STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra - 03. September 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.
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STATUS-SUMMARY:
Today, 03. September 2011 at 19h45 UTC, at least 33 larger plus 18 smaller foreign vessels plus one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 558 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 OVER 550 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 these latest news and in the status section.
NEW PIRATE ATTACK
Today, 03. September 2011 at 09h49 UTC a merchant vessel came under attack by 2 skiffs with 5 POB in position 21 45N and 060 31E, NATO reported. Weapons were fired and the fate of the vessel is not yet clear. Further reports are awaited.
Piracy and Weather Forecast for 1-7 SEP 2011 (Maritime OPINTEL Report)
GULF OF ADEN:
Western and central portions show minimal seas ranging from 1 – 3 feet, slowly increasing as you transit east. The extreme eastern portion of the GOA still shows light to moderate sea heights (3 – 5 feet). Expect continuous winds from the west-southwest of 18 – 22 knots and higher gusts through the next 72 hours.
EXTENDED FORECAST: Minimal sea heights will continue through 7 Sept throughout most of the GOA. West- southwest winds 15 – 20 knots with higher gusts will continue through 7 Sept. Based on sea heights for the forecast week, expect conditions to be conducive for small boat/piracy operations within most of the GOA through 7 Sept.
SOMALI COAST/NORTH ARABIAN SEA:
The highest sea heights (9 – 13 feet) cover a region from the north-central Somali coast west-northwest into the central Arabian Sea and near the Indian coast. Sea heights notably decrease (5 – 7 feet) within central and southern portions of the Somali Basin, as well as waters off Oman and Pakistan. Sustained southwest winds of 28 – 32 knots with higher gusts will remain over the Somali Basin through the next 72 hours. North Arabian Sea winds range from 18 – 22 knots with higher gusts from the west.
EXTENDED FORECAST: Monsoonal flow continues in the Somali Basin and North Arabian Sea. Expect area sea heights to remain high off the northern Somali coast and into the Arabian Sea. Moderate sea heights will continue around Oman and Pakistan. South-southwest winds 24 – 28 knots (3 Sep/12Z) with higher gusts will continue through 7 Sept in the Somali Basin. Winds in the North Arabian Sea will continue from the west 18 – 22 knots with higher gusts through 7 Sept. Severe winds and sea heights will continue to create conditions non-conducive for small boat/piracy operations through forecast period.
INDIAN OCEAN:
Coastal waters off Kenya as well as waters south of the equator extending east into the Indian Ocean have increased sea heights and will remain moderate through the next 72 hours, with sea heights ranging from 5 – 7 feet. Coastal waters off the Tanzania coast and south to Mozambique are currently moderate. Decreasing winds in the Mozambique Channel will cause sea heights to subside by 3 Sept.
EXTENDED FORECAST:
Moderate sea heights off Kenya and northern Tanzania will continue through 7 Sept. Expect minimal seas in the Mozambique Channel as well as the waters around the Maldives. Based on this forecast, these regions as well as the southern portion of the Tanzania coast will prove conducive for piracy operations.
SURFACE CURRENTS:
Currents within the Somalia Basin and into the Indian Ocean are variable with most areas having average speeds of less than 2 knots. Areas of increased speeds up to 6.5 knots occur from the 2N to 10N along the Somali coast. Currents within the Gulf of Aden are variable with all areas having speeds of less than 2 knots.
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Somalia: Puntland ministers condemn piracy attacks (GaroweOnline)
Government ministers in Somalia's Puntland region have condemned piracy attacks after pirates hijacked two commercial vessels, Radio Garowe reports.
The two vessels were hijacked by pirates on 29 August and 31 August, according to Puntland Ports Minister Said Mohamed Rage.
The Ports Minister held a joint press conference with Puntland Finance Minister Farah Ali Jama in Garowe on Thursday in Garowe, capital of Puntland.
Minister Jama said it is unfortunate that pirates are increasingly targeting commercial vessels leaving Somali ports. In this case, the two vessels were transporting livestock for export from Puntland’s Bossaso port to the Arabian Peninsula.
On Saturday, Puntland security sources tell Somali news agency Garowe Online that NATO naval forces have surrounded one hijacked vessel and the pirates of the second vessel have been arrested by Omani naval forces.
Puntland security forces have conducted coastal operations targeting piracy financiers and organizers, some of whom were killed, injured or captured.
Group CEO of hijacked ship holding talks with pirates (DeccanHerald)
In a bid to expedite the process of freeing the hijacked ship — MT Fairchem Bogey — the vessel management company Anglo-Eastern Ship Management has sent its top executive group CEO to hold talks with the sea pirates. Giving details to Deccan Herald, Ferdi Stolzeberg of MTI (Network Asia) from Hong Kong informed that “group CEO Peter Cremers is greatly concerned for the well being of the crew and is doing his utmost as the manager of the ship.” Refusing to divulge details of the venue of the talks or the stage at which the talks have reached, Stolzeberg just mentioned that “since the discussions for the return of the crew and ship has started and reached a crucial stage, we cannot comment on any proceedings to protect the interests of the crew.” The ship MT Fairchem Bogey, with 21 Indian onboard, was hijacked from Omanian port Salalah. Though the nationality of the pirates was not immediately known, past records of high-seas hijacking indicated the work of Somalian pirates. Though after a couple of days, maritime authorities were able to locate the whereabouts of the ship in Somalian waters, the issue over the identity of the organised sea pirate groups still remains a mystery.
It was only after the ship dropped her anchor at Garacad, that maritime high-seas security experts were finally able to zero down on the group which had carried out the hijacking. Along Somalian coastline, three separate pirate groups operate in three ear-marked coastal turfs like northern, central and southern. This is for the first time that a ship has been hijacked from a designated anchorage area, considered to be a high-security region as traffic in this bay is monitored round-the-clock by authorities. What has irked the shipping officials here is that when the pirates were attempting to board the ship, the captain of MT Fairchem Bogey had immediately flashed SOS message to the port authorities as well as to Omani Coast Guard.
Somali pirates grow more daring By David Rosenberg (TheMediaLine)
Somali pirates, the bane of freighters and tankers plying routes south of the Arabian Peninsula, are adopting daring new tactics to counter the effects of a multinational naval crackdown and better-protected merchant ships.
In the first-ever attack on a vessel at anchor in a country’s territorial waters, armed pirates hijacked the chemical tanker Fairchem Bogey within sight the Omani port of Salalah on August 20, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). The armed pirates boarded the ship, took its 21 crew hostage and put the vessel on course for Somalia, according to the bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre.
Earlier this month, at least two freighters told the IMB that the largest ever number of pirates working together had swarmed their vessels. The Neptune came under attack on August 7 off the coast of Eritrea by a dozen skiffs each carrying five to eight pirates. The crew fought off the pirate armada, but 11 days later a second, an unnamed bulk carrier was nearly hijacked by a fleet of seven skiffs in the same area.
“On the one hand, it shows they’re desperate because it’s becoming more difficult to hijack ships, but on the other hand it shows the strength of the pirates. If you’re desperate to reach your goal and you face increasing pressure, you become more innovative,” Jan Stockbruegger, who studies piracy at the African Studies Centre Lieden, told The Media Line.
The pirates are working hard to keep ahead of growing international efforts to protect shipping on the sea lanes south of the Arabian Peninsula, the pirates’ main area of operations. A lot is at stake: According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, piracy globally costs $7bn to $12bn a year in added insurance premium, lost operating time, ransom and other costs.
More than 60% of the attacks last year originated in Somalia, an African country that has devolved into anarchy. Their hunting grounds are the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, where a large part of the world’s oil passes as do imports of food and other critical goods to the countries of the Gulf. As many as 24,000 vessels ply these waters every year.
A single hijacking, in this case of the MV Victoria, a German-owned bulk carrier that was held for 73 days in 2009 until the owners paid some $2mn in ransom, cost its operators 3.2mn euros ($4.6mn). For the pirates, hijacking is a hugely profitable enterprise.
Ransoms have increased to an average of $5.4mn in 2010 from just $150,000 five years earlier. As of June 30, Somali pirates were holding 20 vessels and 420 crew, and demanding ransoms of millions of dollars for their release.
Piracy profits have grown so much that it may well be the second-largest generator of money in Somalia, bringing in over $200mn annually, according to a paper, Trends in Piracy: A Global Problem with Somalia at the Core, published last April by Roger Middleton, a researcher at Chatham House. Only foreign remittances from Somalia’s diaspora community bring in more -- around $1bn a year, he said.
Stockbruegger said the pirates have only rarely employed high technology, such as global positioning systems (GPSs) to upgrade their capabilities, but they have changed tactics – employing mother ships that enable them to target ships farther away from their home base, finding ways to break into the safe rooms ships have installed to protect crews and even hiring professional negotiators to handle ransom talks with ship owners.
The IMB said in a July report that ships are increasingly coming under attack with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. “Five years ago, pirates were just as likely to brandish a knife as a gun. This year guns were used in 160 attacks and knives in 35,” it said.
Stockbruegger, who is also co-editor of the Piracy Studies website, added that swarming attacks increased the likelihood of violence since pirates would be less hesitant to raid a ship carrying armed guards.
Some analysts said the pirates have begun onshore intelligence networks made up of Somali expatriates, who advise them on what ships are coming and going and what they are carrying. If such a network exists, it would a boon for pirates who traditionally seize targets at random on the high seas, not knowing the value of their prospective haul until they have captured the vessel.
“It has been ongoing for last year or two. It started off more locally in terms of ports on the Arabian peninsula and intelligence on the Gulf of Aden and then it spread out to parts as far as (the Indian) subcontinent,” Theodore Karasik, director for research and development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military, told The Media Line.
“Who are these people? Are they working for shipyards or are they scouring the Internet?” he added. “It’s probably a combination of both. There’s a certain amount intelligence gathering on land and via the Internet.”
The pirates have to devise new tactics because they are encountering more resistance from international naval forces and better defended freighters and tankers. In the first half of the year, the IMB recorded 163 attacks, up from 100 the same period in 2010. But the pirates have succeeded in capturing fewer ships, just 21 compared with 27 the same time last year.
Cyrus Mody, manager at IMB, attributed this both to increased ship hardening and to the actions of international naval forces to disrupt pirate groups off the east coast of Africa.
“What we’ve seen so far this year is that there have been more incidents but their success rate has been nearly halved. Last year we had a success rate of approximately one out of four vessels being hijacked; so far this year, it’s one vessel out of eight,” Mody told The Media Line.
Mody said he doubted that pirates had developed land-based intelligence networks, but he nevertheless maintained the Omani hijacking constituted an escalation of their activities.
“It does show that the pirates do have the capability of going into another state’s waters and attacking a vessel. This means vessels in such areas also have to remain alert of small boats approaching,” he said.
At any given time, some 20 to 30 navy ships from a large number of countries from as far afield as Europe and East Asia, are patrolling the waters. But Mody said the pirates are threatening to extend their range of operations, further stretching the defenders’ capabilities. Furthermore, when the monsoon season ends during September the calmer waters closer to India will let pirates with their small skiffs return, he said.
GCC must beef up coastal security against pirate attacks By Elizabeth Broomhall (ArabianBusiness)
Oman has been the site of a number of pirate attacks and experts warn the hijackings will increase
Oman in August saw two attacks on ships near the port of Salalah, with one tanker and crew snatched from inside the port in front of the coast guard, and experts warn these attacks may be the tip of the iceberg.
“The problem will only worsen in the short-term as the Monsoon season is due to end in mid-September. The Gulf of Oman might be a new area of focus, which will pose a concern for Emirati shipping interests which must pass through the area,” said John Drake, a senior risk consultant at AKE Group.
Piracy is a well-organised and highly lucrative business and has expanded into a vast area off the coast of Somalia. An estimated $150m was paid in ransoms for ships, cargoes and crews to pirate gangs last year, while a record 1,181 seafarers were kidnapped, according to consultancy Dryad Maritime Intelligence.
“For the UAE, the problem must be carefully monitored and ensure that it does not continue to expand into the Gulf of Oman,” said Tim Hart, maritime security analyst from Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants. “If the problem isn’t resolved and is allowed to continue it will encourage more potential pirates to turn to the crime. They will go to greater and greater lengths to hijack vessels, adapting to onboard precautions and potentially moving into areas they had not previously operated in trying to find the more lucrative targets.”
Oman lies at the mouth of the Gulf, a strategic, heavily patrolled waterway which channels a bulk of the world's crude shipments. Somali pirates usually operate in Indian Ocean waters, but the waters around Salalah have seen a rising number of attacks.
Several oil tankers have also been attacked in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, with their valuable cargoes being used by pirates to demand ransoms.
The potential risk will put shipping companies in the region under increasing pressure to protect their crew and vessels from attacks, Drake said.
“Shipping companies will have to implement risk management techniques, including the use of barbed wire and safe-rooms. These measures will make it harder for pirates to gain access to a ship and reach the crew, and significantly reduce the likelihood of a vessel being seized.”
Recent incidents involving UAE ships include that of the MV Jubba XX, a small oil tanker seized by pirates off the Yemen coast on its way to port of Berbera in mid-July.
The tanker, which was released a few weeks later, was carrying 3,500 tonnes of oil products and had a crew of 17 people.
It was the third UAE ship to be hijacked this year, in addition to the MV Iceberg I, owned by the Dubai-based Azal Shipping, seized in March, and an unknown vessel purportedly named the MV Al Nasri, which was hijacked 35 miles outside the port of Bossaso in Puntland.
Analysts say piracy is a land-based problem, triggered by a combination of poverty in a coastal community, lawlessness and increasing use of weaponry.
Somalia has lacked a functioning government for two decades. The United Nations last month declared a famine in Somalia and said that 3.7 million people were in need of food assistance.
STUPID "AID"
Finland to Support UNODC Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme (ISRIA))
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland has granted Euro 190 000 for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Piracy Prisoner Transfer Programme (PPTP).
The main aim of the programme is to construct a new prison in Garowe, Puntland. The 500 bed prison will be mainly used for housing convicted Somali pirates. The prison will be constructed, mentored and monitored to ensure that it meets minimum international standards.
One of the main reasons for Finland to fund the PPTP is to assist in strengthening the rule of law in Puntland through support for the country’s capacity to fight serious crime, and to bring pirates into justice. This in turn helps with the development of a constitutional state, economically and socially sustainable development, as well as resolving crises.
Currently the biggest challenge with bringing pirates to justice in Somalia, and the states in the area, is the lack of prison capacity.
The PPTP is a part of the UNODC Counter Piracy Programme Strategy, which has already progressed considerably in Kenya and Seychelles. The PPTP will specifically address the objective of having humane and secure imprisonment in Somalia.
The UN standards for prisoner care have noted the positive outcomes of prisoners serving prison sentences in their home countries, instead of regional countries, as it helps with social reintegration and with meeting humanitarian needs.
Finland will support the programme in 2011. The aid will be used towards construction costs of the prison, and the procurement of necessary equipment and vehicles. The programme will officially start in September 2011. The prison is meant to be in use within one and a half years of starting the construction.
[N.B.: Every year the world over more laws, more and prolonged jail sentences for an ever and over-proportionally growing number of "criminals", then locked up as inmates in an ever growing number of larger and larger prisons become fact. This is a clear sign that real solutions for today's challenges haven't been found or implemented.]
Chandler pirate kidnap: Book claims FCO failed family (BBC)
The couple's ordeal began when their yacht was seized in October 2009
A couple held captive by Somali pirates for more than a year have criticised the British government in a book, for failing to support their family.
Paul and Rachel Chandler, formerly of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, but who now live in Devon, said assistance offered to relatives had been "derisory".
The couple's ordeal began when their yacht was seized in October 2009.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it had been in "constant touch" with relatives.
The Chandlers, who now live in Dartmouth, make their claims in a book documenting their 388-day kidnap.
'Begging phone calls'
While the couple say they received "excellent support" from the FCO following their release, they criticise the support offered to their family during the ordeal.
Writing in the book, they say: "We realise that once we were within Somalia, the government could do little directly to help us but they could and should have done more to support our close family members.
"We were disappointed to learn that the assistance from the FCO was, if anything, negative.
"Our consular staff remained in constant touch with the family throughout their ordeal” - Foreign Office spokesman
"The support and advice to our siblings, who were always likely to be on the receiving end of begging phone calls, was distressingly inadequate."The FCO's efforts to keep our family informed were derisory. We have not been made aware of anything helpful being done behind the scenes."
The retired couple were captured while sailing from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.
Their route took them near waters notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats.
They were released after a ransom of up to £620,000 was reportedly paid to their kidnappers.
A spokesman for the FCO said: "Throughout Paul and Rachel Chandler's ordeal, a dedicated team from across the region and in the UK did everything we could to secure the couple's safe release.
"We used our contacts to gain information which we shared with the family.
"Our consular staff remained in constant touch with the family throughout their ordeal and we supported the couple when they were released.
"HMG's policy is long-standing and well-known - we do not make or facilitate ransom payments."
The FCO said the family had also received support from a private security company.
Somali pirate
Paul and Rachel Chandler
Couple slam FCO and don’t know who paid ransom By Chris Britcher (KentNews)
Tunbridge Wells couple reveal all in new bookPaul and Rachel Chandler
Couple slam FCO and don’t know who paid ransom By Chris Britcher (KentNews)
Kidnapped couple Paul and Rachel Chandler have slammed the Government for not doing enough to help during their ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates.
In their book - Hostage; A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters - which hits the shelves today, the couple say efforts by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to keep their family informed were “derisory”.
The Chandlers, who lived in Tunbridge Wells prior to setting out on the voyage across the Indian Ocean which would end up in them being held captive for 13 months, also say they remain in the dark as to exactly who paid their ransom.
Writing in the book, the couple say: “We realise that, once we were within Somalia, the Government could do little directly to help us, but they could and should have done more to support our close family members.
“We were disappointed to learn that the assistance from the FCO was, if anything, negative.
“The support and advice to our siblings, who were always likely to be on the receiving end of begging phone calls, was distressingly inadequate. The FCO’s efforts to keep our family informed were derisory. We have not been made aware of anything helpful being done ‘behind the scenes’.”
Meanwhile, they confirmed a ransom of $440,000 had been paid to the pirates in June to secure their release - only for the pirates to keep the money and then demand more. The couple were not released for a further four months.
The book says: “Our family have declined to give us details about who contributed the sum - choosing to encourage our retun to normal life and insisting firmly that there is no expectation of repayment.”
The UK Government always denied it had - or would - pay any money as a part of any ransom demand.
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