STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra - 20. July 2011)
PROTECTING AND MONITORING LIFE, BIODIVERSITY AND THE ECOSYSTEM IN SOMALIA AND ITS SEAS SINCE 1986 - ECOTERRA Intl.
ECOTERRA Intl. and ECOP-marine serve concerning the counter-piracy issues as advocacy groups in their capacity as human rights, marine and maritime monitors as well as in co-operation with numerous other organizations, groups and individuals as information clearing-house. In difficult cases we have successfully served as mediators.
DECLARE INTERDEPENDENCE
STATUS-SUMMARY:
Today, 20. July 2011 at 21h00 UTC, at least 35 larger plus 18 smaller foreign vessels plus one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 610 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple as well as a Danish yacht-family with three children and two friends - suffer to be released.
But even EU NAVFOR, who mostly only counts high-value, often British insured vessels, admitted now that many dozens of vessels were sea-jacked despite their multi-million Euro efforts to protect shipping.
Having come under pressure, EU NAVFOR's operation ATALANTA felt now compelled to publish their updated piracy facts for those vessels, which EU NAVFOR admits had not been protected from pirates and were abducted. EU NAVFOR also admitted in February 2011 for the first time that actually a larger number of vessels and crews is held hostage than those listed on their file.
Since EU NAVFOR's inception at the end of 2008 the piracy off Somalia started in earnest and it has now completely escalated. Only knowledgeable analysts recognized the link.
Please see the situation map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA (2011) and the CPU-ARCHIVE
ECOTERRA members can also request the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor for background info.
- see also HELD HOSTAGE BY PIRATES OFF SOMALIA
and don't forget that SOMALI PIRACY IS CUT-THROAT CAPITALISM
WHAT THE NAVIES OFF SOMALIA NEVER SEE:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/fighting_for_control_of_somali.html
What Foreign Soldiers in Somalia and even their Officers Never Seem to Realize:
The Scramble For Somalia
PEACE KEEPERS OR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTS ?
SG Ban Ki-Moon (UN) and President Ram Baran Yadav (Nepal) should resign and take the responsibility for 4,500 Haitians having been killed by a Cholera strain introduced by unchecked, so-called UN Peace-Keepers from Nepal into Haiti.
LATEST:
STILL ALMOST 600 SEAFARERS ARE HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !
ECOTERRA Intl. has been the first group to clearly and publicly state that the piracy phenomenon off the Somali coasts can only become an issue of the past again, if tangible and sustainable, appropriate and holistic development for the coastal communities kicks in. Solutions to piracy have to tackle the root causes: Abhorrent poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, outside interference. While still billions are spend for the navies, for the general militarization or for mercenaries or conferences, still no real and financially substantial help is coming forward to pacify and develop the coastal areas of Somalia.
Updates on known cases of piracy - pls see also below this latest news in the status section.
MORE SMALL CARGO VESSELS ATTACKED OFF NORTHERN SOMALIA (ecop-marine)
Local marine observers reported on 18. July 2011 that three smaller cargo vessel were attacked by a large group of sea-shifta just off Bossaso, the harbour town of the Somali regional state of Puntland.
The case could at first not be verified, since also the navies had no such record. Pakistani and Indian diplomatic channels are following up.
In the ensuing getaway bid the Somali pirates, who had taken a total of 67 seafarers from mainly Asian nations hostage caused damage to the engines in two of the boats, while struggling against the heavy swell.
The two limping vessels were then abandoned and the gang escaped in one of the cargo ships, taking with them 19 crew from India and Pakistan as hostages and human shield.
The sea-shifta with this vessel didn't bother to come to the coast but took the vessel out to the sea in order to get larger prey.
The vessel is said to be originally from Pakistan but sometimes flying UAE flag and the name given sounds like SHIHAAN. A clear identity could not yet be established.
Businessmen in Bossaso meanwhile came to the rescue of the two other ships and the Puntland coastguard is said to gear up for a major strike at one of the north-eastern pirate dens from where these pirate gangs hail.
THERE IS NO MERIT IN SHOWING THE SUFFERING OF HOSTAGES ON THE INTERNET (ecop-marine)
The despicable and heinous posting on the internet of two horrible videos showing the crew from Danish MV LEOPARD, making pleas to their government and shipowner under duress, came after all decent media had refused to buy these clips for the large amount of money demanded at first.
But obviously some deal had gone through, because since the case of the British sailing couple, the Chandlers, no visual material has left Somalia without payment. In the Chandler case for the first time larger sums were paid by a major media channel to get first pictures and then video footage.
After someone therefore must have paid for the footage and the first three Somalia websites presented them, then suddenly the clips from the MV LEOPARD crew were even dropped for free into mailboxes and posted on YouTube for everybody to see or download.
The videos are not only disrespectfully showing the distress of the severely traumatized hostages, but also created the uproar, which the hostage takers must have believed would be to their advantage.
Though it might be justified to push the vessel owner and his advisers from law firms, government or security industry to work harder for a fast solution, because the crisis already lasts now for over six month, but the hostages must not be abused to create media events or serve media interests.
The public posting on the internet of these videos will for certain only make the negotiations more difficult and prolong them, and therefore increase the suffering of the crew.
In times when the Somali people need all the sympathy of the world to overcome the cruel famine and shortcomings in the devastated country, which needs to be rebuilt, these videos serve for sure only those who have on their agenda the aim to let the Somalis starve to death or to lower the threshold on the trigger fingers of all those who engage in the now big and growing so called maritime security business - be it governments or private contractors.
It might even serve to distract the attention from the massive weapons-shipments crossing these seas. All without real merits.
The greedy gang of gangsters who have nothing in common any more with the former defenders of the sea and are a far cry of the subsequent first real pirate gangs obeying to a strict code of conduct in not harming the crew, actually endanger the welfare and help, which the majority of the Somali population urgently requires. The inhumane conditions, under which the hostages are held, however, are experienced by around two third of the Somali population under the prevailing famine.
Somali PM Abdiweli Names New Cabinet
Sources close to the prime minister said the new ministers were suggested by the outgoing ministers. Not one of the 18 ministers who served in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Farmajo, who was forced to resign last month, was retained. The new cabinet is again made up of 18 members contrary to the plan proposed by Speaker Sharif Hassan who wanted 23 ministers.
The newly proposed cabinet was chosen based on the traditional clan 4.5 formula:
1 - Hawiye (President)
1 - Diir
1 - Darood (Prime Minister)
1 - Rahweyn (Speaker)
.5 - minority clans
The new team, if approved, will be mandated to complete the transitional tasks and prepare for fresh elections in August 2012. The parliament is set to vote on the proposed list on Saturday, according to a senior official who spoke to terror free somalia.
The prime minister's proposed list is as follows:
1- Ahmed Hassan Gaboobe (Ugaas Bille), Minister for Religious Affairs
2- Mohamed Mohamud Haaji Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
3- Hussein Arab Issa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
4- Abdiwahab Ugaas Hussein Ugaas Khalif, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry
5- Abdisamad Maalim Mohamud Sheekh Hassan, Minister of Interior and National Security
6- Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle, Minister of Finance
7- Asha Osman Aqil, Minister of Women's Development
8- Abullahi Haji Hassan Mohamed Noor, Minister of Livestock Development
9- Dr. Abdiaziz Sheikh Yusuf, Minister of Health
10- Abdulkadir Mohamed Ahmed, Information Posts and Telecommunications
11- Mohamed Muhudin Sheikh Mursal, Minister of Youth and Sports
12- Abdirahman Sheikh Ibrahim, Minister of Fisheries and Natural Resources
13- Adan Abdullaahi Adan, Minister of Transport
14- Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, Minister of Justice and Reconciliation
15- Jaylani Noor Ikar, Minister of National Development
16- Abdulkadir Mohamed Diisow, Minister of Water and Energy
17- Prof. Ahmed Aydid Ibrahim, Minister of Education and Higher Studies
18- Abdullahi Godah Barre, Minister of Planning and International Relation
via-Abdirahman Warsame
©2011 - ecoterra / ecop-marine - articles above are exclusive reports and, if not specifically ©-marked, free for publication as long as cited correctly and the source is quoted.
The maritime articles below are cleared or commented. If you don't find a specific article, it most likely was not worth to be republished here, but if you feel we have overlooked an important publication, please mail it to us.
What you always wanted to know about piracy, but never dared to ask:
SEARCH THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE INTERNET PORTAL ON PIRACY
Pirate video: Danes, Filipinos plead for release By Jason Straziuso (AP)
A maritime industry group posted videos Tuesday on YouTube showing two Danes and four Filipinos held hostage by Somalia pirates pleading for the Danish government and the ship's owner to help win their freedom.
Pirates seek millions of dollars to release the ships and crews they hijack off the coast of East Africa. The pirates have made such hostage videos before, but rarely, if ever, are the videos posted on YouTube.
One of the Danish crew members, Soeren Lyngbjoern, is seen asking for the government and company to help free the crew, which was taken Jan. 12. A pirate holding the camera asks questions while three masked men holding weapons stand in the background.
Lyngbjoern said the crew are often afraid, and that he is suffering health problems. An imprint on the video indicates it was shot last Thursday, though The Associated Press could not independently authenticate the tape or when it was shot.
"I don't think I live for much more," he said in a shaky voice that sometimes cracks with emotion.
Pirates hijacked the Danish cargo ship MV Leopard in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia. Its crew consists of four Filipinos and two Danes and is operated by the shipping company Shipcraft. Six men are seen in the video, which was shot outdoors near brush.
A second hostage seen in the videos says the Leopard was carrying military equipment.
Shipcraft said in a statement Tuesday that speculation in the Danish press that the company has not been working toward the release of the hostages is not true.
"Shipcraft has since January - and with the advice from renowned security advisers and in close consultation with all relevant parties, among others the appropriate authorities - been negotiating for the fastest possible release of our crew," the company said, adding that it could not share details because it could have a negative impact on the dealings.
Shipcraft said that the crew is "under unbelievable pressure, mentally as well as physically."
The group that posted the videos, Save our Seafarers, describes itself as one of the biggest maritime industry groups, 25 maritime organizations that joined together to raise awareness of the human and economic cost of piracy.
A spokesman for Save Our Seafarers said he couldn't immediately comment on the posting but would gather information and speak later.
Pirates have been holding hostages longer in apparent hopes of winning higher ransoms. The average ransom is now around $5 million.
A spokesman for the EU Naval Force, an anti-piracy force, said the group's records show that pirates hold 19 ships and 417 hostages.
In other piracy developments, officials responsible for a small Emirati oil tanker hijacked Saturday said they have lost contact with the ship but are hopeful it will be released soon.
Omar al-Khair, general manager of the Emirates International Shipping, the vessel's manager, told The Associated Press there were 17 crew on board the United Arab Emirates-flagged MV Jubba XX. Besides the Sri Lankan captain, he said crew members were from India, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Sudan, Bangladesh and Somalia.
"I'm expecting it to get released easy ... because there are Somalis" on board, he said. There have been no demands for ransom yet, he said.
The tanker was carrying between 3,500 to 4,000 tons of refined fuel when it was hijacked, said Ali Alawi, operations coordinator at Jubba General Trading Co., the ship's Emirati owner. It was headed from the Emirati city of Umm al-Quwain to the Somali port of Berbera.
Al-Khair said the companies last had contact with a crew member by satellite phone shortly after the hijacking Saturday off the coast of Mukalla, Yemen. They have been unable to reach them by since.
No comments:
Post a Comment