What started off as a quiet week, as commented upon during the UAE counter piracy conference, soon saw the pirates return to their criminal endeavours in hijacking a merchant ship, almost hijack another and found 6 pirates killed after a NATO helicopter returned fire. South Africa further entrenches itself in the fight against piracy by helping investigate on a recently released vessel.
The Italian bulk carrier, Rosalia D'Amato, with a crew of 21 - 6 Italians and 15 Filipinos - was on its way to Iran from Brazil when it came under attack, approximately 365nm Southeast of Salalah, Oman, in the early hours of April 21. See OCEANUSLive Report. The hijack occurred on the same day that the EUNAVFOR Finnish warship, Pohjanmaa, was forced to release 18 pirates detained following an attack on MV Pacific Opal, due to all attempts to prosecute them in several countries having failed. See EUNAVFOR .
An incident involving another merchant vessel occurred the previous day which saw the MV Hanijin Tianin (left), reported by the Seoul-based Hanjin Shipping company, to have been hijacked after losing communications with the container ship with 20 crew members - 14 South Koreans and 6 Indonesians. The shipping company stated that they had received an emergency signal at 2013 UTC. The vessel was 250nm east of Socotra Island en route to Singapore. The shipping company was quick to release details to its customers following the probability of the vessel being taken by pirates. The South Korean warship, Choi Young, headed to the last-known location of the container ship and found the crew holed up in the citadel with no pirates in sight. The Choi Young was involved in the rescue of MV Samho Jewelry in January this year. See Somalia Report . It was stated that the attack, and possibility of hijack caused the company stock to drop by 3.9% (Bloomberg).
The UN hailed the UAE initiative to host the anti-piracy conference, which was attended by 60 nations and international organizations seeking to combat piracy and over one hundred businesses, shipping companies, charterers and insurers affected or concerned about the increased impact of piracy. His Highness and UAE Foreign Affairs Minister, Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, opened the conference saying "a successful response must address not just the symptoms of piracy, but also the underlying causes." The conference called for donations for the UN Counter Piracy trust fund to help combat piracy, particularly for prosecution, off-shore programmes and the deterrent of Somali piracy. The UAE donated $1.4m of the eventual total of $5M although some quarters criticised the amount in view of the increase in pirate activity and the effect it can have on the Gulf States, and not forgetting that the amount donated in 2010 was around the $7m mark. The Somali TFG Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdulahi Omar Asharq who, says Somalia Report, grabbed headlines [today] with his frank and brutal statement on day one: "Piracy can only be uprooted on land, where it grows and persists." Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, called the conference "the beginning of a new effort to tackle the problem off Somalia." The irony, the article states, of a conference hosted to support a land-based solution in Somalia, yet donating the money to UN. Some delegates from regions in Somalia said the funding did not go far enough to helping the people of Somalia. The money donated last year has yet to be seen stated a Puntland official. The conference also saw the UAE sign up to the IMO-initiative Djibouti Code of Conduct IMO and the adoption of a 12-point consensus document. This agreement provides a Regional Information Sharing capability as part of the capacity building in the region, however, integration of information systems for maritime domain aware remains a global challenge, rather than simply for one particular region.
South Africa has increased its presence in the anti-piracy arena. South African Defense Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu is expected to present a report to the South African cabinet, regarding boarding the Greek-registered Irene SL in Durban to help other investigators, as well as Interpol, following the release of the vessel by Somalia pirates on April 8.
A report stated that at least 6 pirates were killed and five others were also wounded after the pirates fired at a NATO forces helicopter, which reacted with machine guns," says the Somalia Report. NATO said in a statement that the boarding crew of the Danish warship HDMS Esbern Snare, from the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 anti-piracy force, saw a pirated dhow towing a skiff toward a known pirate anchorage. The occupants of the dhow threw objects over the side and then entered the skiff. "Without provocation, the suspected pirates then started to fire on the NATO boarding team," NATO said. "As HDMS Esbern Snare returned fire in self defence, the crew put their hands up as if they were surrendering. As the boarding team approached the dhow for the second time, some of the suspected pirates then started to fire again."
The piracy events in the Horn of Africa region over the last week are;
Hijack:
- April 21 at 0205 UTC: in position 1319N 05906E: Arabian Sea. Bulk carrier Rosalia D'Amato (left) attacked by pirates in 2 skiffs approximately 365nm Southeast of Salalah with 21 crew onboard taken hostage.
4 Unsuccessful Attacks: