Pirate activity in the Horn of Africa less intense over the last week. Confusion over one hijacked and one released vessel. The situational map of the attacks over the last week...
Confusion and acrimony, combined with frustration and determination, sums up the events surrounding the issue of Somali piracy over the last week.
The first case of confusion surrounded the MV BELUGA NOMINATION. The general cargo vessel, which was on passage to Port Victoria, Seychelles was attacked north of the Seychelles on 22 January. Uncertainty concerning the fate of the vessel and crew of the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, German owned ship continued for a number of days before it was confirmed hijacked on 25 January.
The acrimony occurred when the counter-piracy coalition forces were criticised for not responding to a pirate attack, 
despite the nearest warship being reportedly over 1000 miles away from the incident.
Frustration was felt over the lack of will to prosecute captured pirates. Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, in a statement made to the US President, and in agreement with the UN Special Advisor, Jack Lang, stated that "prevention, prosecution, and incarceration are essential elements of any counter-piracy initiative." She went on to say that the US encourages "flag states and states whose crews and vessel owners have fallen prey to pirates to pursue prosecutions in their domestic courts to the greatest extent possible." Further frustration was expressed in a blog by Clay Maitland, stating the issue for the seafaring community. An extract states "The attacks are undertaken now so regularly that the media has given up reporting these attacks, except on rare occasions. You would almost think that it is just another peril of the sea, like people believed in earlier centuries. Even when, in January, a cruise ship was harassed, producing feverish prose about dinner jacked senior citizens having their meal interrupted by a couple of incoming skiffs, the fact that the number of seafarers being held had risen above 700, completely eluded the breathless hacks."
Determination was noted in the Philippine government and stakeholders in the country’s maritime sector vowing "support for the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF)’s anti-piracy operations off the Gulf of Aden and the Somalia basin", in an article by the Manila Bulletin.
Confusion reigned once more in the matter of the release of the Taiwanese fishing vessel, TAI JUAN 227. The owners received a call from the vessel's Master stating they had been released, but confusingly did not know why. The FV, with 28 crew was hijacked in May 2010. The FV, until a few days ago was suspected of being used as a mothership, was given support of food and water by a US warship as it headed away from Somalia.
Over a 2-day period, a Pirate Action Group operating from a dhow, acting as a mothership, with 2 skiffs attacked two MVs only 70km between the two attack positions. Both vessels managed to evade the hijack attempts.
The OCEANUSLive situational map below provides a visual summary of the pirate attacks and the hijack that have occurred between 22 - 29 January 2011. The IMB offers free copies of the quarterly and annual piracy reports at the link.
Vessels are reminded that the coalition forces' warships may not be in the vicinity of a pirate attack, subsequently, it is emphasised that seafarers can greatly reduce their chances of being pirated if they follow precautions as recommended in the Best Management Practices, increasing speed and carrying out evasive manoeuvres is a proven deterrent to piracy attacks.
Vessels are advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating in the vicinity of any reported positions of attacks and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously. Additionally, registration of vessel movement with MSC(HOA) prior to transiting the region is recommended.
OCEANUSLive.org permits the reproduction of this image providing source and link are published
Any suspicious activity should be reported to UKMTO in Dubai in the first instance (UKMTO@eim.ae or Telephone+971 50 552 3215) and on entering the UKMTO Voluntary Reporting Area (VRA) bound by Suez,78E and 10S.
MV BELUGA NOMINATION Image source: EUNAVFOR
OCEANUSLive.org
Information, Security, Safety; Shared
Submitted by Team@oceanuslive.org