Latest Updates from Ecoterra on the MV FAINA Piracy Crisis off the Somali Coast
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
October 18, 2008
Several recent updates released by Ecoterra illuminate the FAINA piracy crisis and other cases related to it; I republish herewith all the latest updates. It is about time for the Somali pirates to listen to the political advise already given by the free administration of Somalia at Kismayu, and do fast what they have to do. In a forthcoming article, I will demonstrate that the Somali pirates of MV FAINA have actually only one option to terminate victorious in this showdown. The moment of decision and bravery has come.
Day 21 - 483 h into the FAINA crisis - Update Summary
Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Now Direct & Fast!
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
21st update 2008-10-15 17:25:34 UTC
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline : +254-738-497979
Despite many efforts, the stand-off concerning MV FAINA is still not yet solved, but intensive negotiations have continued. A "Sugule Ali" as spokesman for the Somali pirates said today they have withdrawn their threat (to blow up the vessel if the ransom would not have been paid by today), because they are again negotiating the release of crew, ship and cargo. He said also negotiations are going very well. "We have withdrawn it," Ali stated, referring to the threat. He spoke to AP via satellite phone from the MV FAINA.
A Ukrainian opposition party said today it had started a fundraising campaign to raise the $8 million ransom demanded by Somali pirates for the release of the MK Faina vessel and its crew. The fund-raising campaign was launched by the Party of Regions, led by Russia-friendly Viktor Yanukovych.
Other news ----
Reportedly the South-Korean owned MV African Sanderling, a 58,980 dwt bulk carrier under Panama flag, Philippine management and Japanese operation with 21 crew members (at least 20 Filipinos) was taken in the early morning hours (03h44 UTC / 06h44 LT) today in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia.
NATO alliance spokesman James Appathurai said a flotilla of seven NATO ships - the Standing Naval Maritime Group - was steaming toward the Gulf of Aden and will escort U.N. World Food Program (WFP) food shipments to Somalia and run patrols to deter pirate attacks on other vessels until the European Union will have set up its own operation, probably in December. The NATO naval group consists of destroyers from Italy and the United States, frigates from Germany, Greece, Turkey and Britain and a German auxiliary vessel.
Likewise a EU fleet is prepared to be dispatched. If approved by member states in November, the EU's first naval mission will consist of five or six ships from different EU countries under the command of UK vice-admiral Philip Jones and with headquarters in Northwood, Great Britain, Mrs Claude-France Arnould from the EU council - the secretariat of EU top diplomat Javier Solana - told MEPs. Many Members of the European Parliament, however, disagree. The EU naval mission to be deployed against pirates off the coasts of Somalia is a "military nonsense", "morally wrong" and has "no international legal basis," several MEPs said at a hearing in Brussels on Wednesday 15th October, as delegates from the EU council and the bloc's military co-ordination cell defended the project.
Calling the planned EU mission "military nonsense" and a "desperate attempt" by the French EU presidency "to run up the EU flag on another military operation during its time in office," British Conservative Defence Spokesman and MEP Geoffrey van Orden said in the Defence Sub-Committee of the European Parliament today: "It is a pity that the British government has agreed to an EU naval operation at the same time that NATO will be engaged in the same waters. Not only does this introduce unnecessary complexity and political confusion but it stretches our meagre naval assets even further. Bear in mind that in the last 10 years the destroyer and frigate fleet of the Royal Navy has been reduced from 35 to 25," he told in an interview to EU observer.
Greek MEP Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos from the EPP-ED group criticized the set up of a "global armada," while German green MEP Angelika Beer underlined the lack of international law to sustain the proposed European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) mission. "There is no clarity to the limitations of this mandate. Will the EU be able to sink ships and arrest pirates?" she asked. Portuguese socialist MEP Ana Maria Gomes gave a fiery speech on the "moral problem" of the EU mission, which, in her opinion, is only about "protecting oil tankers." "Nobody gives a damn about the people in Somalia who die like flies," she said.
Time and patience seems to be running out for the Indian crew on board the hijacked Japanese vessel MT Stolt Valor and their hostage takers. Seema Goyal wife of Prabhat Goyal, the captain of the ship, had told Times Now that when she spoke to the crew, they confirmed her worst fears and told he that the Somali pirates yesterday had allegedly given the company 48 hours to pay up the ransom demand of 2.5 million USD. "One of the crew members of the ship called me up and broke down. He said the hijackers have given them a 48-hour ultimatum and he pleaded me to make arrangements for the money within 48 hours or do whatever I can," Seema said. Seema, who has been trying every possible way to rescue the hijacked crew is now desperate for help. "I really don´t know which door to knock on and collect the money. Assurances don´t work anymore. This is the time when I want help from any quarter and solve the matter as soon as possible," she said.
Though observers close to the scene confirmed the threat, this must not mean that Somali pirates, who usually treat the held crews humanely, would start now to change and really harm crew members. However, a statement made by the owner company of the pirated chemical tanker MV Stolt Valor playing down any threat does hopefully not provoke desperate counter-actions of the pirates. Delay-tactics in the negotiations - for whatever reason - must not blur the vision for the real risks, remarked an observer.
Ethiopia, which launched a US-backed military intervention in Somalia in December 2006 in an effort to drive out an Islamist authority in Mogadishu, is now pulling out its troops. A shipment of Ethiopian weapons, including tanks, left Mogadishu port last month as part of the withdrawal already. There are now estimated to be just 2500 Ethiopian soldiers left inside Somalia, down from 15,000-18,000 at the height of the war.
Day 22 - 500 h into the FAINA crisis - Update Summary
Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Now Direct & Fast!
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
22nd update 2008-10-16 10:15:12 UTC
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline : +254-738-497979
Despite many efforts, the stand-off concerning MV FAINA is still not yet solved, but intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the release. A pirate speaking by satellite phone said Wednesday that an excessive number of mediators had been hampering the negotiations, but that the pirates did not plan to harm the crew. People on shore near the ship said that the pirates had recently hauled aboard enough spaghetti, rice and goat meat to last them several months.
The Baltic Fleet tanker Yelnya is on its way to the Somali coast, where it will meet the patrol ship Neustrashimyy, which has been dispatched to the region to fight pirates. On board the tanker there is fuel, fresh water and weapons for the patrol ship. The tanker is being guarded by a marine unit. The servicemen are armed with heavy machine guns and sniper rifles. They have been instructed not to allow the possible enemy to approach the ship within range.
Finance Minister Kuol Athian told South Sudan's parliament it needed to cover another 2.08 billion Sudanese pounds ($980 million) of spending on top of the 3.4 billion Sudanese pounds already included in the 2008 budget. The money supposedly has to come from oil-revenues. The minister later told Reuters the biggest over-spender was South Sudan's army, which had burned through a budget of nearly 1 billion pounds(roughly 500 mio USD) by June.
Other news ----
The release of Thai-flagged MV Thor Star (taken 12th. Aug., released 13th Oct. evening) and its crew after two month of flawed negotiations against a payment has been confirmed.
Negotiations concerning MT Stolt Valor did not yet reach an agreement. Meanwhile today (Oct 16), Indian Union Shipping Minister TR Baalu expressed concern on the hijack of MT Stolt Valor. Baalu said that private negotiations were on to seek the safe release of the Indian sailors, who are being held captive.
Britain is holding talks with Somalia aimed at allowing Royal Navy warships to enter Somali territorial waters to fight Gulf of Aden pirates, sources say. Officials from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office are discussing terms of a possible agreement with Somali government leaders, which reportedly envision the Royal Navy turning over captured pirates to Mogadishu, The Times of London quoted unnamed sources as saying.
Day 22 - 504 h into the FAINA crisis - Update Summary
Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Now Direct & Fast!
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
23rd update 2008-10-16 14:15:29 UTC
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline : +254-738-497979
Despite many efforts, the stand-off concerning MV FAINA is still not yet solved, but intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the release.
Field observers report renewed attempts by various factions to link up with the pirates on MV FAINA in order to engage into sideline-deals involving the offloading of at least some of the weapons.. Money has allegedly be offered for light arms and ammunition as well as for some weapons-systems on board. Experience from the MV Thor Star, which has been looted before release, make such claims believable.
The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Thursday that Russia could resume a naval presence in Yemen. The U.S.S.R. had a major naval base in the former socialist state of South Yemen, which merged with North Yemen in 1990 to form the present-day Yemen. Speaking to journalists in Sana, today's capital of Yemen, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said the new direction of Russia's foreign and defense policies and an increase in its naval missions would be taken into consideration when making a decision on the request. "It's possible that the aspects of using Yemen ports not only for visits by Russian warships, but also for more strategic goals will be considered," he said.
Other news ----
MV Bright Ruby with 21 crew (8 South Korean and 13 sailors from Myanmar) has been released this morning against payment. The Foreign Ministry in Seoul confirmed late afternoon that the crew is safe and sound. The ship was captured on 10. September 2008 with 15,000-ton cargo (said to be fertilizer from Ukraine for Colombo) in the Gulf of Aden.
South Korea is still undecided concerning their naval participation at the Horn of Africa. "A discussion is under way among related government offices to decide whether to dispatch a naval warship to Somali waters," said Col. Park Hee-cheol, director of the International Security Cooperation Bureau at the Defence Ministry. A inspection team shall be dispatched first.
In a new statement, Seema Goyal, wife of captain Prabhat Goyal of the ship MT Stolt Valor, said that the pirates could do anything. Therefore, she appealed to the owners as well as the Indian government to look seriously into the matter to get the negotiations on track.
Earlier, India's Defence Minister A K Antony had categorically ruled out an offensive in the high seas, saying that the government was banking on negotiations to resolve the crisis. It had prompted angry families to ask if authorities were even considering ransom as a final option. An Indian naval vessel is approaching the area where the Stolt Valor is kept.
Day 23 - 526 h into the FAINA crisis - Update Summary
Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Now Direct & Fast!
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
24th update 2008-10-17 12:32:43 UTC
The annual consequential costs due to over-fishing of the oceans have reached 50 Billion US-Dollar, as calculated by the World Bank and FAO. While losses at Wall Street due to the present crunch and so far have been calculated to stand at 1,5 Billion Dollar, allowing financial institutions and bankers to be "rescued" by a 700 Billion Dollar rescue plan - using taxpayer's money -, nothing is done to rescue the oceans!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline : +254-738-497979
Despite increased negotiation efforts, the stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, but intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the safe release, though Ukraine itself is in turmoil.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko had dissolved the legislative body - the Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada) - on Wednesday morning and called early polls for December 7 after his ruling "orange" coalition with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc collapsed after the premier's party sided with the opposition in passing a law to cut the president's powers. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, leaders of the 2004 "Orange Revolution," have drifted apart over a host of issues, including Russia's war with Georgia in August. The government refused Tuesday to allocate election campaign funds of $80 million from the state reserve and urged President Yushchenko to reverse a decision calling for early parliamentary polls. In a major turnaround, Ukraine's prime minister said on Thursday she was ready to accept any conditions set by the president and his team to salvage the ruling coalition and avoid early parliamentary elections. Both are expected to run for president in 2010. The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved now state budget amendments to allocate funding for early parliamentary elections, the country's defense minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, said earlier Thursday, but Madam Yulia Tymoshenko stated the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was ready to grant Ukraine a loan of between $3 billion and $14 billion to help the country overcome the financial crisis, though the credit would only be provided if the early elections were postponed.
Other news ----
Both negotiating sides are coming closer, observers reported also concerning the case of the MT Stolt Valor. The ships beneficial owner is said to be Japan's Central Marine and it is on long time charter to Stolt Tankers of Norway. Its crew is managed by a Mumbai company Ebony Ship Management Limited. However, sideline-efforts to negotiate a release of the crew only created communication problems between the direct negotiators working on an agreement to release ship and crew unharmed.
The Indian guided missile frigate Ins Tabar ('Battle Ax') has apparently now been withdrawn from her escorting duties in the Gulf of Aden in order to participate in joint maneuvers off Goa. Ins Tabar the third in the Russian built Krivak/Talwar class frigates of Indian Navy, is the first to carry supersonic Brahmos (PJ-10) ASCM cruise missiles and the stealth warship has helicopters and marine commandos. Sitanshu Kar, an official spokesman for the Indian Defence Ministry, said the patrolling between Salalah (Oman) and Aden (Yemen) is continued by another Indian Navy ship dispatched from Mumbai. "However, the current decision by the Indian Government to patrol African waters is not directly related to the MV Stolt Valor abduction," the spokesman clarified and so far denied the launch of any operation by the Navy to rescue the hostages, though he did not rule out the presence already of Indian naval warships in the region helping with the negotiated efforts to get Stolt Valor free. Ins Ganga, a Type 16 Class frigate with digital electronics in her combat data system and refitted with the Israeli Barak SAM system, is believed to have been dispatched and taken over.
Military vessels from 10 nations are now converging around the Horn of Africa in one of the world's most dangerous waters, similar to Nigeria and the South China Sea, but analysts say the campaign won't halt piracy unless it also confronts with the quagmire that is Somalia.
The Indian Navy on Thursday confirmed that it would be participating in war games with the United States in the Arabian Sea from 17. - 22. October as part of an effort to boost naval ties between the two countries. Indian Navy spokesman Commodore Nirad Sinha said on 16th October that the US Navy's nuclear-powered super-carrier USS Ronald Reagan and five other warships of the US Navy's seventh Fleet would participate in an Arabian Sea exercise together with the Indian navy. It will include USS Chancellorsville, USS Gridley, USS Decatur, USS Thach and USS Bridge, an underway replenishment tanker as well as a submarine, USS Springfield and a P3C Orion aircraft. The Indian Navy deployed INS Mumbai, an indigenous guided missile destroyer, INS Rana, a Rajput Class guided missile destroyer and four guided missile frigates - INS Talwar, INS Godavari, INS Brahmaputra and INS Betwa. In addition, the INS Aditya, an underway replenishment tanker, a Shishumar Class submarine, Sea Harrier fighters, fixed and rotary wing aircraft will also take part. The exercises mark the first time that the USS Ronald Reagan will operate in Indian waters. The announcement of the drills comes less than a week after the United States and India signed a pact to open up sales of civilian nuclear technology to New Delhi for the first time in three decades.
Eight fishing vessels with a total of 96 crew were seized in the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa.
Day 24 - 552 h into the FAINA crisis - Update Summary
Ecoterra Intl. – Stay Calm & Solve it Now Direct & Fast!
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
25th update 2008-10-18 14:45:43 UTC
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline : +254-738-497979
Despite increased negotiation efforts, the stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, but intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the safe release of crew and vessel. Yesterday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's office held a special meeting, with officials saying afterwards that they were working "every hour" to liberate the Ukrainian sailors on board the ship.
Relatives of 17 Ukrainians on the ship have collected money for the ransom, media reports said on Saturday. "The negotiations are ongoing. We still haven't handed over the money but it's all leading up to that," Olga Girzheva, the mother of one of the hostages, told Ukrainian media, without giving a final figure for the ransom. Relatives told reporters that most of the ransom money had come from leading politicians including Viktor Yanukovych, a former prime minister who leads Ukraine's main opposition party, the pro-Russian Regions Party.
The Somali parliament has termed the deployment of foreign warships to the country's coast to fight piracy an invasion of its sovereignty. Speaking in Nairobi, deputy Speaker of the Somali parliament, Muhammad Umar Dalha, said on 18th October that Somalia's parliament was not consulted by the foreign countries before deployment of the warships, specifically now around the Faina weapons-ship. The parliament therefore wants the foreign warships to move out of the Somali waters. "The foreign forces have no permission to fight with the pirates. We don't have such laws in Somalia. We need to be consulted before doing so," said Dalha.
Other news ----
All crew members aboard the hijacked vessel, MT Stolt Valor, are safe but under severe distress, due to the deteriorating living conditions, said Seema Goyal, wife of captain Prabhat Kumar Goyal, who spoke to them on Friday in the presence of the ship-manager in Delhi. The families are also not happy that since now one full month the "professional" negotiator appointed on 18th September by "Stolt's owner" has not achieved the release. Humanitarian efforts to supply water and food are under way today, but the group holding the ship have so far not yet allowed it to come on board.
NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2 (SMG2) is ending its transit through the Suez Canal to carry out anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf region. While SMG2 was already scheduled earlier to pay port visits in the region, NATO defence ministers decided at their 9-10 October meeting in Budapest to expand its mission to include anti-piracy tasks and particularly, to protect humanitarian supplies sailing to Somalia.
Blackwater Worldwide, a private security company, wants to sent a decommissioned 40-year old research vessel, the McArthur, to the Gulf of Aden, and is offering its services to shipowners concerned with Somali piracy. The US private military contractor with ties to the US State Department is embroiled in controversy over its actions in Iraq, where in September last year its staff were involved in a shoot-out in Baghdad that left 17 civilians dead, in contentious circumstances. Blackwater, however, says the ship and its helicopters have the ability to patrol a commercial vessel´s route, thereby avoiding the need for the shipping industry to hire security contractors to ride on board and such would justify its presence in the area commercially by pointing to the increased bills for shipowners operating in the region, including massive insurance hikes, double-pay danger money for seafarers, and ransom payments where ships are captured.
While the ship as such will not be armed, the mercenaries on board are said to carry arms. It can carry 44 passengers including the 14-men crew. A similar governmental deal with a French security firm fell apart already and many security experts point to the difficult legal and practical implications. All real experts see the lasting solution to the piracy more inside Somalia itself. Retired research vessels plus decommissioned ex-Navy-Seals are not the right medicine to heal and bring sick Somalia back to health.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso expressed a positive view Friday on the possibility of sending Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels to guard commercial freighters and other ships from possible attacks by pirates in waters off Somalia. But a senior official of the Defence Ministry suggested the idea does not immediately sound realistic, given too many legal hurdles the government would have to clear. The Democratic Party of Japan is opposed to the activity.
Note
Picture: Waiting for the showdown
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/world/africa/09pirates.html
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