The MV FAINA Piracy Crisis Chronicle – II
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
December 07, 2008
in the previous article of the series (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-mv-faina-piracy-crisis-chronicle-i.html), I provided with a list of my earlier articles (21 in total) on the subject (titles and links), and went on publishing a recapitulative record of the insightful press releases of the leading NGO Ecoterra; more specifically, I republished Press Release updates no 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47. In the present article, I republish Ecoterra Press Release updates no 48, 49 and 50.
48th Update 2008-11-12 15:36:48 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
DAY 49 - 1153 h into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Increased efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now one and a half month long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.
The 21 crew members aboard the FAINA, a Ukrainian cargo ship captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia in September, have sent a letter to Kiev saying they have run out of food, water and fuel. Mikael Voitenko, editor of the 'Sofrakhta' journal, which is closely monitoring the story, said he received a letter on Tuesday saying the ship was out of vital supplies. "We been here for 47 days now. Water, food and fuel have run out." the letter read. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ukraine stated recently that through their embassy in Nairobi stocks on board the vessel were replenished and it was said today that another delivery is on its way. The pirates have said that they will kill the hostages if any attempt is made to liberate them, but observers today stated that decisive steps have been made over the last days to come to a peaceful final solution for the liberation of crew and vessel. The crew consists of 17 Ukrainian, three Russians and a Latvian.
Other news from abducted ships ---
As news of Indian warships sweeping in to rescue merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden flashed on television, a family in Wadala / India watched with bated breath and fingers crossed. ``We thought it was the Stolt Valor and that my brother-in-law was going to be home soon,'' Rosary Fernando said. His brother-in-law, Paninarayan, was on the ill-fated ship that was hijacked in Somalian waters more than two months ago. But this was not the first time that the family's hopes soared and came crashing down in a matter of minutes. A few weeks ago, when the Indian crew of Iran Denayat (another hijacked vessel) was released, families of the crew aboard Stolt Valor had mistaken it for their own. ``Friends and relatives called us when the news came but the released crew were not our people. I guess it's just destiny,'' Fernando said with a sad smile. It has taken four hijacked ships and pleas from 32 yet-to-return Indian sailors' families to spur the Indian Navy into action. But Tuesday's shooing away of Somalian pirates has prompted many of these families to ask a simple question: why did the Indian government wait so long before taking this step? ``If the government had acted earlier, the Stolt Valor incident would not have taken place. Why did the government take so long? I haven't spoken to anybody from the ship for more than 30 days, I don't know how they are,'' a said Seema Goyal, wife of captain Prabhat Kumar Goyal (who's still a hostage on the ship), on 11. November. Seema said she had knocked on every door and tried everything to ensure the crew's release but added that what the government was doing was too little, too late. ``I feel happy to hear that the government is finally being proactive and rescuing Indian sailors. But what about the ships that have already been hijacked? What are they doing to ensure that our relatives are home soon?'' she asked. The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) agreed with what Seema says but saw something positive in the pursuit. ``It's late and the step has come after several boycotts and labour-strikes. But I think Indian sailors will now feel confident while transiting the area,'' NUSI spokesperson Sunil Nair said. NUSI had urged Indian sailors to boycott the Gulf of Aden in the wake of the Stolt Valor case. Meanwhile, the Japanese shipping company that owns MV Stolt Valor has been holding negotiations with the pirates to secure the sailors´ release, even as there were demands from their family members that the Indian government should intervene and get them released. Unfortunately the pirates holding the MV STOLT VALOR are in disagreement among themselves and an extremely difficult gang.
The Philippine government is optimistic that the 89 Filipino seafarers held captive by Somali pirates would be freed immediately to spend their Christmas back home. Claro Cristobal, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, told GMANews.TV that they are "doing everything to expedite the release and return of the kidnapped seamen in Somali waters.
"Our efforts are unrelenting," Cristobal assured in an interview on Wednesday. The number of Filipino seafarers abducted by Somali pirates climbed to 89 on Monday when the notorious sea bandits hijacked a chemical tanker crossing the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. The Philippine-flagged and operated chemical tanker MT Stolt Strength was manned by 23 Filipinos when it was seized. Despite feeling the pressure to bring the Filipinos home, Cristobal said they are only involved in coordinating between the ship owners and the Philippine Embassy officials near Somalia. The Philippine government has maintained a no-ransom policy against kidnappers. Cristobal said they are undertaking other steps but refused to divulge them to media because of the "sensitivity" of the issue. Engineer Nelson Ramirez, president of the United Filipino Seafarers group, however, said that the government cannot be relied on in this situation.
"Our government can't do anything," he said. "In this arena, the ship owners have the decision." Meanwhile, Milton Unso, president of the Mariners Association for Regional and International Networking Organization, said the DFA has been uncooperative to advocacy groups like them who want to reach out to the kidnapped seafarers including their relatives. "Until now we have no idea who the manning agency is. This is important to put pressure and demand action for the release of the seafarers," Unso told GMANews.TV.
Other news "The escalation continues!" ------
Al-Shabaab fighters chanted "Allahu Akbar" -- or "God is great" -- on Wednesday as the armed men entered Merka, located about 90 km (55 miles) south of Mogadishu, a local resident said. On Tuesday, Al-Shabaab took control of two towns near Merka -- Bulo Marer and Qoryoley -- giving it a strategic base in central Somalia. Al Shabaab already controls Kismayo, the country's third-largest city, located at the southern coast. The fall of Merka marks the most important territorial gain by Al-Shabaab since it took control of Kismayo earlier this year. Al-Shabaab is consolidating its control in Somalia less than a week after a cease-fire was declared between other Islamic militias operating in Somalia and the country's transitional government. Under the pact - which took effect last Thursday - Ethiopian forces who support the transitional government would begin to withdraw from key positions on November 21 and leave Somalia completely within another 120 days, ending a two-year presence in its strife-torn, Horn of Africa neighbour. Al-Shabaab has rejected the cease-fire and was not a signatory to the deal, which was signed in Djibouti in late October and brokered by the United Nations and the African Union. Already Ceel Dheer and Dusa Mareb in Galgaduud region and Gaalkacyo in Mudug have also been placed mainly under Al-Shabab management, whereby some pockets remain still uncovered. Tension in Garowe in the Nugaal region of the semi-autonomous part of Puntland is already high. The young fighters from the militant group al-Shabaab are seen by intellectuals and moderate Somalis as authoritarian and unaccountable - unlike the Islamists of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) who were in control of the capital Mogadishu and most areas along the Indian ocean coast including Merka and Brawa, as well as Kismayo and parts of Galguduug region, in 2006.
49th Update 2008-11-13 16:21:05 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
DAY 50 - 1178 h into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Increased efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now one and a half month long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.
Unfortunately the Ukrainian parliament is in serious turmoil but it is hoped that the negotiator and the Ukrainian team up front will not be influenced from the brawls at home and can continue unabated to work in further solving the FAINA's problem and that the positive developments of the last few days can continue.
Other news from abducted ships -----
A Turkish-flagged tanker named 'Karagöl', owned by Istanbul-based YDC Maritime which is partnered by a deputy from the Turkish AK Party, Hasan Kemal Yardımcı, was sea-jacked yesterday at 16h02 off the coast of Yemen. The Turkish Maritime Affairs Directorate confirmed the ship has a crew of 14 Turkish nationals and was on passage to India. MT KARAGOL is listed to belong to YDC Denizcilik ve Ticaret Ltd in Turkey and is managed by AYDER TANKERS AS. The 2007 built tanker with a gross tonnage of 3,974 is insured by the American Steamship Owner P&I association. Kemal Yardımcı stated: "This is the first Turkish flagged ship to be hijacked. We must stand up for our flag", and urged Turkish Minster of Transportation, Binali Yıldırım as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Babacan to take action.
The crew of the MV GENIOUS, who were captured by Somali pirates on 25th September, will be released on 25th November, according to sources from Azerbaijan. The company owning the ship will transmit the ransom to the pirates on 19-20 November and the ship will arrive in Dubai on 25th November where the captives, including six Georgian citizens, will be relieved, the head of the consulate department of Georgian Foreign Ministry Tamar Kamarauli said at a news conference on 13th November. According to Kamarauli, Georgian Consul to Greece Konstantin Sabiashvili participated in the yet to materialise release of the captives. Negotiations to release other captured vessels MV ACTION and CEC FUTURE are underway.
Reports from Somalia indicate that a Chinese tanker has been abducted already two or three days ago, while no official report has confirmed this yet. The vessel is said to be held now somewhere between Ras Hafun and Hawo on the Somali coast.
The crew on MT STOLT VALOR is hopeful that the closing agreement between the abductors and the negotiator from the company will lead now to a fast resolution, though certain disagreements among the pirates themselves seem to persist.
Other news "The escalation continues!" -------------
British Royal Navy Finally Admits Fatal Attack
13. Nov. 2008
Though observer had noted the incident earlier, the Russian navy only yesterday confirmed that Russian and British naval ships had repelled a pirate attack on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden. The Russian navy press service stated yesterday that the Russian frigate Neustrashimy and the British frigate Cumberland had foiled pirates who fired automatic weapons toward a Danish ship under Panama flag, the MV POWERFUL with Greek and Filipino crew and managed by Maryville Manila Inc. The attackers allegedly tried twice to seize it. A spokesman revealed that both war ships had sent out helicopters, a Russian Ka-27 and a British Lynx after having received the distress signal. The Russian statement first provided few other details about the confrontation, including the day it occurred, and what later turned out to be a fatal shooting at another location involving British troops. The Russian navy spokesman released his information on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, citing navy policy.
Diplomatic relations between Britain and Russia have been strained following the murder of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who was killed with a radioactive substance in London two years ago. Moscow sent the Neustrashimy to the area in September and said at the time its ships would regularly go to zones where pirates were active. Some observers say the Kremlin is increasingly using the Russian navy to project its renewed power.
Shortly thereafter the British Navy then had to issue a statement confirming the incident and stated that later actually British marine commandos launched from HSM Cumberland in powerful attack-boats with machine guns and SA80 assault rifles had tried to encircle and stop a Yemen-flagged Dhow (traditional wooden ship) in the Gulf of Aden. "As they approached, however, several of the pirates, a mixed crew of Somalis and Yemenis, swung their assault rifles in their direction and opened fire. The MoD said the Royal Marines returned fire "in self defence", and then boarded the dhow.", the statement reads.
While seafarers suffer at the hands of criminal Somali gangs hi-jacking merchant vessels as well as at the mercy of the negotiations-delaying ship-owners and their insurances, only the killings make it into media headlines. In what Ecoterra's observatory had reported already on Tuesday and the Russian media then leaked on Wednesday forced only thereafter the Royal British Navy to issue a statement and allowed the world media to get their story today, while a direct request to NATO sent already on Tuesday for a clear incident report remains unanswered.
But what the British gutter-press and a group of their mentally less fortunate readers, which regularly express themselves horribly on their comment sections, celebrate as a glorious victory of their Royal Navy over Somali pirates must be seen with a very critical eye.
Sure, if everything was like the British navy spokesman stated it can be seen in the light of a legitimate response by a protective naval force sanctioned by United Nations Security Council resolutions and British self-made rules of engagement against an armed aggressor trying to sea-jack a merchant vessel. But was it like that? Many questions remain and the outcome of a full investigation instigated now by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) first will have to be seen. An MoD spokesman stated that an incident investigation especially into the fatal shooting and the killing of three people is being conducted, but such is more like an internal report and not an independent investigation.
"It is believed to be the first time the [British Royal] Navy has taken lives at sea since the Falklands War and possibly the first pirates it has killed in centuries.", the Daily Telegraph remarked. However, one earlier incident involving HSM Cumberland has apparently gone completely unreported by the navy or the media, while it is known locally.
The UK is still in the process of drawing up a memorandum of understanding concerning their engagement in anti-piracy operations with the Somali government and so far does not have any such agreement. The Russians have a kind of a permission, expressed by the Somali Ambassador to Russia in a verbal note, but no such permission has been ratified by the Somali Parliament, which is in the process to be dissolved. If the British or the Russian navies have a legitimate agreement covering such cases with the Government of Yemen has not been revealed. The Indian Navy having also successfully, but bloodlessly averted pirate attacks against merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden has a clear policy and stated that it will not venture into the uncertain legal waters by entering into the territorial waters, killing presumed pirates unless during a direct pirate attack or take prisoners.
The actual incident itself was reported now by the British navy to have taken place already on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden around 60 nautical miles south of the Yemeni coast. Such area description is much too vague in a sea, where there are no more ungoverned "international waters" since the 200 nm EEZ territories of both countries - Somalia and Yemen - are equally reduced where the distance between the two shores is less than 400 nm. In most areas of the Gulf of Aden the EEZs as delineated by the provisions of UNCLOS are less than 75 to 100 nm for each country. The so called protected shipping corridor through the Gulf of Aden is staked out mainly inside the Yemeni EEZ. If it therefore is presumed that the incident took place inside the EEZ of Yemen, it should be known, which agreement the British Navy has with the Government of Yemen and if the British navy has filed a report with the Yemeni authorities. A clear position of the location of an incident would certainly also help to assess the factual and legal situation, but regularly such is either not provided or even forged by fishing-, merchant- or other vessels, which venture - for whatever reason - into the Somali waters and usually after something happens report false positions. Even the Anti-Piracy Centre in Kuala-Lumpur has no direct possibility to verify positions relayed to them, though the true position is known, at least when an automated distress signal is sent out via its satellite connection. But the true coordinates are often enough kept secret by the owners of the ship and their crew.
It is obvious in this case, that many media - maybe intentionally mislead by the British navy statement - also mix two separate incidences, one being the attack of "Somali pirates" in small, fast skiffs with outboard engines against the Danish freighter MV POWERFUL, which was repulsed allegedly by a joint operation launching helicopters from a Russian and the British warship and secondly an attack much later in the day by British commandos in semi-rigid inflatables launched from HMS Cumberland against a slow motorized Dhow under Yemen flag, having one skiff in tow. The two incidences might very well be connected, but so far the British Navy has failed to provide evidence which would proof that the people on the Dhow were connected in any way to the earlier attack against the merchant vessel. The British troops killed two Somali and one Yemeni National on the Dhow, allegedly in "self-defence" after having been fired upon from the Dhow, whose people on board didn't want the troopers to stop or board the vessel.
What becomes apparent is the fact that so far the navies operating now in the anti-piracy operations do not report to the Somali or Yemeni Governments nor ultimately to the United Nations on whose resolutions they base their actions. Together with the respective states the United Nations therefore must be held responsible for unleashing naval powers but not controlling them, if in any case innocent people would be killed.
It also will be interesting to further investigate the Yemen, Dubai and Kenya connections in the whole piracy picture around the Horn of Africa. Regularly business people from Aden seem to be acting as investors for the pirate-gangs and even the re-fuelling for hi-jacked ships, which have run out of the commodity for their generators, is directly supplied by Dhows from Yemen and not from Somalia. Likewise the direct handling to manage the release-operations for the sea-jacked ships comes often from Yemen, Dubai or Kenya - some certainly genuine, but many obviously very questionable.
Even Roger Middleton, author of recent report on Somalia for the influential Chatham House foreign affairs think tank, said that despite sustaining casualties, he did not expect pirates to cease or even cut back on attempts to hijack merchant ships. "I don´t think it will scare them off," he said.
Another regional analyst observes that the latest incident could easily trigger a more hostile, violent and even deadly response from Somali pirates toward British seamen abducted or stranded in Somalia and believes that there would have been other possibilities for the Type-22 frigate, HMS Cumberland, to get the people on the lame Dhow to surrender without firing a single shot. Even if that Dhow was one of the much wanted motherships of the pirates it would have been much better to apprehend it and all people on board properly without any killing also in order for an independent body to get more details about the network and modus operandi of the pirates. Russian analysts already wonder, why no British or US merchant vessels are sea-jacked. But with such operations as reported most likely a further escalation will be the outcome, observers believe and hope that an independent tribunal could interrogate the people arrested from that Dhow.
Since North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, according to a statement read by one of his staff today, was quick to praise the U.K.'s Royal Navy for its actions during a patrol in the Gulf of Aden, which resulted in two suspected Somali pirates and a Yemeni being killed, it is presumed that NATO has taken responsibility for the incident involving the British warship and the Yemeni Dhow and therefore NATO must also thoroughly investigate and present a final report on the true happenings.
Abductions ---
Somali Islamists led by the moderate Sheikh Sharif, have condemned the abduction of two Italian nuns abducted from El Wak and taken into Somalia. A spokesman for the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts talking to Somaliweyn Radio said that it has never been accused of taking hostages which it said was a criminal act and dismissed Kenyan accusations that the movement would be behind the raid as "baseless". Abdi Rahim Isse Addow added: "Those who crossed into the neighbouring country of Kenya and took the aid-workers hostage are not members of the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts' fighters. The Kenyan government said Monday that the Islamist movement, which ruled much of south and central Somalia in the latter half of 2006, was to blame for the abduction of the two Italian nuns and theft of three vehicles from the Kenyan border town.
50th Update 2008-11-14 16:51:34 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
DAY 51 - 1202 h into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Increased efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now one and a half month long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.
Other news from abducted ships -----
A Chinese fishing vessel FV TIANYU No. 8 with 24 crew was abducted last evening. Alert was raised at around 21h00 LT (18h00 UTC). The exact location where the ship was found is not yet clear. Somali sources state it was found fishing illegally in Somali waters, while other sources claim that it had been fishing in Kenyan territorial waters. So far it could not be established if the vessel has any fishing permit for Kenya. "The pirate leader claimed that he seized the vessel 30 miles (48.2 kilometres) off Kismaayo because it was fishing in Somali territorial waters and said the crew would be "put before the law and punished accordingly." A source with the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) was saying the ship, the Tianyu No 8, was fishing off the Kenyan coast when it was seized. The 24 member crew consists of 15 Chinese, four Vietnamese, three Filipinos, one Taiwanese and one Japanese, Chinese state media reported on Friday according to China Ministry of Transport sources. The MOT source added that the ministry was asking related departments to help deal with the incident in coordination with China's Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Agriculture. Xinhua news agency quoted a local radio station from Mogadishu, the Somali capital, where an unidentified leader of the captors was saying on the local Shabelle radio that 24 crew were all "fine." The ship is owned by the Tianjin Ocean Fishing Company (aka Tianjin Deepsea Fishing Co.). The captors have not made any demands for the release of the ship, saying they would announce their demands "at a later time," the agency said. However local radio reported that the crew would have to face a court of law for illegally fishing in Somali waters. The vessel FV TIANYU 8 is a "LONGLINER", a fishing vessel using long-lines as fishing method and has a gross tonnage of 517. The Japanese seafarer is presumed to be an overseer for the fishing operation and not the real captain of the vessel, though he might be considered by the Somalis as being the master, because he speaks some English and could be the link to a fish-processing / freezer mother-ship offshore collecting the reaped harvest. The vessel is registered in China and is flying a Chinese flag, and it was listed as one of the notorious vessels of non-party states (listed e.g. in IATTC list composed of vessels of non-parties to the Commission), who do not necessarily comply to the rules and regulations set by e.g. the International Dolphin Conservation Program (IDCP) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTAC). The vessel has been mentioned earlier in negative reports when it was operating in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in the years before 2004. It is believed that the fishing vessel was at present hunting the valuable Tuna in the Indian Ocean, whose shoals come twice a year close to the shores of Somalia, and that it is operating in a group of long-liners and /or trawlers delivering to a mother-ship either off-shore, in Mauritius or Mombassa. At present the vessel is NOT in Kismaayo harbour, but is believed to be held somewhere not very far off. The crew is said to be all fine. Somalia is affiliated with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and China actually is an IOTC contracting party, whereby it must know that it can not obtain legal fishing licences in Somalia in the moment.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it was still assessing the situation, trying to obtain more information and would work with organizations abroad to ensure the safe release of the crew.
It was reported this morning by local sources that near the Island of Pemba in Tanzanian waters a cargo ship was attacked last evening and the bandits fired shots at the vessel MV KAPITAN MASLOV, which could escape. Shipping sources stated that Cyprus-flagged but Russian-operated boxship Kapitan Maslov (16,575 gt, built 1998) was attacked on Thursday afternoon while around 300 nautical miles from the Somali coastline. The vessel - associated with Fesco and en route from Colombo to Mombassa - was assaulted by pirates using a grenade launcher and automatic weapons from a high-speed launch, causing a fire in the cabin of the third assistant to the master. The crew were able to localise and extinguish the fire, while the vessel was able to manoeuvre and escape from the pirates. None of the 17 people on board were injured, according to a statement from Russia´s ministry of transport. The Tanzanian Island of Pemba, however, is about that distance from the Somali border, but Kenya lies in between. The ship is expected at Mombassa harbour. Tanzania's chief of marine police recently confessed that the country's navy consisted of "very old, very small boats" that could put out into open sea only "if the waves are small". However, a regional analyst stated that one gets the impression the states along the Indian Ocean are now competing for the "Security-Dollar" and he expects to see more and more attacks, which actually would be staged in order to keep the respective countries enlisted on payrolls for the global security roll-out.
Iran-owned bulk carrier MV IRAN DEYANAT, which was hijacked off Somalia in August and belongs to state carrier IRISL, has berthed at Rotterdam after boarding and inspection by port authority police and customs officials. The 1983-built, 43,150 dwt Iranian-flag bulker, loaded with industrial minerals and food products was allowed to enter the port on Tuesday after officials gave it a clean bill of health. The ship was the subject of articles by US-based bloggers that some pirates became ill after gaining access to the ship´s cargo, leading to speculation that the ship was carrying arms, uranium or chemical weapons. A local Rotterdam politician called for inspections before the bulk carrier was allowed to enter the port but harbour master Jaap Lems gave the go-ahead for the vessel to enter the port where a multi-disciplinary team comprising inspectors from the port authority, customs and harbour police boarded and searched the ship reporting no cause for concern. No hazardous substances were found and the paperwork was in order, a port spokesman said. According to Lloyds List, Thomas Poetsch of the German-based ship´s charterer HINRICHS said there had never been any evidence that pirates had suffered illness during the hijack. But he pointed out that anyone entering the holds mid-voyage risked immediate suffocation because of oxygen degeneration. The Iranian vessel had 25 seafarers on board when it was kidnapped, most of whom left the ship in Salalah. IRISL is understood to have paid $2.5m ransom for the ship´s release.
Indian media called today that the Indian navy must be tasked to ensure the freedom 18 crew members, held hostage with Japanese tanker MT Stolt Valor, that is still captive by pirates. But the Indian navy itself asks the United Nations to set up a kind of UN naval Peace-Keeping Force. "We suggested that the UN set up a Peace-Keeping Force under their auspices with a blue helmet which will provide a unified command. The suggestion was well received," A P V N Sarma, Secretary, Department of Shipping, told PTI (Press Trust of India). Sarma, who is here to attend the five-day Council Meeting of the International Maritime Organisation, last night said there was a detailed discussion on the issue during meeting chaired by Sweden. 32 member countries attended the meeting that concluded today.
Other news "The escalation continues!" -----
Private security guards this morning repulsed a Somali pirate attack on a 150m length overall chemtanker, using a magnetic acoustic device, the sonic equivalent of a laser, according to the manager of a company that specialises in such services. Confirmation of vessel´s identity is expected after the post-incident report is finalised. He claims to have three-man teams of ex-special forces personnel currently working on six vessels in the Gulf of Aden, with this engagement marking the first actual clash. The incident took place just 16 to 18 miles off the coast of Yemen, inside the Maritime Security Patrol Area established in August by a coalition of international navies, and over 300 miles north of the Somali coast. "There was a direct approach at high speed towards our ship. We then activated our procedures. The ship started evasive manoeuvres, all the hoses were on full power. Then we used the magnetic acoustic device," said the team leader. "They closed to within 500m and then turned away to a ship that was due south of ours by approximately five miles".
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