Karl's Weird News

Captain once held by pirates urges military protection, armed crews

The freed captain of a merchant ship attacked by pirates near Somalia last month called Thursday for military protection and armed crew members to thwart attacks in dangerous waters.
Capt. Richard Phillips, skipper of the Maersk Alabama, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it was the “responsibility of the U.S. government” to protect any ship flying an American flag, through military escorts or onboard squads of highly trained security forces

He added that an armed brigade of specially trained senior crew members also could deter pirate attacks in certain situations. “And I don’t mean a security guard. I don’t mean a mall cop. I mean someone who’s sufficiently trained,” Phillips said

Undeterred Somali pirates hijack 3 more ships:

Undeterred by U.S. and French hostage rescues that killed seven bandits, Somali pirates brazenly hijacked three more ships in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway that’s become the focal point of the world’s fight against piracy.

The latest trophy for the pirates was the M.V. Irene E.M., a Greek-managed bulk carrier sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The Irene was attacked and seized in the middle of the night Tuesday — a rare tactic for the pirates.

American captain rescued, pirates killed, U.S. official says

The captain of the Maersk Alabama was freed Sunday after being held captive since Wednesday by pirates off the coast of Somalia, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told CNN.

Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia. Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is being held by pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia.

The official said Capt. Richard Phillips is uninjured and in good condition, and that three of the four pirates were killed. The fourth pirate is in custody.

Phillips was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

Earlier Sunday afternoon Maersk Line Limited, owner of the Maersk Alabama, said the U.S. Navy informed the company that it had sighted Phillips in a lifeboat where pirates are holding him.

Pirates must be hunted down and their vessels sunk on sight – Telegraph:

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum, raise the Jolly Roger and all that. The thought of pirates brings a smile to the lips – but in reality there is nothing jolly about pirates, as this week’s hijacking of the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia, should remind us.

 On Wednesday, Somali gunmen briefly hijacked the colossal freighter, only to be driven off by the crew. Retaining the captain as a hostage, they fled to a lifeboat, where they were yesterday engaged in a David-and-Goliath standoff with the might of the US Navy.

Last year, more than 130 such attacks were reported, centred on the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 50 were successful, with millions of pounds being extracted in ransom money, most notoriously for a Saudi supertanker carrying £70 million in oil, and a Ukrainian ship transporting 33 tanks. The civilised world long believed that piracy was part of history, long ago stamped out by the navies of the industrialised nations. Instead, at the chokepoints of sea lanes, off the shore of weak – or completely failed – states, piracy is flourishing.
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So our campaign must be ruthless and pitiless: pirate ships must be sunk on sight and the crews left to swim to safety, if it can be reached.

Many would complain about such tactics but, in my opinion, pirates have no rights – indeed, it will be vital to exclude human rights lawyers from the anti-piracy campaign. To bring any captives to Europe or America for trial would probably be to grant them their dearest wish, which is to secure entry to a new life in the First World.

As the saying goes, read the whole thing…

Pirates seize U.S.-owned, Italy-flagged tugboat:

Pirates seized a U.S.-owned and Italian-flagged tugboat with 16 crew on Saturday in the latest hijacking in the busy Gulf of Aden waterway, a regional maritime group said.

Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the crew were believed to be unharmed on the tugboat, which he added was operated from the United Arab Emirates.

He said the tugboat was towing two barges at the time of capture but there were no details on their cargo.

“This incident shows the pirates are becoming more daring and violent,” Mwangura told Reuters by phone.

Pirate ships converge on US hostage at sea:

Escalating a dramatic Indian Ocean standoff, more U.S. warships — as well as pirate reinforcements with an international gallery of hostages — rushed Friday toward the spot where four Somali bandits are holding a U.S. sea captain aboard a drifting lifeboat.

The pirates apparently fear being shot or arrested if they hand over Capt. Richard Phillips — captured in a failed effort to seize the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday — and hope to link up with their colleagues who are using Russian, German, Filipino and other hostages captured in recent days as human shields.

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said U.S. warships also are headed to the area, more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) off Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast.

“We want to ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days,” he said.

Clinton Seeks End to ‘Scourge of Piracy’ as U.S. Navy Races to Hijacked American Ship

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Wednesday for world action to “end the scourge of piracy” as U.S. warships raced to confront pirates who hijacked a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia.

American crew members aboard the hijacked ship were able to regain control of the vessel Wednesday, but the ship’s captain still is being held hostage on a smaller boat.

“We are deeply concerned and we are following it very closely,” Clinton said.

“Specifically, we are now focused on this particular act of piracy and the seizure of a ship that carries 21 American citizens. More generally, we think the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy,” she said.

U.S. Navy officials told FOX News on Wednesday afternoon that its closest ship was 300 miles away, which would place it 15 hours from the vessel, known as the Maersk Alabama.

Pirate life offers power, prosperity

For young Somalis, piracy offers a life of adventure and money: At sea, they are armed with automatic weapons, rockets and grenades. On land, they are a cross between a town official and a gangster rapper — with grand houses, luxury cars and beautiful wives.

Piracy is a lucrative business in Somalia, a country with no central government, no banks and few merit-based opportunities because of an entrenched clan system. For Somali men such as those who hijacked an American cargo ship, banditry at sea offers power and potential prosperity in a land so bleak that life expectancy is just 46 years and a quarter of children die before they reach 5.

Pirates are attracted by Somalia’s lawlessness and its strategic location. The Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s busiest waterways, with 20,000 merchant ships passing through yearly on their way to and from the Suez Canal. Countless fishing boats drop anchor in search of tuna, snapper and barracuda, which are plentiful in Somali waters.

Somali pirates seize ship and US crew off Horn of Africa:

Somali pirates have seized a Danish-owned, US-operated container ship with 21 American crew members aboard, in the latest attack on shipping off the Horn of Africa, a regional maritime group said today.

Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-tonne ship, was hijacked in the Indian Ocean, 400 miles from the Somalian capital, Mogadishu.

“All its 21 American crew members are believed to be safe,” Mwangura said.

The US navy confirmed that a US-flagged ship with 21 crew members was hijacked early today off the eastern coast of Somalia.

Indian Navy sinks pirate mothership during bold stand-off in Gulf of Aden

An Indian navy warship has sunk a Somali pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden, the world’s most treacherous waterway, after the renegades threatened to attack the frigate.

The clash happened as pirates claimed to begin negotiations over a ransom for the Saudi super-tanker that was seized nearby on Saturday with two Britons aboard. The Sirius Star, which is carrying at least $100 million worth of oil, is the biggest ship ever to be hijacked.

INS Tabar, an Indian frigate dispatched last month to the area to protect the country’s merchant fleet, sighted the pirate vessel late on Tuesday. Indian officers said they spotted pirates moving on the deck with rocket propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons.

“On repeated calls, the vessel’s threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.

“INS Tabar retaliated in self defence and opened fire on the mother vessel.

“As a result of the firing by INS Tabar, fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel.”

Pirates seize another ship in Gulf of Aden:

A Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with 36,000 tonnes of wheat bound for Iran was hijacked on Tuesday by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, near the Yemeni coast.

The latest example of piracy came as a Saudi supertanker, seized by pirates on Monday and laden with an estimated 2m barrels of oil, was confirmed to be anchored off the coast of Somalia.

Vela International, owner of the oil tanker called Sirus Star, said on Tuesday that they had established contact with the pirates and were seeking to ensure the safety of the 25-man crew.

The pirates seized control of the tanker on Saturday, 450 nautical miles south-east of the Kenyan Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. The attack marked a significant escalation in the scope of banditry in the region.

It is estimated that the tanker was holding more than a quarter of the daily exports from Saudi Arabia, the world?s largest oil exporter. The oil would have been worth about $100m (?79m, £66.5m) at Monday?s market price but is probably of little interest to the pirates.

Somalia: 4 pirate attacks in 24 hours

There have been four failed pirate attacks in the last 24 hours off the lawless Somali coast despite the presence of six American warships guarding a hijacked ship full of weapons, a U.S. Navy spokeswoman said Saturday.

Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell, from the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, says three attacks were averted because crew members escaped at high speed.

Another attack was foiled because the pirates were badly prepared: The ladder they had brought to climb on to the ship was too short.

The Navy says three of the attacks were in the heavily patrolled corridor within the Gulf of Aden. The location of another was not precisely known but was somewhere off the Somali coast.

Weekly Piracy Report

01.06.2007: Evening hrs: Enroute Sharjah to Mombasa.
Pirates in three boats boarded a general cargo ship underway and hijacked it. Coalition forces aircraft noticed the vessel with the three boats in tow heading towards the Somali coast. The ship has been anchored off the coast of Hobyo. Further details are awaited.

Over a dozen pirate attacks last week, including:

15.05.2007: 0840 UTC: Posn 01:10N – 049:00E, 210 NM from coast, Somalia.
While underway, five pirates armed with guns boarded and hijacked a fishing vessel. They sailed the vessel to a new location and moored in Posn: 04:30N – 048:10E. The 13-crew members are held hostage onboard.

14.05.2007: 1530 LT: Posn 01:19.62N – 048:51.92E, 180 NM off Somalia.
Pirates, armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, approached a general cargo ship underway from her port quarter. The pirates ordered the ship to stop and started firing towards the bridge. D/O raised alarm, SSAS alarm activated, master took evasive manoeuvres, and fired rocket parachute signals on the boat when he saw the pirates preparing to fire rocket propelled grenades. The ship was hit and the accommodation caught fire and was extensively damaged. The crew extinguished the fire and took preventive measures to stop the fire from spreading. The master continuously maneuvered the vessel to prevent the pirates from boarding. The attack lasted for one hour before the pirates aborted the attack. No injuries to crew. PRC relayed message to coalition navy for assistance.

Pirates halt Somali aid shipments

Deliveries of food aid to Somalia by sea have been halted, after an attempt by pirates to seize a ship chartered by the UN food relief agency.

The head of the World Food Programme said their programme to feed one million Somalis is under threat.

The WFP-chartered vessel was attacked on Saturday off the Somali port of Merka after it had just delivered 4,000 tons of food.

Several attacks last week, including:

03.05.2007: 0300 UTC: Posn 03:59N – 007:17E, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Armed pirates in four boats attacked a FPSO and tried to board it via the anchor chain. There were eight security personnel on the FPSO. The pirates were successful in their attempt. Five persons from the FPSO kidnapped. .

03.05.2007: 0700 LT: 12 miles Off Mogadishu, Somalia. A group of Somali pirates armed with guns boarded a general cargo ship underway. They hijacked the ship and took it to Hobiyo anchorage. Negotiations with the pirates are going on.

Lots of action off Nigeria, Singapore and Indonesia, including this:

27.04.2007: 0230 LT: Posn 01:18N – 104:14E, Off Singapore Eastern OPL, Malaysia.
Four robbers armed with long knives boarded a tanker at anchor. They entered the engine room via an unlocked main deck door. They threatened the duty engineer with a long knife. They assaulted him, blindfolded him, tied him up, and made him lie down. Duty engineer managed to release himself and raised the alarm. The crew mustered and found that the robbers had stolen engine spares and escaped via the steering gear room door.

Weekly Piracy Report

05.04.2007: Afternoon: Posn: 00:25.00S – 042:34.00E Off Kismayo Port, Somalia Gunmen in a speedboat opened fire on a dhow. Luckily, the speedboat experienced engine trouble, giving the dhow time to escape.

03.04.2007: Evening: Posn: 02:03.00N – 045:20.00E, Off Mogadishu Port, Somalia. Gunmen in two boats approached a dhow at anchor and opened fire. The master contacted authorities for assistance who sent a speedboat and thwarted the attack.

Weekly Piracy Report:

01.04.2007: early hours: Nigeria. An expatriate worker was abducted by pirates and taken ashore from a platform rig. The pirates boarded the rig via the support vessel which was secured alongside the rig at the time of the incident. The owners are in contact with the Nigerian authorities to get the worker released.

Things are getting busy in the Red Sea

12.03.2007 1305 LT in position 18:27.4N – 038:17.8E, Red Sea Pirates in a wooden boat armed with AK-47s approached a research ship underway conducting surveying operations and fired upon the ship. A Sudanese navy vessel came to its assistance and detained the pirates. After 20 minutes the pirates were released. No injuries to crew.

11.03.2007 1929 LT in position 18:29.02N – 038:19.26E, Red Sea. 15 pirates in a 12 metre wooden boat armed with AK-47s approached a research ship underway conducting surveying operations and fired upon the bridge of the ship . The ship activated SSAS and contacted Sudan authorities and managed to move from that area. No injuries to the crew.

Fairly quiet last week

25.02.2007 0603 UTC in position 11:50N – 051:35E, North East Somalia. Pirates attacked a general cargo ship underway. Vessel under control of armed pirates is believed to have been hijacked. Negotiations for the vessel’s release are under way.

Not too much going on – here’s a sample:

03.02.2007 0245 LT in position 06:03.0N – 003:25.5E, Lagos Roads, Nigeria. Five pirates armed with guns boarded a tanker drifting 20 miles off the breakwaters. Pirates threatened the duty AB at forward station by pointing a gun at him. They entered the bosun store. Other duty crew informed OOW who raised the alarm. Crew mustered. Port control informed but call ignored. Pirates stole ship’s stores and escaped in a motor canoe. No one was injured

Somali Pirates hijack UN ship

Pirates have hijacked a cargo ship delivering UN food aid to northeastern Somalia. The ship, NV Rozen, had just delivered 900 tonnes of food aid to the semi-autonomous region of Puntland when the pirates attacked, said Stephanie Savariaud, a spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme. “We know it has been hijacked by pirates but we do not know how many pirates there are,” Savariaud said.

Fairly quiet last week – here’s a highlight:

08.02.2007 1950 LT in position 05:23.4N – 005:11.7E, vicinity of Forcados River, Nigeria. Five heavily armed pirates in a speed boat boarded a tug underway. They ordered master to drop anchor and forced all crewmembers and supernumeraries to the bridge. Pirates smashed master’s head with a bottle. Then, they ransacked crew members’ cabins and took all personal belongings of crew, vessel’s property and escaped at 0130 LT. Vessel’s calls for assistance from ashore was ignored by authorities.

Only 3 incidents last week, including this:

29.01.2007 0030 LT at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Despite active anti piracy measures, a container ship berthed alongside was boarded by robbers armed with knives. They took one of the watchman hostage, placed a knife at his throat and threatened him. Robbers stole ship’s stores and escaped by jumping overboard. Port authorities informed and a patrol boat arrived 30 minutes later and a search carried out but no one was caught.

Some highlights from last week:

27.01.2007  0530 LT in position 07:01.38N – 079:39.22E, Colombo Roads, Sri Lanka.
While a container ship was waiting for pilot, port control instructed master to proceed to open sea at full speed. Whilst underway, small boats followed the ship and one of the boats with two persons on board hit ship’s hull at stbd quarter and exploded. Another boat continued to chase the ship. Master immediately called port control for assistance. Two naval boats attended and finally destroyed the boat. Five doors to accommodation and six empty containers damaged.

20.01.2007 0930 UTC in position 05:33.5N – 005:24.5E, Chanomi Creek, Nigeria. Armed militants blocked the channel with many boats with sophisticated heavy weapons. They forced the master to stop the vessel, drop anchor and to lower the gangway. 17 crew members were abducted by the militants who boarded the vessel. The remaining militants took seven crewmembers as hostage and hijacked the vessel. The pilot, on board at the time, was later released. Negotiations between Nigerian authorities and militants are in progress

From this week’s Weekly Piracy Report:

08.01.2007 2335 LT at Lagos Roads, Nigeria. Robbers armed with guns and knives boarded a product tanker during STS cargo operations. They attacked duty crew, tied him up and asked for key and security lock code for the cargo control room. Duty Officer noticed the robbers and raised alarm. Robbers stole personal belongings from the duty crew, ship’s stores and escaped. Duty crew sustained injuries on his left hand. Port control informed.

Yet another reason to avoid Sri Lanka!

23.12.2006 early hours, 8.2 nautical miles off Mullaithievu, NE Sri Lanka A general cargo vessel at anchor, with engine problems was surrounded by six small boats with armed LTTE personnel on board. Shots were fired and the vessel was boarded by the armed group who forced the Master to weigh anchor. Communication and computer equipment from the vessel was said to have been stolen from the vessel. The 25 crew members were taken from the vessel to a rebel camp ashore and finally released to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Colombo. The condition of the vessel and the 14000 tons of rice cargo on board are not known.

It was a mild week – only 3 reported incidents, including this:

01.11.2006 at km 346 Parana River Anchorage, Argentina. 17 robbers boarded a general cargo ship. They destroyed communication equipment on board, broke into containers and stole electronic and other goods from the vessel. The robbers escaped in a boat. The vessel contacted a naval base which responded by sending three naval cutters. The navy succeeded in intercepting the pirate boat marked “Luchando Voy” bearing no. “M-1085″. The robbers were arrested and stolen goods confiscated. Robbers will be prosecuted in a local court.

It was a typical week for pirate activity, with 7 incidents, including:

07.12.2006 0300 UTC in position 06:08.41N – 001:17.43E, Lome port, Togo. Four robbers armed with knives and bars boarded a bulk carrier at berth waiting for cargo operations. They threatened three duty crew who ran towards accommodation and raised alarm. Robbers stole ship’s stores and jumped overboard and escaped towards nearby fishing boat. Local authorities informed.