The main news in pirate activity off the Horn of Africa is the Danish yacht crew with 3 children being kidnapped; MV Dover was hijacked off Oman, a new shipping industry campaign is launched, and two vessels are released from pirate control.
Seven days of polarising activity relating to the Horn of Africa region. The pirates continue to frustrate international efforts by the escalation of brutality to the seafarers they hold captive. The Indian Defence Minister expresses helplessness in beating the Somali pirates but believes joint efforts will prevail, whilst the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, states the problem is the "payment of ransoms are the price of doing business" mindset of the shipping companies. Acknowledging that military efforts are not effective and not enough is being to "...go after pirate safe-haven ports," she stated there is no question of the US taking part in mainland operations, however, the issue of piracy is piracy is moving up the Washington priority list. A new 'Save Our Seafarers' (SOS) campaign began March 1 and is gaining momentum is a very short space of time - see OCEANUSLive briefing report. The Seychelles courts sentence 10 Somali pirates to 20 years imprisonment hoping it serves as deterrent, whilst the Madagasy Navy rescues 29 people and 12 pirates from MV Zoulfecar after it ran out of fuel. The release of two vessels this week saw the MV Izumi, which was hijacked October 10, 2010 heading to safety with the crew of 20 Filipinos, says the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, and the MV EMS River, with a crew of 8, released after 2 months captivity, which is a more speedy outcome than has been the case of late. A ransom of £3 million was reportedly paid according to pirate sources.
The hijack of the Danish yacht, ING, with 7 people onboard, including 3 children between the ages of 12 and 16, occurred outside the reporting period for this particular pirate activity update, however, the news of their hijack 185 miles off the Somali coast has caused debate in some quarters. In light of the fact that the owners, the Johansen family, were aware of the recent hijack and execution of the US hostages from the yacht, SV Quest, and only the day before being hijacked, had mentioned in their blog the prospect of Somali piracy, has drawn criticism for sailing in such dangerous waters with children onboard, but sympathy for being denied the freedom to travel as they see fit. See OCEANUSLive report.
Ship owners and seafarers are calling on ‘people power’ to push their governments to act now and show the political will to resolve the growing Somali piracy crisis before it strangles world trade and before more innocent seafarers are tortured and murdered.
The SOS Save Our Seafarers campaign, launched today by BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Shipping Federation (ISF), INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), is aimed at encouraging millions of people around the world to heap pressure on their national Governments to crack down on piracy. See www.saveourseafarers.com/.
Eight attempted hijacks occurred since February 25; unfortunately, there was one successful attack.
The piracy events in the Horn of Africa region over the last week are;
Hijacks:
- February 28; 0606 UTC, Greek-owned, bulk cargo carrier MV Dover, with a crew of 23 only 10nm from the Oman coast. See OCEANUSLive report.
Unsuccessful pirate attacks:
- February 27; 0534 UTC, bulk carrier was attacked approximately 85nm of the Oman coast by a single skiff firing small arms;
- February 28; 1630 UTC, chemical tanker attacked 90nm Southeast of Salalah, Oman by armed pirates in a single skiff;
- March 1; 1100 UTC, fishing vessel attacked 265nm Southeast of Mogadishu, Somalia in the Somali Basin by 2 skiffs with 8 pirates onboard;
- March 2; 0750 UTC, motor sailboat, Capricorn, attacked and boarded by pirates. Dutch couple locked themselves in the engine room whilst an escort vessel with armed security team engaged the pirates in a firefight with result of the piracy abandoning the vessel and heading back to a waiting mothership - see OCEANUSLive report;
- March 3; 0840 UTC, general cargo, Danish-owned MV Brattingsborg, vessel came under attack by 2 pirate skiffs with 4 pirates on each approximately 152nm Southwest of Salalah, Oman. At 1122 UTC, a tanker evaded 2 pirate skiffs attack 500nm East of Socotra Island, Yemen;
- March 4; 0922 UTC, crude tanker evaded attack 320nm Southeast of Ras al Hadd, Oman. The crew and unarmed security team retreated to a safe room whilst the bridge team conduct evasive measures. At 1030 UTC, a container ship was attacked 520nm West-Northwest of Minicoy Island, India. The Master employed the ships' anti-piracy system.
Suspect Pirate Activity:
- A Pirate Action Group reported operating off the Omani coast, and suspect activity was seen 60nm off Mauritius.
33 ships and over 700 seafarers are currently held captive by Somali pirates. 243 hostages have been taken in 2011 so far, with 7 killed to date.
The OCEANUSLive situational map below provides a visual summary of the hijacks and pirate attacks that have occurred between 26 February to 4 March 2011.
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
.
OCEANUSLive.org
Information, Security, Safety; Shared
Submitted by Team@oceanuslive.org