A SCOTTISH man is one of the two Britons being held hostage by pirates who hijacked the oil supertanker Sirius Star.
The Foreign Office named him as James Grady, the vessel's second officer, but would say only he was from Strathclyde.
A 53-year-old from Johnstone in Renfrewshire with the same name has completed courses at the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.
The college said Mr Grady had taken survival and medical courses there four years ago. It said a ship's second officer would normally be in charge of navigation.
Mr Grady is being held off the Somali coast in Africa along with Peter French, from County Durham, the ship's chief engineer, and 23 fellow crew. All are believed to be unharmed.
The crew come from Poland, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
A Foreign Office statement said the two Britons' families "greatly appreciate the concern that has been expressed by people throughout the UK and beyond, about Peter and James. They hope that Peter and James will be home safely to their families very soon".
The pirates are reported to have demanded a ransom from the vessel's Saudi owner, Vela International Marine.
A man identifying himself as Farah Abd Jameh and purporting to represent the pirates, said in an audiotape broadcast by the Arabic television channel al-Jazeera: "Negotiators are onboard the ship and on land.
"Once they agree on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker."
He added: "We assure the safety of the ship carrying the ransom," but warned against the use of counterfeit cash.
Lloyd's List, the shipping journal, reported that bidding could start at $20 million to $50 million (£13 million to £33 million), with a settlement likely at between $5 million and $10 million (£3.3 million-£6.6 million).
The 1,100ft Sirius Star, with two million barrels of crude oil, became the pirates' largest catch when it was hijacked at the weekend. The vessel and its oil are each worth about £66 million.
The Foreign Office said there were plans for a new European Union mission against piracy.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has offered a Royal Navy warship, HMS Cumberland, part of a Nato force in the area which shot dead two pirates last week.
Mr Miliband called for the immediate release of the supertanker's crew.
He said the problem of piracy was "a grave danger to the stability in the region".
Speaking in Beirut, he said: "The United Kingdom is very worried about the piracy in the Gulf of Aden and in Somalia."
Meanwhile, an Indian warship blew up and sunk a pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia in a clash late on Tuesday night.
It came after pirates seized two other vessels – an Iranian-operated bulk carrier with 25 crew and a Thai fishing boat with 16 aboard.
There were unconfirmed reports a Greek bulk carrier had also been taken.
Maersk, Europe's largest shipping line, was last night reported to be on the brink of following other firms in diverting its fleet away from the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.
This would add some three weeks to journeys and push up the cost of goods.
The full article contains 548 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
