Covering 10 - 16 May - 20/14
Pirate kingpin amnesty - DENIED; Somali pirates sentenced in USA; Seychelles co-chair role, Migrant shipwreck; Kenya terror attacks -
Puntland's government offer of amnesty to pirate kingpin Isse Yusuf was denied following statement by the President's office which strongly rejects "false media reports". Somali pirates were handed sentences by US Federal court for 2010 attack on a US Navy dock landing ship; life sentences had originally been sought. The Seychelles , along with Japan and UAE, have been elected as co-chairs of WG3 in the UN Contact Group. Seychelles is expected to develop best practices for anti-piracy and mechanisms for vetting procedures for PCASP for maritime companies. IMO SecGen lauds the UN Contact Group's work. The EU, meanwhile is scaling up its financial support to East Africa to fight maritime crime in the IOR. Italian police have released a video depicting the harsh reality of the dangers when illegal migrants are trafficked; dead bodies of those trapped following a shipwreck of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean is a small part of the daily tragedy migrants face. Kenya has been gripped by the fear of terrorism since the Westgate Mall attack. Travel advisories by various nations resulted in a rush by tourists to depart the country, only for two explosions to rip through a packed Nairobi market. Somali political matters came to a head with a petition asking the President to resign or be impeached. With the recent security failings, the growing uncertainty of providing humanitarian aid to the country, fear of militants stepping up attacks, the international community has reason to fear that Somalia is sliding back on the progress made in the last few years.
Nigeria has also had government called into question in relation to the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. International pressure to act and give support has grown as Pres Jonathan rejects swap for militant prisoners. Similar to Somalia, Nigeria suffers from militant attacks and maritime crime which highlights the precarious nature of governing such states. A pilot project, MTISC-GoG, has opened as a watchkeeping team came together to run an information sharing centre and voluntary reporting scheme for ships in the Gulf of Guinea, akin in some ways to UKMTO in Dubai. UKMTO, in the meantime, are actively looking to recruit naval Reservists to man the operation in Dubai. As the US hands over another cutter to the Nigerian Navy, the Turkish maritime Task Group has expressed the desire to work with NN personnel to tackle maritime crime in the region. 19 percent of world piracy attacks occurred off West Africa. Attacks on oil rigs, cargo ships and fishing boats have soared with livelihoods under threat. Fifteen tonnes of material used for explosives have been seized near the Suez Canal.
Tensions in Asia continues to stretch as Europe holds discussions, Philippines imprisons Chinese fishermen, Japan develops legislation to protect vessels, and riots in Vietnam over sea disputes, and Malaysia cracks down on foreign vessels off Sabah. India looks into the issue of maritime security and Pakistan talks of it's expansive maritime sector. A storm-hit river in Bangladesh results in a ferry capsizing with the death of at least 26 people.
A convicted smuggler who rammed a boat into a US Coast Guard vessel, killing a crewman, is given a life sentence. Three Dutchmen were detained in Scotland after retrieving cocaine hidden in the rudder of a Colombian ship.
A 2,000-pound coloured sculpture of the cartoon icon, Popeye, was auctioned at Sotheby's. Five centuries after Christopher Columbus's flagship, Santa Maria, was wrecked in the Caribbean, archaeologists think they have discovered the vessel's long-lost remains north of Haiti.
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