Once the guards left the ship, the pirates boarded.

Somali pirates are demanding a $10 million ransom for a hijacked chemical tanker and its crew, the Somalia Report website reports.

 According to the report, the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Fairchem Bogey and its 21 crewmembers were hijacked Aug. 20 in a “brazen” attack while at anchor off of the port of Salalah, Oman.

The ship had an armed guard team aboard while transiting through the Gulf of Aden en route to Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia but released the team once reaching Oman. Unprotected, the pirates took over the ship and sailed it to Somalia, where it now sits at anchor off of the town of Garacad. The crew is said to be unharmed in the wheelhouse while awaiting the arrival of a pirate negotiator.

The ship is managed by Anglo-Eastern Ship Management.

No explanation has been given as to why the security team was dropped off and the crew left to their own devices to protect themselves in vain. However, leaving crews without the protection of security guards is not uncommon, even in the deadly Indian Ocean. Some of the reasons for this include companies’ unwillingness to pay for the teams, logistical difficulties and prohibitions against entering territorial waters with firearms aboard.