Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals. Part 6
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
January 06, 2009
97th Update 2009-01-03 19h31:07 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 and related news.
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 101 - 2405 hours into the MV FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now over three months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved finally, though intensive negotiations have continued.
Unconfirmed and at least in parts outright objected reports from the MV FAINA speak of negotiations for the release of the crew only. But if despite the refuted reports such still would be the case then it might be the preparation for a hell-fire-scenario. It is now obvious that the complicated case can no be longer left just to the owner to be negotiated - higher levels of authority must step in. Human lives and the safety of a whole coastal area are at stake and do not allow for any further delay in not just talking but achieving a peaceful solution.
The Russian Ruble fell to a record low against the EURO, the weakest level since the European currency was introduced in 1999 as Russia´s central bank extended six weeks of devaluations to compensate for falling oil prices. But Russia´s foreign reserves, the world´s third largest, - though falling - still stand at $451 billion, while Russian energy giant Gazprom warned European clients Friday that its gas conflict with Ukraine, conduit for European-bound gas from Russia, could affect deliveries to Europe. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Ukraine to pay its gas debts "to the last ruble" or face the prospect of sanctions from Moscow against its wider economy. "To our frank question if they would pay by the end of the year, we received a frank answer — No" Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said and also explained that "if a contract for 2009 is not signed then we are not going to deliver gas without a contract". Ukraine has not signed a contract with Gazprom for 2009 yet.
Despite country-wide protests, Kenya's President Kibaki has signed the new media bill into force, which means that the Kenyan governance can put media-gagging orders and bans to live broadcast into force at any time and without hurdles and also concerning any subject the government does not want to be disclosed or discussed in public.
Ecoterra Intl. repeats its call to solve the MV FAINA and the SIRIUS STAR cases with first priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen or those, who believe they would be capable to try an attempt of a military solution, must be held fully responsible for the surely resulting disaster. The saga and secrecy surrounding MV FAINA must not - like in the MS ESTONIA case, which is the worst naval disaster in Europe since WWII - become the shroud for its 20 seafarers.
Clearing-house:
News from other abducted or newly attacked ships
Games Crazy People Play: Kidnapping, Pirating, and War - Naval War-games to protect Fish-piracy and to cover the real agenda !
Alert: Illegally operating Tuna fishing vessels (many from South Korea) carry armed personnel and force their way now into the Somali fishing grounds - uncontrolled or even protected by the naval forces mandated to guard the Somali waters against any criminal activity. The naval armada driven escalation did lead now to a situation, whereby some Somali groups have modified and reinforced their fibreglass-skiffs with partly metal hulls and have equipped them with heavy weapons (50 mm guns, light canons, mortars and some reports even speak of rocket-launchers). It will be only a short while until serious disaster incidences will happen triggered by clashes between Somali seagoing groups and fishing-, merchant- or even naval vessels. Never before Somali groups went so heavily armed on the waters after former president Siad Barre's Navy and coastguard faltered.
Alert: A Greek fishing vessel, operating illegally in Somali waters developed an engine failure today close to the Somali Indian Ocean coast. Since they should not fall prey to mere pirates, we can not reveal the known position of the vessel here, but the naval forces were informed by the IMB. However, Somali authorities, the EU and Greece should provide assistance first but then also subject this case to legal proceedings for illegal fishing.
Somali pirates hijacked a Yemeni tanker ship carrying more than 2,000 tonnes of diesel in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, Yemen's Defence Ministry said. The ship was en route from the Gulf of Aden to the south-eastern port of Nashtoon when the pirates attacked it and diverted it to the Somali coast, the ministry said in a brief statement posted on its website. 'Yemeni authorities are conducting contacts to secure the release of the hijacked ship', it said. No further details on the ship or its crew were immediately available.
With the latest captures and releases now at least 17 foreign vessels with a total of at least 368 crew members (of which 92 are Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (incl. the presently held). For 2009 the account stands at 9 attacks with 2 sea-jackings. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the hi-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.
Directly related news ------------------
Danish authorities on Saturday were in consultation with the Netherlands over the fate of five suspected pirates captured after an attempted piracy attack off the Somali coast against a ship registered in the Netherlands Antilles. The Danes intercepted and sank the vessel after the freight ship crew set it on fire with a distress signal rocket, forcing the suspected pirates into the water. The Danish Foreign Ministry on Saturday contacted Dutch authorities, asking them to decide if they wanted to prosecute the suspected pirates. "We contacted them since the vessel is registered on the Netherlands Antilles and therefore it appears most logical that the Netherlands tries them", Thomas Winkler, head of the Danish Foreign Ministry's legal affairs department, told Danish public broadcaster DR. DR reported that the Dutch Foreign Ministry said it did not expect a decision until next week. Meanwhile, the five suspected pirates were to remain onboard the Absalon.
Islamic insurgents appeared to be scrambling for power Saturday, taking over several police stations in the capital as Ethiopian troops who have been propping up the government began to pull out, witnesses said. Many fear the Ethiopian pullout — and last month's resignation of Somalia's president — will cause Islamic militant groups to fight among themselves for power, bringing even more chaos to this beleaguered Horn of African nation. "We have to show commitment to do our part in security, we want to help people feel secure", Abdirahim Issa Adow, a spokesman for one wing of the insurgency, told The Associated Press after deploying troops to three of Mogadishu's 14 police stations. His Union of Islamic Courts is not allied to the most powerful insurgent group, al-Shabab, which has taken over most of Somalia.
Ethiopian convoys have begun leaving Mogadishu, and there is panic in Baidoa (the capital of the TNG) at the thought of Ethiopian troops leaving there as well. African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu are also discussing getting out, rather than face the wrath, alone, of local clans eager to regain their control of the city. The Ethiopians are expected to be all gone by the end of the month, and then there will be more intense fighting, as the clan militias, as is their custom, try to make the most of the new situation.
Polish Special Forces from the Operation Mobile Reaction Group (GROM) are to join European Union troops fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. While the Ministry of Defence refuses to confirm the story published in the Rzeczpospolita daily, Rzeczpospolita reports that the forces from GROM - a kind of Polish equivalent to the SAS - will leave in several weeks, when the government and President approve the mission. Minister of Defence, Bogdan Klich, has already put the proposal before the Council of Ministers at the last meeting of 2008.
Filipinos are arguably the best and most sought-after seafarers in the world. But given the pressures and hazards of working at sea, they do not get compensated enough. They work in unfair labor arrangements. Most Filipino sailors are employed cheap, says Edwin de la Cruz, head of the International Seafarers Action Center (ISAC). The average monthly salary of the lowest paid Filipino seafarer is $400. De la Cruz points to the "flag of convenience" system, practiced for decades by shipping lines, as the culprit behind the cheap pay. A flag of convenience is a flag of one country flown by a ship owned by a citizen or company of another country. The system allows large shipping lines from developed countries to register their vessels in a country from where the vessel supposedly operates. This allows owners to skirt the high-standard labor regulations of their home countries in order to save on manpower costs. Flags of convenience have more lax safety regulations, such as those concerning the sea-worthiness of vessels. The system enables ship owners to avoid taxes, practice transfer pricing, avoid trade unions, recruit at very low wage rates, skirt payment of welfare and social security contributions for their crews, and go around strictly applied safety and environmental standards. One out of five ships worldwide sails under flags of convenience. There are about 116 flags of registry. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Panama—under the flag of convenience system—is the prime employer of Filipino seafarers, about 51,619 of them.
The Chinese naval fleet will cruise for about 10 days before arriving in the Gulf of Aden to join a multinational patrol.
Impacting news from the global village
President Yoweri Museveni´s response to the outcry over the astronomical rise in fuel prices is disappointing. While, his Kenyan and Tanzanian counterparts have taken measures to rein in the greedy fuel dealers in the East African oil industry that have made the life of motorists and the general public miserable, Mr. Museveni chose to defend the oil cartel. Petroleum products dealers have taken advantage of this artificial shortage to hoard fuel and sell it on the black market at exorbitant prices (see our lead story). This amounts to economic sabotage. The fuel marketers´ avarice has encumbered movement of goods and people´s travel during the festive season and caused double-digit inflation. Earlier, Energy Minister Daudi Migereko had blamed Somali pirates for the current malaise. Government must bear part of the blame.
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