhere town, a key pirate center, said that the killing on Wednesday was a message to the owners of the ship MV Orna, hijacked 400 miles northeast of the island nation of the Seychelles in December 2010.

"The killing was a message to the owners of the ship who paid no heed to our ransom demands," Abdi said by telephone.

"More killings will follow if they continue to lie to us — we have lost patience with them. Two years is enough," he said angrily.

The MV Orna is a Panama-flagged, bulk cargo vessel owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates.

The pirates operating along the Somali coastline of the Indian Ocean were once were believed to be disgruntled and financially motivated Somali fishermen, angry that international trawlers were illegally fishing Somalia's waters. But now criminal gangs are dominating the piracy trade and they have become increasingly violent as international navies attempt to crackdown on their activities.

Related: Pirates seize 24 sailors on Greek tanker off Togo coast 

Somali pirates aboard two attack skiffs hijacked the MV Orna after firing rocket propelled grenades and small arms at the ship, the European Union Naval Force said at the time.

In May last year an undisclosed number of pirates and hostages were forced to abandon the Orna after a fire broke out, said Abdi. It is believed the fire was caused by an electrical problem in the ship's kitchen, he said.

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The European Union Naval Force patrolling the Indian Ocean waters has not heard about the killing, said spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Jacqueline Sherriff.

Since, 2008, the EU has maintained a flotilla consisting of between five and 10 warships off the Horn of Africa to fight piracy. It is part of a larger international fleet that includes U.S., NATO, Russian and other warships. The EU taskforce also includes non-EU countries such as Norway, Croatia, Montenegro and Ukraine.

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Pirate attacks off Somalia's coast plunged to 69 in the first six months this year from 163 a year earlier, according to the EU force. Somali pirates were able to seize 13 vessels, down from 21, according to piracy watchdog the International Maritime Bureau.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

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Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP

Deborah Calitz, left, and Bruno Pelizzari appeared at a news conference hours after they were released by their captors in Mogadishu, Somalia. The two South Africans were held hostage for 20 months.

Two South African sailors were released Thursday after being held captive by Somali pirates for 20 months, according to news reports.

Hussein Arab Isse, Somalia's defense minister, said the Somali army and security forces helped release Deborah Calitz and Bruno Pelizzari, both about 50. Reuters reported that the couple appeared gaunt and ashen at Isse’s side at a press conference hours after their release.

Calitz and Pelizzari were kidnapped by 12 pirates while working aboard the Choizil in October 2010, as the yacht was about to enter the Mozambique channel on its return trip to South Africa.

At the time of their capture, the pirates set a $10 million ransom, although Somali elders told the Agence France-Presse that the amount paid was closer to $750,000.

The couple's captivity is among the longest time hostages have been held by Somali pirates. A British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, were kidnapped from their yacht and held for more than a year; they were freed in November 2010.

Somali pirates free kidnapped UK couple after a year

Kidnapping sailors has proven to be a lucrative business for the pirates, many of whom are young Somali men whose prospects have become increasingly limited by two decades of famine and war. Last year, Reuters reported, pirates collected $150 million from ransoms.

The European Union launched a robust anti-piracy effort in Somalia in 2008; the EU Naval Force’s mission is, in part, to protect humanitarian vessels bringing food to war-torn Somalia.

EU forces attack Somali pirates on land for first time

Although the EU has dispatched 10 naval ships since 2008 to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa, according to the BBC, the pirates still have 213 hostages. At Thursday’s press conference, Isse said more raids would follow.

"We know the whereabouts of the rest of the hostages, including the French agent, and if the kidnappers fail to free them, we will forcefully rescue them," Isse said, according to AFP, referring to an intelligence agent kidnapped in Mogadishu in 2009.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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