Highest hijack ransom
Who
Irene SL
What
13500000 US dollar(s)
Where
Oman ()
When
2011

The highest ransom on record was US$13.5 million (then £8.3 million), paid in April 2011 to Somali pirates for the release of the Greek-flagged Irene SL, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) and her 25-member crew, after 58 days of captivity. The vessel was carrying two million barrels of oil (318 million litres) valued at US$200 million (then 123.5 million) from Mina Al Ahmadi, Kuwait, to the US Gulf Coast, when it was hijacked on 9 February 2011 off the coast of Oman. The hijacking occurred only three months after the former highest ransom on record had been paid to release the Samho Dream, a South Korean oil tanker, for $9.5 million.