Somali pirates have made contact with the owner of a hijacked South Korean supertanker but no ransom demand has been made yet, the owner said Thursday.

 
"The negotiation has not begun so we do not know what they want," a spokesman for Samho Shipping told AFP, adding the five Korean and 19 Filipino crewmen are reportedly safe.

The 300,000-tonne Samho Dream was seized Sunday in the Indian Ocean as it transported crude oil from Iraq to the US state of Louisiana. The owner declined to say how much oil is being transported.

The ship is currently anchored 4.5 miles off the coast of Somalia, the foreign ministry in Seoul said in a statement.

A South Korean destroyer has been tailing the hijacked ship but has been warned to stay clear. "The pirates have told the navy unit through the ship's captain that all crew members are currently safe, but their lives will be at risk if the navy ship tries to close in on the Samho Dream," the ministry said.

It said the Seoul government would help the ship's owner secure the early release of the vessel and its crew.

Somali pirates remain active in one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes despite a multinational naval force. They raked in an estimated 60 million dollars in ransoms last year.

On Wednesday they grabbed a Turkish bulk carrier off the coast of Kenya.

(Source: AFA)