Shipowners arm to fight piracy

UPDATED: Norwegian shipowners are beginning to arm their vessels in an effort to fend off pirates on the high seas, especially off the coast of eastern Africa. Seafarers on board the vessels are skeptical, while the government is open to the need for defense. Meanwhile, a former naval vessel is heading for the area to join the fight, but under private ownership.

Norway won't be sending another frigate, much less fighter jets like these, to patrol waters off Somalia until next year at the earliest. PHOTO: Forsvaret

The piracy problem is a hot issue in Norway at present, not least after yet another Norwegian-owned ship was captured by pirates over the weekend. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the Samho Jewelry, registered in Malta but owned by Norwegian ship investment firm Acta, was attacked by pirates about 350 nautical miles off Oman.
The tanker, chartered to Samho Shipping of South Korea, was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka. South Korea’s president was sending a battleship to the area in an attempt to free the vessel fro the pirates. Samho paid out USD 9 million in ransom money just two months ago to free another tanker, the Samho Dream.
The piracy danger has become a nightmare for shipowners and those in Norway already have complained that their government isn’t doing enough to battle the problem. It seems some thus are taking matters into their own hands, with the boss of Norwegian shipowning company Stolt-Nielsen telling DN on Saturday that his family-owned firm now has armed guards on board Stolt-Nielsen vessels off the coast of Africa.
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