Samho Shipping Company, owns the South Korean supertanker seized by Somali pirates, has reportedly begun full-scale negotiations to free the crew.

The company has hired a professional negotiator and is said to be contacting the pirates through an intermediary in London.

A source close to the matter says that although Samho Shipping and the pirates have spoken on the telephone several times, ransom demands have yet to be made.

South Korea’s “Yi Sun-sin” destroyer is monitoring the pirates in the high sea some ten kilometers from the “Samho Dream” tanker, which is currently off the coast of Somalia.