Horn of Africa Piracy Activity Update -18 Mar

The most surprising aspect of Somali piracy this week has been the speed of turnaround for capturing a merchant vessel and using it as a mothership to conduct operations against other innocent seafarers. The Indonesian MV Sinar Kudus was hijacked by up to 50 pirates, taking the 20 Indonesian crew hostage.

Within 24-hours the vessel had enabled the pirates to carry out an attack on the MV Emperor. The Sinar Kudus capture followed the release of the MV Hannibal II, which had been held for 4 months and used as a mothership, for a ransom of $2million.

The Indian Navy vessel INS Kalpeni intercepted a pirate mothership, the Mozambique-flagged, Spanish-owned fishing vessel, Vega 5, in the Arabian Sea about 600nm West of India. A Japanese-owned MV, the Vancouver Bridge, had placed a distress call on being attacked. After 'limited' gunfire at the fishing vessel, the Indian Navy detained 61 pirates, later stating that 25 of them were children under the age of 15 years (Times of India). 13 crew of Vega 5 were rescued following a fire on the vessel, which saw some of the pirates jump into the sea. Further members of the Vega 5 crew are unaccounted for as fears grow over their safety.

The Bangladesh bulk carrier, MV Jahan Moni, hijacked by pirates in December 2010, was released by Somali pirates following the ransom payment of $4million. The 25 crew and the wife of the chief engineer are said to be safe on board the vessel. The prospect of release had been reported in an exclusive report by Andrew Mwangura for SomaliaReport.com. See the OCEANUSLive report.

The recent monitoring of suspect activity of pirate action groups and their motherships would suggest that the Greek-flagged, Panama-owned MV Irene SL, hijacked on February 9, has been used to operate as a mothership in the area. With the recent releases of MT Motivator, MV EMS River, MV Izumi and lastly, MV York, the pirates had cleared the way to enable them to recommence mothership operations using the more recent larger vessels they hold. If the reports are to be believed, Somali pirates may cut ransom demands in order to clear hijacked ships to gain a faster turnover of ships held (Reuters). It follows that the physical resources and management of so many hijacked vessels near the pirate-havens on the Somali coast would indicate that the business acumen of Somali pirates has come some way since the end of 2008, when the military operations came into being. It demonstrates that the turnover of vessels, rather than the size of the ransom demands, has become a more viable solution, and consequently, a rise in the frequency of attacks may be expected. As the MV Sinar Kudus quick turnaround as a mothership shows.

The UN Political Office has highlighted in a Joint Strategy report that it is assessed that the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is likely to fall short of its task before the expiry of its term in August this year (OCEANUSLive). Meanwhile, in a recently released report from Somalia Report, the Somali government in conjunction with UK-based Somali nationals have launched a policy research and development institute known as 'Somali Maritime Academy (SOMA)'. It will look into marine related matters, and to serve as a national think-tank and focal point in the maritime sector. The aim is to be the leading institution in Somalia devoted to maritime and allied industries, both locally and regionally, by the provision of quality maritime education, research, training and consultancy (Somaliareport.com)

The semi-autonomous region of Puntland has seen its security forces detain 4 suspected pirates linked to the pirate gang holding the Danish hostages in two separate locations. They were captured in a Land Cruiser, carrying weapons, between Bosasso and Beyla district (OCEANUSLive). Demonstrations have been reported to have taken place in the Garad district in the Mudug region of Puntland, organized to condemn the pirate activities which are "portraying a bad image of Puntland" (Somaliareport.com). In support of the demonstrations, the Mayor of Bender Beyla town, Said Adan Ali, has vowed that his administration will "take every necessary step" to get the kidnapped Danish family and crew released. Negotiations are taking place, however, he did not rule out the use of aggressive measures to release the hostages. A ransom demand of $15 million has been made (OCEANUSLive).

The SOS - Save Our Seafarers campaign, aimed at encouraging millions of people around the world to put pressure on their national Governments to crack down on piracy, see www.saveourseafarers.com/, maintains its worldwide media campaign.

The NATO Shipping Centre (NSC) assessed most attacks as conducted by Dhow-based Pirate Attack Groups (PAGs). It further states that over the past several weeks, whaler-based PAGs are operating in the Southern Somali Basin will be adversely impacted by the higher sea states. See NSC Daily Piracy Report here. The week has seen 1 hijack, 3 attempted hijacks occurring since March 11; and suspicious activity has been reported in the Somali Basin but mainly in the Arabian Sea.

The piracy events in the Horn of Africa region over the last week are;

Hijacks:

• March 16, 0730 UTC - Indonesian-flagged, owned and crewed (20 crew) bulk cargo carrier, Sinar Kudus approximately 320nm East Northeast of Socotra Island. See OCEANUSLive report.

Unsuccessful pirate attacks:

• March 12 at 0325 UTC in position 1224N 06642E, approximately 447nm Northwest of Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, India, a vehicle carrier was attacked by a mothership and 2 skiffs with pirates firing small arms;
• March 15 at 0645 UTC, a bulk carrier was approached in position 1156N 05803E, around 215nm East of Socotra Island, by a skiff approaching at 23 knots, with 5 armed pirates on board from a mothership. The vessels' Master raised the alarm, took evasive actions and the armed security team fired warning shots as the skiff came within 0.8nm. The pirates aborted the attempted attack and returned to a mothership waiting at 5nm (IMB PRC);
• March 17 at 0612 UTC, the Liberian-flagged MV Emperor was attacked in position 1615N 06026E, approximately 380nm Northeast of Socotra Island, by a single skiff launched from the nearby Sinar Kudus. The Emperor used the on board armed security team to repel the attack and subsequently managed to evade capture to proceed safely on its journey.

Suspect Pirate Activity:

• Pirate Action Groups reported operating, including previously pirated MV Irene SL moving out into the Arabian Sea, but currently on a heading WSW; the recently hijacked, MV Sinar Kudus, conducting mothership operations in the Arabian Sea on a Northerly heading. A pirated fishing Dhow with 2 skiffs seen dead in the water in the Arabian Sea when sighted, and a pirated MV heading North in the central Indian Ocean (March 16). A situational map is available here.

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.