Weekly Pirate Activity Update - 23 Dec

CEANUSLive Weekly Pirate Activity Update 

No successful attacks but a successful disruption in Gulf of Aden. MV Savina Caylyn is released for over $11 million. $8million demanded for Liquid Velvet. S Korea upholds life sentence. India calls for citadels, whilst Netherlands government planning deployment of marines. China grows military links. Iran's increased activity causes concern. Piracy affects ports too. Humanitarian tragedy of piracy especially pertinent as holidays begin, none more so than SA couple. Volvo Ocean Race goes off radar.

Pirates continue to evolve their tactics and can be expected to do so over the coming weeks, including attempting attacks during the monsoon, say experts. Fortunately, there were no successful attacks and Savina Caylyn was released. The bad news is the amount of ransom alleged to have been paid.

The ransom demanded for Liquid Velvet is also sizeable and bucks the recent trend of between $2 - $5 million for the release of merchant vessels.

The pirate leader who led 5 pirates in taking the S Korean Samho Jewelry earlier this year had his appeal turned down and will now serve a life sentence for the hijack and attempted murder of Captain Seok (Who won IMO's Bravery Award).

India's Ministry of Defence has asked the Ministry of Shipping to advise all merchant shipping to adopt BMP, particularly the use of citadels. Despite the debate surrounding the use of safe rooms, the Ministry of Shipping has now endorsed the request and advised shipping accordingly.

The Dutch government is planning to deploy units of marines to protect UN ships from Somali pirates, but Dutch shipowners continue to call for greater protection for their vessels.

China is forming military links in Africa and in the Indian Ocean in order, experts say, to protect Beijing’s economic interests in the region. From supporting Ugandan troops, to helping the Seychelles in fighting piracy and deploying warships to the Gulf of Aden, a symbolic move, has great diplomatic significance.  

After the return of its warships from counter-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden and into the Indian Ocean, the Iranian 16th Fleet warships were lauded for their success in confronting Somali pirates and providing a safe passage for Iranian cargo ships and oil tankers. However, the plans for a naval exercise which may cause restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz has raised consternation among the international community. The show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its controversial nuclear program may see localised disruption to shipping, including the potential for boarding by Iranian forces.

The piracy threat has had a significant and detrimental effect on the ports surrounding the high risk areas, now encompassing the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. Passage planning to avoid being hijacked or to avoid entering the Joint War Committee listed area is also causing headaches for some ports.

EUNAVFOR has highlighted the humanitarian tragedy of seafarers held hostage by Somali pirates. With 200 people held captive, their plight is particularly relevant as the festive period begins. The South African couple, held over a year now, and the crew of MV Iceberg 1, held for over 19 months, demonstrate the difficulty in gaining release despite the acknowledged lack of money available in their cases.

The Volvo Ocean Race has gone off radar. As they approach the 'anti-piracy stealth zone', the fleet will be hidden in the zone, which is one of several security measures introduced to protect competitors from pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.

East Africa                                

Guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91), assigned to Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, disrupted a group of suspected pirates close to the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), south of Yemen, Dec. 19.

USS Pinckney VBSS approach suspect pirates (Photo: US Navy/Released)

The Merchant Shipping Industry Best Management Practices, Version 4 (BMP4) encourages merchant vessels to register with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) while transiting areas known to be high risk for piracy.  At approximately 8:40 a.m., MV Nordic Apollo reported to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) they were under attack and been fired upon by pirates from a skiff. Having registered their route with UKMTO in accordance with BMP4, Nordic Apollo's position was relayed to counter-piracy forces operating in the region, MarineLink.

At approximately 11:00 a.m., MV Heather, operating 30nm from Nordic Apollo, reported suspicious activity by a skiff. Pakistan Navy Rear Adm. Kaleem Shaukat, CTF 151's commander, authorized Pinckney to investigate. Nordic Apollo confirmed the pirate attack, but stated they no longer had sight of the skiff. In response to the distress call, Pinckney made best speed to the area, issued a radio warning to other vessels in the vicinity, and launched its MH-60R helicopter. The helicopter crew successfully tracked and located the skiff, observing nine suspected pirates and pirate paraphernalia on board, including several ladders, weapons and fuel containers. The suspected pirates were seen attempting to cover their weapons with blankets and throwing the ladders overboard as Pinckney closed their position. Intercepted by the helicopter and Pinckney, the skiff stopped and the suspected pirates threw their weapons, identified as five AK-47 rifles, one rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and three RPG rounds, overboard.  Pinckney was given authorization to conduct a boarding using their visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team and once aboard, the VBSS team confirmed there were nine suspected pirates, one grappling hook, 36 barrels of fuel, and 75 and 45 horsepower outboard engines. The VBSS team scuttled one outboard motor and left the skiff with enough fuel and water to return back to shore. Read more.

MT Liquid Velvet (Photo: Erick Antonio Montalvo)

The Somali pirates that are holding the Greek-owned MT Liquid Velvet have demanded $8 million in ransom, according to a pirate who spoke to Somalia Report on Monday. This demand comes 49 days after the pirates hijacked the vessel on November 1st - OCEANUSLive.

Pirate sources told Somalia Report that the pirates were initially divided over how much to demand for the chemical tanker. “My friends argued for more than a month, finally they agreed to demand $8 million as a ransom,” Faysal, a well known pirate in Garacad, told Somalia Report. “The crew are in good health and they are living besides my friends on the vessel. Things are going well, negotiations will begin soon," added Faysal.

The Liquid Velvet with a crew of 22, 21 Filipinos and one Greek National, was hijacked on November 1st in the Gulf of Aden, on her way to India from the Suez. According to pirates, at first the boat was held in the Bargaal district of Bari region, and then she was moved to the Garacad area of Mudug.

Released by Pirates              

Somali pirates have released the Italian-flagged oil tanker, MV Savina Caylyn, for a ransom of $11.5 million, according to pirates' sources. The 22 crew members, composed of 17 Indians and 5 Italians, had spent 10 months in captivity, says Somalia Report.

The ransom was delivered in two instalments, with the first payment of $8.5 million dropped on board the vessel by helicopter early Wednesday, and a second package of $3 million arriving at 12:30pm (0930 GMT).At 2:00pm (1100 GMT), the pirates finally released the vessel.The captain, officers and crew members of the Italian-flagged Savina Caylyn are safe and they have assumed command of the vessel, travelling with a military escort. Families of the five Italians and 17 Indians aboard the vessel have been informed of their release, according to diplomatic sources.

The atypical two-part ransom drop was a response to the pirates' previous refusals to release Indian hostages, even after being paid a ransom. The trend began on April 15, when pirates holding the MT Asphalt Venturedeclined to release the eight Indian members of the crew, hoping to use them as pawns in a prisoner exchange for pirates captured by the Indian Navy. Since then, pirates have repeatedly refused to release Indian nationals, and have even gone so far as to declare their intention to "hunt" Indian seafarers.The two-part drop was designed to avert another bad faith manoeuvre on the part of the pirates. Read more.

West Africa                               

Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, Vice-Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, weekend, in Lagos, said with the expected arrival of a new naval warship, Thunder, next month, the Navy had put in place efforts to check the menace of piracy in the nation’s waterways and protect the  western flank.

Boasting about the capacity of the warship, Admiral Ibrahim, who was in Lagos for the yearly CNS inspection, said the warship could take 150 men on board and stay on the sea for at least 30 days, adding that it would, among other things, bring orderliness to the maritime environment, says Vanguard.

Stating that the country was  ready  to checkmate activities of sea robbers, the naval chief said a combination of strategies had been defined by the Defence Headquarters and three services to put a stop to the worrisome development.

He said there had been a marginal decline in piracy in the western section , with the recent launch of Operation Prosperity, where some Naval warships are  carrying out a 24-hour joint patrol with its Benin Republic counterpart on both countries’ waterways.

He said the only area experiencing piracy attack was the Eastern flank, adding that measures were being taken to address it.

Pirates in Court                       

The life sentence for a Somali pirate who hijacked a South Korean freighter and shot its captain early this year was upheld in the Supreme Court Thursday, denying his last appeal, reports Korea Herald.

The court upheld the ruling for Mahomed Arai’s, 21, the leader of ive pirates captured on the hijacked ship, Samho Jewelry, for attempted murder, maritime robbery and six other offenses.

The court also upheld the earlier sentences of 13 to 15 years for three others ? Abdikhad Iman Ali, Abdullah Ali and Aul Brallat ? for their role in the attack. This concluded the nation’s first-ever piracy trial.

The five were captured in January when South Korean naval commandos raided the Samho Jewelry in the Arabian Sea, rescuing all 21 crew members and killing eight pirates. The fifth pirate captured had a separate trial because he pleaded guilty to all of his charges. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

“Normally because the pirate had inflicted a life-threatening wound on captain Seok he should receive the death sentence, but considering how the rest of his eight comrades were killed during the raid and Captain Seok is making a full recovery, the death sentence is no longer applicable,” said court officials in the first and second ruling.

Despite the defendant’s lawyer arguing that the court had overstepped its jurisdiction, the court responded that because the case involved crimes committed against Korean citizens, jurisdiction is Korea’s.

Private Security                       

Call to Arms & Actions          

India's Ministry of Defence had requested Ministry of Shipping to advice all Indian Shipping companies to adopt the Best Management Practices (BMPs) particularly with respect to the construction of a ‘Safe House’ or ‘Citadel’ on their ships for protecting the crew in the event of a piracy attack. M/o Shipping has advised the Shipping industry to adopt the BMPs which inter-alia include alarms, evasive manoeuvres, enhanced vigilance during watch keeping, control of access points and safe houses. The information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Dushyant Singh in Lok Sabha - Press Information Bureau.

Little by little China is forming military links in Africa and in the Indian Ocean in order, experts say, to protect Beijing’s economic interests in the region - Al Arabiya.

In the past three weeks Beijing has committed to supporting Ugandan forces operating in Somalia and to helping the Seychelles fight piracy.

“It is very clear that the Chinese leaders recognize that military force will play a bigger role to safeguard China's overseas interests,” Jonathan Holslag, of the Brussels Institute of Chinese Contemporary Studies told AFP.

“There is a willingness, and even a consensus, in China, that this process will take place.”

The Indian Ocean is strategic, Holslag said, noting that 85 percent of China’s oil imports and 60 percent of its exports are routed via the Gulf of Aden.

Beijing does not so far have any military base in the region: its military presence consists of three vessels in the Gulf of Aden to fight Somali pirates.

But the deployment of those ships in 2009, the first of its kind for the Chinese navy, was already highly symbolic.

For the moment, cooperation between China and the islands of the Indian Ocean is still limited to “low profile military-to-military exchanges, but it is getting broader and more structured,” Holslag told AFP.

“The mere fact that China has a multi-year naval presence in the Gulf of Aden has great symbolic and diplomatic significance,” said Frans-Paul van der Putten, senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

“Symbolic because it shows other countries that China is an emerging naval power in the region, and diplomatic because China uses its navy ships for occasional visits to ports along the Indian Ocean rim, which helps it strengthen its diplomatic ties with countries in the region,” he added.

The Council commended the efforts of the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces in their military campaign against insurgents of the Al Shabaab group, and recognized their significant sacrifices.

The UN body reiterated its grave concern over the food crisis in Somalia and welcomed the international response and the tireless efforts of the relief workers. It urged Member States to contribute to the UN consolidated appeal for Somalia, and appealed to all parties and armed groups to ensure full, safe and unhindered access for the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Commander of the 16th fleet of warships, which recently returned home from an anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean, lauded his forces for their success in confronting Somali pirates and providing a safe passage for Iranian cargo ships and oil tankers - FARS News Agency.

Iran's 16th Fleet (Phot: FARS News Agency)

Addressing his crew in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Sunday, Capitan Hassan Azarpeykan said that during the 70-day-long mission the Iranian Navy ships have foiled three pirate attacks with their timely action. 

He added that the Iranian vessels could also repel Somali pirate attacks on an oil tanker and two other cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden, secure the area and provide them with a safe passage. 

Iran's 16th fleet of warships, including the country's first home-made destroyer Jamaran, returned home on Sunday morning after accomplishing a 70-day mission in the Gulf of Aden and the high seas where it defended Iran's cargo ships and oil tankers against attacks by Somali pirates. 

The Iranian Navy's 16th fleet of warships which was dispatched to the high seas on October 9 consisted of Jamaran destroyer and Bandar Abbas warship. 

In its 9,700-mile voyages, the Iranian flotilla provided safe passage for and monitored the missions and moves made by 1,380 military and non-military vessels and aerial vehicles. Read more.

Iran's navy chief said Thursday his forces plan to hold a 10-day drill in international waters beyond the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, an exercise that could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels - Neptune Maritime Security.

The drill will be Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its controversial nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at producing atomic weapons — charges that Tehran denies, insisting the program is for peaceful purposes only.

The Strait of Hormuz is of strategic significance as the passageway for about a third of the world's oil tanker traffic. Beyond it lie vast bodies of water, including the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet is also active in the area, as are warships of several other countries that patrol for pirates there. Read more.

US Office of Naval Intelligence states that reports from maritime forces and commercial maritime interests indicate concern with the potential for localised disruption to shipping in connection with future Iranian naval exercises.

During previous exercises Iranian maritime forces conducted boarding and inspection of merchant ships, including those flagged to European nations.The possibility exists that Iran will attempt to conduct boardings and inspections during exercises between December 2011 and March 2012.

The most like location for this activity would be in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, particularly in areas closer to Iranian territorial waters.

Concerns that maritime trade could become a new focus for terrorists in response to a decade of tighter aviation security formed the focus of the SDA's lunchtime debate on December 1st which was led by expert speakers from the European Commission (EC), World Customs Organization and the security industry. The meeting heard how the effects of an attack could be disastrous given the reliance of the world economy on maritime transport which carries around 90 percent of all international trade. However speakers stressed the importance of balancing security measures with the need to keep trade flowing freely and to limit the extra costs involved. “We should not over-react,” said Antonis Kastrissianakis from the DG General Taxation and Customs Union of the EC, who was critical of plans in the US to demand 100 percent scanning of incoming containers. “The costs are enormous, but the benefits are doubtful,” he contended, according to Security & Defence Agenda.

The need for increased cooperation at an international level, but also between business and public authorities, and among government agencies such as customs, intelligence and transport regulators was stressed by several speakers. There were reassuring comments on technological developments in the security field, but speakers emphasized the crucial role of intelligence as the front line in transport security since the huge scale of maritime trade made detecting threats at entry point a needle-in-a-haystack conundrum. The debate raised differences between those who advocated a specific focus on the terrorist threat and those promoting synergies with action taken in the wider fight against smuggling.

The international community has intensified efforts to prevent pirate attacks, and it is not surprising to see that pirates have been changing tactics to keep pace too - SMSLegal.com.

Typically, pirate attacks slump during the monsoon season. However, this year, the International Maritime Bureau has issued a statement warning seamen and shipping companies of the continued danger from pirate attacks during the monsoon.

Another trend that shipping companies and maritime attorneys have noticed is pirates attacking in swarms or gangs. Some such swarm attacks took place off the coast of Eritrea earlier this year. These swarm attacks involve a number of pirate skiffs attacking a single vessel.

According to reports filed with the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center, on August 7, twelve pirate skiffs, each of them containing about eight to ten pirates attacked a bulk carrier off the coast of Eritrea. When armed security guards on the vessel fired at the skiffs, many of the pirates aborted the attack. However, two pirate skiffs chased the carrier for at least half an hour, returning fire at the armed guards until they too suspended their attack.

This points to an alarming new trend involving larger numbers of pirate skiffs trying to wear down a vessel’s defenses. A similar such incident was reported on August 10, and involved a Panamanian-flagged tanker. The vessel was pursued by pirates on a total of twelve skiffs. The vessel managed to evade the pirates by firing flares.

The international maritime industry must take into account the changing nature of pirate attacks, and modify strategies to deal with these.

Piracy Costs                           

In the UK Parliament a question was raised on the cost of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Mr Crausby asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost to the international community of piracy off the coast of Somalia in terms of (a) financial losses borne by shipping companies and (b) expenditure on military and naval operations - UK Parliament.

Mr Bellingham: The turnover of the British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion of our national GDP. Nearly 1 trillion dollars of trade to and from Europe travelled through the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and this is the second busiest international trade route in the world. One World Future has estimated that piracy could be costing the global economy up to $12 billion a year in direct costs and indirect costs such as increased insurance premiums.

There has been no estimate of the international community's total expenditure on counter-piracy operations. Expenditure on military and naval operations is borne by the contributing state. For UK contributions, the cost for counter-piracy operations is a component of the annual operating costs of the Royal Navy, on which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no data. The average annual running costs of the EU's Operation Atalanta are €8 million per year, of which the UK contributes on average £700,000 per year.

The British Government are playing a leading role in the counter-piracy operations at sea, and leading international work with regional countries to build penal, judicial and law enforcement capacities in support, with more than 1,000 pirates now in custody. The first line of defence remains self-defence measures by ships to minimise the risk of a successful highjack. But the long-term solution lies on land, with rule of law, increased stability and economic development.

HFW's Sally Buckley explains that the knock-on effects of piracy could affect many ports, says Port Strategy.

Since 2008, the capturing of commercial vessels and their crews by Somali pirates has become an ever increasing threat to international shipping.

This threat has had a significant and detrimental effect on the ports surrounding the high risk areas, now encompassing the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

Around 30,000 ships transit the Gulf of Aden each year but around 10% of this ship traffic now opts to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than transit the Gulf of Aden and Suez Canal. As a result of the threat of piracy in the high risk region, some countries (and in particular, Kenya, Yemen and the Seychelles) have seen a direct fall-off in trade, which has a corresponding effect on freight and port rates.

On the other side of the Indian Ocean, passage planning to avoid being hijacked or to avoid entering the Joint War Committee listed area is also causing headaches for some ports. As the Somali pirate attacks have extended further and further towards the coast of India, vessels now tend to keep as close to the coast of India as far as possible in order to avoid the risk of attack.

However, when following a route within 12 Nautical Miles of the Indian shoreline, it is arguably a much riskier exercise to cut across the entrance to a port like Mumbai than to venture slightly further out into the Indian Ocean. Routes that are so close to the coastline cross port traffic lanes at positions that are at best unhelpful and at worst dangerous to traffic coming in and out of Indian ports.

In addition to the general impact of piracy on ports, there is also a direct threat of piracy that extends right into the ports that surround the high risk area around the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. This risk was fully realised on 20 August 2011, when Somali pirates sailed a dhow into the port of Salalah and boarded a chemical tanker at anchorage, not more than five nautical miles from the Oman shoreline. The pirates took the 21 crew members on board hostage and sailed the vessel out of port limits to a holding area off the coast of Somalia. This is a port that has previously been considered a port of refuge for vessels that had been released by pirates after payment of a ransom.

Despite the proximity of the port to pirate-infested waters, Salalah was reported to be at ISPS Code Security Level 1 at the time of the incident. This would mean that only the minimum protective safety measures would have been in place.

Seafarers' Plight                      

While the issue of piracy off the coast of Somalia has received significant coverage over the past 4 years, with the exception of a number of hihg-profile individuals, the fate of the merchant crews which make up the majority of those hel hostage, is not often considered or reported, says EUNAVFOR.

Shiuh Fu No1. Crew whereabouts unknown

 This humanitarian tragedy is especially pertinent over Christmas, a time when families normally gather to celebrate. There are currently 199 men and one woman held hostage in Somalia following the pirating of their ships in the Indian Ocean and all are being held against their will to be used by criminal gangs as part of a ransom business. Since the start of the EU NAVFOR counter-piracy mission in December 2008, a total of 2317 merchant seamen have been held hostage for an average of nearly 5 months. The longest period in captivity is 19 months for the 24 crew members of MV Iceberg 1, who are still being held. It is estimated that at least 60 merchant seamen have died as a result of their captivity in the hands of the pirates and many more have suffered torture and abuse. 49 of the 200 hostages are held without the collateral of a ship, following the ship sinking or being abandoned which means that their future is less clear as their value is seen as less than that of a ship. Additionally, a recent tactic of the criminal gangs has been to agree to the ransom payment for the return of ship and crew and then hold-back some of the crew when the ship is released to use to negotiate for the release of convicted Somali pirates from the home country of the detained crew members. Read more.

For the first four months of this year, Captain Alex Caniete was held hostage half a world away from his native Philippines, reports BBC News.

Capt Caniete with son born whilst held captive

His ship had been captured by Somali pirates as it approached the Gulf of Aden, and his old slow vessel was no match for the gun-toting pirates in their speedboat.

Capt Caniete is not the only Filipino affected by piracy.

"Every time there's a report of a ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia, almost always there's a Filipino involved," admits Deputy Foreign Minister Esteban Conejos.

"Since 2006, a total of 748 Filipinos, in 61 vessels, have been hijacked in this way."

Filipinos are not being particularly singled out by the pirates; it is just that so many people from the Philippines work in the maritime industry.

A third of all the world's seafarers are from the Philippines, so it is not surprising that there is another less welcome statistic - in the past year, more Filipinos have been taken hostage than any other nationality. Read more.

Vera Hecht wants “Mr Ali”, the Somali pirate negotiator, to see how hard she is working to raise the ransom demanded for the safe return of her brother and his partner so she is having a website created to document all the fundraising endeavours being undertaken, writes IOL News.

Vera Hecht (Pic: Shelley Kjonstad)

Perhaps then “Mr Ali” would lower the current demand of $4 million (R32 million) for Bruno Pelizzari and Debbie Calitz’s safe return.

A benefit concert in Durban on Sunday night yielded just under R4 000, and Hecht hasn’t yet tallied the proceeds from SMS donations over the past few days, which would be added to the R190 000 she has raised since September.

An auction of donated goods is planned for January, but she wanted her brother to be back “way before that”.

Hecht’s fiancé, Colin Abbood, has also written two songs as part of the “SOS Bruno and Debbie” campaign, which Hecht hopes will receive airtime on local radio stations.

The last time she heard Pelizzari’s voice was in October, when they held a “conference call” with Calitz and “Mr Ali”. The negotiator

allowed Hecht to record the conversation to “help” bring in further funds. It was this recording that Hecht played at Sunday night’s concert.

Hecht communicates with “Mr Ali” fortnightly, and has learnt to speak politely. They have a good rapport, Hecht thinks.

“I say to him ‘Please Mr Ali, give them food, be nice to them’,” she said.

“We’re praying that the pirates have a change of heart,” she said when asked about the possibility of the ransom being reduced.

It had been brought down to $500 000 (R4m), but was again raised to $4m because the captors believed the SA government would hand over the sum. “I think Mr Ali is slowly realising they won’t,” said Hecht.

Calitz and Pelizzari were kidnapped more than a year ago, when Somali pirates seized the yacht Choizil off the Tanzanian coast.

Eldridge refused to disembark when the pirates struck and was left alone while the couple were taken ashore. He was later rescued by the French navy.

Hecht said the pair thought Eldridge was dead, because he had been in the radio room when the pirates opened fire on the cabin.

She does not think the season of goodwill will soften the hearts of the pirates either.

“They don’t care about anything; Christmas Day will just be another day,” she said.

Hecht plans to spend Christmas with Pelizzari’s sons.

An audio of a conversation with couple held hostage follows:

And Finally...                             

French team Groupama vanished off the public radar on Thursday as they led the Volvo Ocean Race fleet into an anti-piracy stealth zone - Reuters.

The fleet will be hidden in the zone, which is one of several security measures introduced to protect competitors from pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.

The main pack, including U.S.-based Puma in second place, Spain's Telefonica in third and New Zealand/Spanish entry Camper in fourth, were due to reach the zone by Thursday night.

The exact location of the boats will continue to be masked, but their positions relative to each other will be updated until they reach a secret Indian Ocean 'safe haven' port in around a week's time.

An armed ship will then be used to transport the yachts through the area where pirates are most active and on to Sharjah, where teams will resume racing and finish at Abu Dhabi in the New Year.

The race, in which the teams cover more than 39,000 nautical miles (72,000 kms), finishes in Galway in July.

Piracy Incidents                       

Hijack:

• None.

Unsuccessful Attacks (All Regions):

• South China Sea - December 13 (via IMB) at 0100 LT in position 01:13.50N - 103:21.00E, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a Kiribati-flagged tug, RM Jaya, towing a barge (Hai Hang 1) and took six crew members hostage. The robbers stole crew personal property and cash before escaping in a speed boat.

• Gulf of Aden - December 19 at 0842 UTC in position 12:36N - 47:02E, southwest region of the IRTC. Two skiffs approached and fired upon an underway Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, Nordic Apollo. A ladder was sighted on one of the skiffs. Master made evasive manoeuvres while the armed security team onboard fired warning shots. The skiffs slowed down and returned fire resulting in the security team responding. Later the pirates aborted the attempt and moved away. The US warship, Pinckney, disrupted the pirates - see above 'East Africa'.

• Gulf of Aden - December 19 (via NSC) at 0955 UTC a merchant vessel was approached by a blue skiff with 2 POB in position 12:18N - 046:31E, southwest region of the IRTC. The vessel is safe.

• Arabian Sea - December 20 (via NMS) at 1450 LT, in position 20:26N - 059:54E, approximately 54nm East of Masirah Island, MV was approached on the aft starboard quarter by a skiff travelling at 17knts. MV reported being attacked via VHF Chan 16 but no further details have been made available on the incident. The attack is 14nm Southwest of the last reported attack in the area December 4 on Malta-flagged bulk carrier, Atlantica.

• South China Sea - December 22 (via IMB) at 0400 LT: in position:07:05.00S -112:39.77E, Surabaya Inner Anchorage, Indonesia. Duty crew onboard a Singapore-flagged anchored bulk carrier, Ocean Amazing, noticed two boats moving away from the vessel with mooring lines trailing in the water. Alarm sounded and all crew mustered. Authorities informed via local agent. Indonesian Marine Police proceeded to the vessel for further investigation.

EUNAVFOR figures state 7 vessels and an estimated 200 hostages are held captive.

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. BMP version 4 is available at the link above; a high resolution version can be downloaded here.

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. 

Horn of Africa Pirate Activity

OCEANUSLive.org permits the reproduction of this image providing source and link are published (Map ToU)

Any suspicious activity should be reported to UKMTO in Dubai in the first instance (Email UKMTO 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