Weekly Pirate Activity Update - 2 December

OCEANUSLive Weekly Pirate Activity Update 

Few attacks; MT Gemini is released but 4 South Koreans kept behind. 3 kidnapped oil workers freed in Nigeria. British navy captures 7 pirates. Somali Ambassador declares piracy can be ended by May 2012 and claims Somalis held by India are not pirates. French court jails five pirates and releases one. Piracy success rate drops despite record levels. Citadels and weapon discharge focus for private security. As Netherlands and Portugal reduce naval commitments, Spain seeks extension to EU mission. West African states pledge to work together. The Seychelles increases interaction with Russia and China.

As the Indian Chief of the Navy states, the success rate of pirates in the Gulf of Aden has dropped, and is borne out by the recent lack of attacks in the region. The Northeast monsoon generally commences at the beginning of December, however, it may not deter pirate attacks in the short-term.

MT Gemini and 21 crew members were released this week. Unfortunately, four South Koreans were kept behind in retaliation for pirates held in South Korea, despite the payment of a ransom of either $600,000 or $6 million, depending on which pirate you believe.

The three oil workers kidnapped by Nigerian pirates when attacking the C-Endeavour have been freed. No news on any ransom payment or the health of the workers has been released.

Another successful operation by the Royal Navy saw seven pirates arrested who are to face prosecution in Seychelles under an MOU agreement. In the meantime, Japan is to send a Somali teenage pirate to trial in the family court due to his age.

Two declarations made by the Somali Ambassador to India have raised the collective eyebrows. Her statement that Somali piracy can be ended by May 2012, and that the Somali men held in Indian prisons are not pirates but fishermen who had lost their way, is somewhat difficult to take seriously.

In France’s first prosecution of Somali pirates, a French court has jailed 5 of the 6 men convicted of piracy for between 4 and 8 years. The sixth was acquitted and stated to have been forced to take part in the piracy.

The growing use of citadels on merchant vessels has gained further prominence both for the successful and failed usage. At a citadel symposium held in London, maritime security companies and industry representatives heard about the lack of standardisation. What other matter occupies security providers? – the negligent discharge of weapons by team members says the head of a maritime security firm.

The Netherlands and Portugal have committed to reduction of naval forces due to economic constraints. Subsequently, EU and NATO anti-piracy missions face a shortfall of assets. The Spanish Defence Minister praises the success of the EU’s very first maritime operation, and seeks the extension of the EU NAVFOR Op Atalanta into 2014.

West African states are pledging to work together to fight the piracy spreading across the Gulf of Guinea, where it is damaging local economies.

The Seychelles continues to remain at the forefront of counter-piracy. With MOUs in place to prosecute pirates and a naval base donated by the UAE, Russia has agreed to assist in anti-piracy initiatives, whilst the President has invited the Chinese government to set up a military presence on Mahe to fight pirate attacks.

Pirate Activity - East Africa                                                  

THE ROYAL NAVY has detained seven suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean, the Ministry of Defence said today, reports the Independent.

RFA Fort Victoria Boarding Team (Photo: Independent)

They were picked up by the RFA Fort Victoria about 350 nautical miles from the Somali coast, a spokesman said.

"The Royal Navy has once again struck a blow to Somali piracy operating in the Indian Ocean," he said.

On Monday the supply ship, patrolling about 420 nautical miles from the Seychelles, received information that a Spanish fishing vessel had come under attack from a group of pirate vessels.

"The ship's Lynx helicopter was quickly despatched to investigate," the spokesman said.

"Once at the scene, the helicopter identified two suspect vessels, a whaler and a skiff, in the vicinity of the fishing vessel.

"The faster of the two, a skiff, sped away at over 25 knots as the helicopter gave chase.

"When the skiff ignored orders to stop, a specially trained sniper on board the Lynx helicopter fired warning shots ahead of the fleeing vessel which stopped and the suspected pirates on board were then taken to Fort Victoria via boat.

"Fort Victoria's Royal Marines boarding team then boarded the whaler and another skiff in the vicinity. As a result of the day's action, a total of seven suspected pirates were held on board Fort Victoria along with their whaler as evidence, with no injuries being sustained by either side."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "This latest operation demonstrates again the vital work we are undertaking to tackle piracy that threatens international shipping lanes.

"British forces are in the forefront in the fight against piracy. The resolute contribution of the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, operating as part of an international coalition, is keeping up the pressure."

Permission was given to take the suspected pirates to the Seychelles for prosecution, the spokesman said.

"With Seychelles authority granted, this will be the first case to be heard there under a memorandum of understanding signed between the UK and Seychelles governments in July 2009."

Captain Gerry Northwood of the Royal Navy, on Fort Victoria, said: "It has been a long but rewarding operation with many complex aspects. Operating under Nato tasking and in consultation with our headquarters in the Middle East and in the UK, we utilised a range of national and international assets to bring these events to a satisfactory conclusion.

"The Royal Navy has once again demonstrated that multinational co-ordination can be successfully deployed to disrupt piracy in this area in order to protect international merchant shipping."

The Foreign Office (FCO) said that a UK-trained police dog team had today gathered vital evidence to help prosecute the suspected pirates.

AN IRANIAN FISHING dhow was reported to have been taken November 28, and is now based in Bargal, on the north-eastern coast of Somali, for use as a mothership. The name and number of crew on the vessel is not known.

Release by Pirates                                                                

PIRATES HAVE RELEASED the Singapore-flagged MT Gemini and 21 crew members, although they have kept a hold of four South Korean seamen who were on the ship, pirates and maritime officials said Thursday.

South Korean Hostages (Somalia Report)

MT Gemini was taken on April 30, and pirates had initially demanded $5 million for "The Singaporean vessel has been released on Wednesday late after payment, but they kept the South Korean crew ... because they want six of their colleagues jailed in South Korea to be released," Mu'min Ali, a Haradhere-based pirate, told Somalia Report. "The ransom amount is not clear, as pirate groups don't like to reveal how much they got these days." They are now demanding to be paid compensation amounting to $4 million by the South Korean government for the loss of life of their 10 colleagues. The gunmen are holding back four South Korean crew members of the vessel until the South Korean government pays them compensation, said the sources.

The vessel was left anchor at Hobyo, he said. The vessel is now on its way to Mombasa.

Nairobi-based diplomats said the vessel would shortly get underway, and that the four Koreans were taken to an unknown destination on shore.

The Singapore-based owner Glory Ship Management confirmed the release in a statement.

"The pirates ... released 21 of the 25 crew on board but took four South Korean seamen, including the captain, ashore at the last moment despite earlier promises to release the entire all-man crew," Reuters news agency reported the company as saying. "We are relieved that 21 of the crew have been released and are in good health. We will expedite their speedy return home. In the meantime we are expending all efforts to secure the release of the four South Koreans still held as hostage."Somali pirates released a Singaporean flagged vessel Palm oil tanker owner by Glory Ship Co. With 25 crews, (13 Indonesians, 5 Chinese, 3 Myanmar, and 4 South Koreans) Seven months (April 16) after Somali pirates hijacked, but they kept 4 South Korea of the crew while other being released.

NIGERIAN GUNMEN HAVE freed three foreign workers, two from the U.S., kidnapped from a ship supplying a Chevron Corp. offshore oil field near Nigeria’s coast, authorities said Friday, reports Shiptalk.

The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and Chevron separately confirmed the release of the kidnapped workers from contractor Edison Chouest Offshore, based in Galliano, Louisiana. A spokesman for Edison Chouest could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

Both organizations refused to give further details about the workers’ conditions or whether ransom had been paid to secure their freedom after two weeks in captivity in Nigeria’s oil-rich, but violent southern delta.

Eight gunmen attacked their ship as it idled Nov. 17 near Chevron’s massive Agbami oil field, operated by its Nigerian subsidiary about 70 nautical miles offshore from Bayelsa state in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, officials said.

No militant group operating in the delta claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. It came after Exxon Mobil Corp. has seen other contract workers kidnapped in recent weeks. Analysts warn the attacks may signify a fraying of the amnesty deal.

Meanwhile, attacks on crude oil tankers continue to rise around Nigeria, as pirates take over vessels to steal the crude oil or gasoline held in their holds.

Piracy-Related Activity - West Africa                               

WEST AFRICAN STATES are pledging to work together to fight the piracy spreading across the Gulf of Guinea, where it is damaging local economies and starting to impact on the region's trade, according to the United Nations, reports AllAfrica.com.

Some 53 piracy attacks have been reported in 2011, up from 47 in 2010. Four of the reported attacks occurred off Togo and 22 off Benin, which share 177km of coastline, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Neither country reported a single attack in 2010.

The IMO says the real figures are likely to be higher as attacks often go unreported when the value of goods and money stolen is below insurance minimums and the ships do not wish to be delayed by lengthy investigations.

Regional cooperation

Individual governments are trying to counter the threat, but many are weak and have limited resources. The Togolese government has made some progress due to constant naval patrols and its geographical distance from Nigeria - where pirates are thought to find refuge in the labyrinthine waterways of the Niger River Delta - but invariably they find new ways to escape the patrols, said sea captain Monty Jones, chairman of shipping agents Togo Oil and Marine.

In response to the attacks, regional cooperation has started to grow - in September Benin began a six-month naval alliance with Nigeria to undertake joint patrols along the coast. The navies of Togo and Ghana are expected to follow suit.

Chris Trelawny, Deputy Director of the Maritime Safety Division at the IMO, says the organization is working with 15 coastal states - all members of Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa MOWCA) - to introduce a coast guard network, and is trying to draw on lessons learned elsewhere.

To help plan a coordinated regional response, an ECOWAS sub-committee of chiefs of defence staff will meet in Benin's economic capital, Cotonou, at the end of November. A further ECOWAS summit is planned for early 2012 to mobilize political support to combat piracy.

An assessment, co-led by UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA), is also underway in West Africa to examine the scope of the threat and make recommendations for UN support to regional efforts to halt piracy.

"There is a good precedent for international cooperation working," said Trelawny, citing success in piracy hot-spots such as the South China Sea and the waters off Singapore.

But any efforts at sea need to be backed up by rule of law on land.

"You need the judiciary, the prosecution and the port authorities involved," Trelawny noted.

A secure ocean will assist the long-term development of West Africa. If the waters were secure, private industries such as fisheries, processing plants and distributors would thrive, thereby providing more jobs and boosting the economy, Trelawny said. West African governments should "look at the 200 miles off the coast as an investment opportunity."

Piracy-Related Activity    - SE Asia                                

ReCAAP, THE INFORMATION sharing centre in South East Asia, has issued its report for October 2011. October saw, it receive reports of 9 actual incidents, compared with 15 reported incidents (13 actual and two attempted) during October 2010. The report is available here (PDF).

Pirates in Court                                                                  

A FRENCH COURT has jailed five Somali men for between four and eight years for hijacking a yacht and taking the French couple hostage.

The incident took place in the Gulf of Aden in September 2008.

A French navy team raided the vessel, Carre d'As, two weeks later, killing one captor and detaining the others.

A sixth man was acquitted. It is France's first prosecution of suspected Somali pirates.

The prosecutors had asked for the men, now aged between 21 and 36, to be sent to jail for between six and 16 years.

They were charged with hijacking, kidnapping and armed robbery after seizing the boat and its crew.

They were accused of attacking the Carre d'As on 2 September 2008 and demanding a ransom of $2m (£1.3m; 1.5m euros) for the release of French couple Jean-Yves and Bernadette Delanne, both aged 60.

A lawyer for one of the defendants said his client was a fisherman who had been forced to take part in the attack because he was a seafarer. 

Another lawyer said the organisers of the attack were still at large. Read more at OCEANUSLive.

THE TOKYO FAMILY Court decided Wednesday to send a Somali teenager suspected of attempted piracy against a Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. tanker in the Indian Ocean off Oman in March back to prosecutors for possible indictment, court officials said, writes Japan's The Mainichi Daily News.

If he is indicted again, following his initial indictment in April after which he was sent to the family court, he will stand trial before a panel of professional and lay judges at the Tokyo District Court.

The prosecutors had indicted him as an adult, but in his first hearing before the district court on November 4 he said he was born on Dec. 22, 1991, which, if true, means he is a 19-year-old minor.

The court dismissed the indictment in a ruling given the same day, saying there was reasonable doubt about acknowledging him to be an adult. The prosecutors subsequently sent him to the family court.

SOMALI AMBASSADOR EBYAN Mahamed Salah to India believes that the Somalis caught along the Gujarat coast are not pirates. According to her, they are more likely to be fishermen who had lost their way and were found on the Gujarat seas, says the Times of India.

Salah added that her government was considering talks with the Indian government for the release of detained men. "They did not possess any weapon or other things that proves them to be pirates," she told TOI, during a conference at the Gujarat National Law University.

"We don't want our nationals to be a burden on any other country.

We would prefer to take them back to Somalia," she said.

The conference organized by GNLU, which discussed sea piracy, saw participation from around 35 countries and delegates from international organizations such as European Union (EU), International Maritime Organization (IMO), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), UN CGPS Working Group and United Nations Office on Drugs & Crimes (UNODC).

Two batches of African nationals were caught along the Gujarat coast on June 20 and 27. Of these 32 were Somalis and suspected to be pirates. There are more than 100 Somalis languishing in India, all of them caught by the Indian Navy.

On Saturday, Salah insisted that the Somali government will not only crack down on piracy in different ways but also put into place an anti-piracy law next year. Speaking at a conference she said the Somali government will introduce a "national security and stabilization plan" from January 2012.

Through this plan, Somalia will employ marine police and coast guards to put a check on piracy.

Salah also said her government will be tracking the hawala system of money transfer to understand the roots of operation of the pirates and see if they are channelling ransom money to terror organizations. "The hawala system of money transfer has been a problem in tackling the issue of sea pirates."

When asked about the connection of pirates with Al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group from Somalia, Salah said that it could not be established yet.

Private Security                                                             

THE ISSUE OF shipboard citadels is one of the most complex and divisive in the industry. Get the citadel right and it can save an entire crew, get it wrong and you could be consigning them to death, writes Shiptalk.

That was the harsh and stark message from the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) “Citadel Symposium” held onboard HQS Wellington in London yesterday [Wednesday, Nov 30]. 

Citadels are giving even the senior and seasoned of maritime professionals sleepless nights, and concerns about the way they are created, the facilities they contain and the actual ability of them to withstand attack are real problems.

The industry has been slowly coming to terms with the citadel issue, but the advice, is by its very nature, generic. So for an industry which usually has such prescribed standards it all feels a little woolly. With pirates reportedly taking plastic explosives onto vessels to breach citadels, drilling through bulkheads to pour petrol inside and firing rockets and bullets indiscriminately, it is clear that there are serious problems to tackle.

The SAMI event drew a significant crowd, and the invited audience heard from the intelligence community about the attacks in which citadels have been used, there was a paper on the pirate tactics against citadels and a security consultants real-life experience of taking a crew into a citadel. The full house then heard the military and formal industry view from NATO and BIMCO, respectively.

With armed guards and ransoms being the subject of so much debate of late, there are many who feel the shipboard citadel issue has not received the prominence it should. Citadels are a potentially vital part of a layered shipboard defence, but despite the increasing number of occasions where crews have foiled pirates by withdrawing into a citadel there is not much joined up thinking about their construction.

[OL Note: Long-range communications constantly featured as an issue requiring urgent attention. The case of the Montecristo using a ‘message in a bottle’ is an example of poorly considered communications. A facet necessary before any rescue mission can be considered by naval forces.]

IN A RATHER surprising admission, one maritime security provider has spoken out at length in Lloyd’s List on the growing number of unreported negligent discharges of weapons by private armed security guards, writes Shiptalk.

The revelations have been made by head of Redfour Will McManus, amid calls for greater regulation of the sector.

“There have been loads of negligent discharges that haven’t been reported and if insurers knew what was really going on they would pull their finger out and push for regulation, because currently shipowners are putting their ships and crew at risk,” said Redfour boss McManus.

Regulation of the private maritime security sector was now required urgently, he added. As yet he believes there are no formal or international standards to which a firm offering an armed service has to adhere, and it is up to the shipowners’ discretion who they employ.

Which is rather downplaying the significant action taken in this regard by the IMO, SAMI, BIMCO and others and the raft of regulations, checks and balances expected to emerge in 2012.

The industry has actually reacted incredibly swiftly on this issue, and these things do take time to get right. Statements like this serve to only undermine these efforts, while potentially damaging the reputation of security providers at a time when much work is being done to build bridges between the shipping and security industries.

It remains clear that shipping needs security, but in the words of SAMI, “it has to be the right security”. There are mammoth efforts being made to bring security in line with the rest of shipping, and with improvements of reporting and accountability and the problems highlighted by Redfour will become a thing of the past.

A SWISS GOVERNMENT initiative will establish a system for licensing private security companies, including those working in the marine sector, by the middle of next year – Neptune Maritime Security.

Along with Switzerland, the US and Australia, the UK is a member of the temporary steering group of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers (ICoC) which is working to establish a mechanism and standards to monitor compliance.

“We expect to publish a draft charter for public consultation in mid-January next year and to be in a position to establish the governance mechanism for the ICOC in mid-2012,” the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Henry Bellingham said.

“ICOC signatory companies will then be able to begin the application process to become certified by the ICOC, through a process of independent compliance audit and verification.”

Of the 211 PSCs that have signed up to ICOC, one third work exclusively in the maritime sector and 80 are UK-based.UK national standards will be based on the ICOC standards to avoid duplication, but for maritime-based PSCs the standards will also take into account the draft interim guidance to commercial maritime providers produced in the UN Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

Call to Arms & Actions                                                   

FROM MAY NEXT year, world would be free of Somali pirates, said Ebyan Mahamed Salah, ambassador of the Republic of Somalia in India. The ambassador said this while talking to DNA India on the sidelines of the Global Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy Conference-2011 in Gandhinagar on Saturday.

The Somalian government has prepared a master plan to disarm the 'sea gangs' and have the areas controlled by them, mapped.

The government has mapped primarily four small islands where the pirates wield enormous influence. These four islands are Harardhere, Garo Ad, Hobyo and Eyl, the ambassador said.

Salah further said that a dialogue was going on with the pirates on these islands and that the Somalian government was sure that it will come up with a solution to the menace.

"Government has set a deadline of May 2012 for this and we are confident of disarming these sea gangs by then," Salah said.

"The government has already initiated efforts to 'rehabilitate gangs that have proliferated on these islands," she said. The government is also in the process of framing a number of policies.

Ambassador said, at present, Somalia doesn't have any laws to deal with piracy. But by May 18, 2012, a framework will be in place for this, she said. To combat the menace, it was necessary to restore stability, Salah added.

Salah said poverty was not the only reason why Somali youth took to piracy. "They are lured by the prospect of earning quick bucks," said Salah. She said one simple but effective solution to the problem of piracy was to stop paying ransom.

OBSERVING THAT EFFORTS of navies of various countries have helped foil a large number of pirate attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma today said around one out of every 10 attempts by the sea-brigands were only successful this year.

Addressing the annual press conference ahead of Navy Day celebrations on December 4, Verma said, "Due to sustained efforts of navies and the shipping community, the success rate of piracy has dropped from 38 per cent in 2008 to 11% this year."

On performance of Indian Navy in anti-piracy operations, he said it has substantially increased its deployments for this purpose in the East Arabian Sea including in areas of Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands.

"As a result of these deployments and actions against four pirate mother-ships this year, the threat of piracy attacks has sharply reduced in this area. Over a 100 pirates were apprehended and 73 fishermen and crew were rescued during anti-piracy operations in the East Arabian Sea this year," he said.

Verma said as a result of the naval action in Gulf of Aden by several countries, piracy has now shifted to new areas including the East Arabian Sea. Read more at DNA India.

PRESIDENT JAMES MICHEL [of the Seychelles] has met with the Head of Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergey Kryukov this afternoon at State House. Mr. Kryukov was accompanied by the Russian Ambassador to the Seychelles, Mikhail Kalinin (Right).

Russian Minister & President Michels (Photo: Statehous.gov)

President Michel praised the bilateral relations between the Seychelles and Russia, particularly in view of the recent support of Russia for Seychelles anti-piracy initiatives in international fora. Read More at OCEANUSLive.

THE SEYCHELLES ON Friday invited Beijing to set up a military base on the archipelago to beef up the fight against piracy there, Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Paul Adam said - AFP.

The declaration comes as Liang Guanglie makes the first-ever visit by a Chinese defence minister to the Indian Ocean island state.

"We have invited the Chinese government to set up a military presence on Mahe to fight the pirate attacks that the Seychelles face on a regular basis," Adam said.

"For the time being China is studying this possibility because she has economic interests in the region and Beijing is also involved in the fight against piracy," he explained.

General Liang, who arrived in Victoria on Thursday with a 40-strong delegation, had been invited in October by Seychelles President James Michel, when he was on a visit to China.

The two countries signed a military cooperation agreement in 2004 that has enabled some 50 Seychelles soldiers to be trained in China. They renewed their agreement on Friday but without making public the new details.

If the Chinese military base goes ahead, "it won't be the first foreign military presence here because the Americans already have a small drone base here that they use in the fight against piracy," Adam said.

BRITAIN WILL SEEK to build consensus on measures to tackle instability and piracy in Somalia, such as improved humanitarian aid and economic support, when it hosts a major international conference next February, reports Reuters.

The meeting, to be hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron, will be held on Feb. 23 in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

"Now is the time, we believe, to seek intensified international action on Somalia," Hague told parliament. "That country is a scene of great human suffering, but is also a base of piracy and terrorism, which exacerbate the country's plight and threaten our own security."

A fleet of foreign naval vessels patrols strategic sea lanes off Somalia, where pirates prey on commercial vessels and private yachts and hold them for ransom.

Cameron announced last month that British merchant ships sailing off the coast of Somalia would be able to carry armed guards to ward off pirate attacks, bringing it into line with many other countries.

The prime minister has described the east African nation as a "failed state that directly threatens British interests," citing attacks on tourists and aid workers, and radicalisation of young Britons by militant Islamists with roots in the region.

Hague told parliament on Monday that tens of thousands of Somalis had died in recent months, while a million were internally displaced and faced the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

He called for a wide-ranging approach to undermine al Shabaab rebels and tackle piracy, coupled with economic support, humanitarian aid and assistance to the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM.

"The aim of our conference in London in February will be to build agreement on such a reinforced international approach," he said.

The high-level conference is expected to gather regional players, as well as representatives from the United States and other countries, a government source said.

GUJARAT CHIEF MINISTER Narendra Modi emphasised on the need to evolve a strategic consensus and agreement among different nations for a common legal and judicial framework to combat the growing menace of terrorism and piracy through sea routes – DNA India.

Modi was inaugurating the two-day international conference on ‘Global Maritime Security & Anti-Piracy’ at Gandhinagar.

He stressed on the need to ensure that no terrorist attack takes place along the sea coast in a country like India which has a long coastline. Gujarat has a 1600km long coastline.

Modi said that the 26/11 attack on Mumbai cannot be forgotten and to avoid such incidents, coastal security has to be increased.

Justice Dancan Gaswagha, Seychelles Supreme Court, Ambassador for Denmark in India Freddy Swane, Ambassador for Somalia Coast, Ebyan Mahamed Salah and others were also present at the conference.

In all, delegates from 30 countries are attending the 2-day conference which is being organised for the first time in the state, by the Gujarat National Law Society.Modi said that since the conference is being held on 26/11/2011, it assumes special significance in the context of the 26/11 terrorist attack from the seaside on Mumbai.

CM also spoke on terrorist outfits abusing navigation communication technology, making dents into maritime security, throwing new challenges to security forces and pushing the world to destructive mentality. There is a need for co-ordination and evolving consensus between diplomatic and military forces.

IRAN’S NAVY PLANS to hold the massive Velayat 90 naval exercise in the Sea of Oman and north Indian Ocean in the near future in order to display Iran’s defensive and deterrent naval power, its navy chief says – Neptune Maritime Security reports.

The exercise will be different to those held previously due to the scale of equipment and larger exercise theatre, according to Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

It is expected that the Iranian Navy will deploy destroyers, missile-launchers, heavy and light submarines and aircraft for the exercise, as occurred during Velayat 89 in May last year.

At a press conference on Saturday Sayyari said that Iran’s Navy will take delivery of three domestically manufactured light submarines of the Ghadir class today, which is National Navy Day.

Commenting on the United States’ joint war games with certain egional countries, he said such moves are “psychological warfare”, which could not help improve security in the region.

He also advised regional countries to try to stand on their own feet because holding joint military exercises with arrogant powers will not enhance their military capability, the Tehran Times reports.

Sayyari also gave an update of Iran’s anti-piracy efforts. So far Iranian warships have escorted 1 300 merchant ships and oil tankers the north of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden and engaged in more than 100 clashes with pirates. Iran's Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard maritime trade and in particular ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran. Sayyari added that 16 flotillas have been dispatched to open seas over the past two years.

The Iranian Navy has been developing its presence in international waters since last year, in order to protect vessels against pirates and to showcase Iran’s naval power.

SOUTH KOREA ON Tuesday staged a joint anti-piracy exercise in the waters off the south-eastern city of Masan, involving its latest replacement forces for its 300-strong contingent in Somali waters – Neptune Maritime Security.

The naval exercise, also involving coast guards and a vessel from a private shipping company, was jointly staged by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The ninth replacement for the Cheonghae Unit stationed in Somali waters includes a 4,400-ton destroyer.

The South Korean unit has been operating in Somali waters since early 2009 as part of international efforts to help protect ships passing through the Gulf of Aden, also used by some 500 South Korean vessels annually.

In January, Navy commandos from the Cheonghae unit raided a South Korean freighter hijacked by Somalian pirates, rescuing all 21 crew members and bringing five Somali pirates here for trial (Yonhap News).

Piracy at Record High                                                        

SOMALIA’S PIRATES ARE on pace for another record year in 2011, with 199 attacks as of October versus 126 over the same period in 2010 – via Neptune Maritime Security

And unfortunately, modern piracy, thought to have been successfully contained elsewhere in recent years, is not a phenomenon confined to Somali privateers in the Gulf of Aden. Global piracy is back in a big way.

The hottest new zone for pirates is West Africa, whose oil-rich Gulf of Guinea has seen a spike in attacks this year. Nineteen attacks were reported off the coast of Benin in 2011, after none in 2010. There were also six off the Nigerian coast and three off the coast of Ghana. Many more likely go unreported. In October, the presidents of Nigeria and Benin held the region's first ever head-of-state summit devoted to piracy.

West African pirates are a bit more traditional than their Somali counterparts -- they tend to go after a ship's cargo rather than kidnapping for ransom money. Sailors have been tied up, beaten with rifle butts, and whipped with electrical cables. In some cases, entire crews have been shot. Whereas Somalia's piracy is often seen as a function of the country's on-land instability, the same can hardly be said of Ghana, one of Africa's most stable and peaceful democracies, with a projected growth rate of 13.5 percent in 2011.

It's thought that the region's oil boom is proving a draw for modern-day pirates.

And it's not just Africa. Indonesia's International Chamber of Commerce reported this year that pirate attacks are at their highest level since 2007. Even Peru, where piracy is virtually unheard of, saw an attack this year on a Japanese fishing trawler by a gang of criminals calling itself the "pirates of the sea."

Overall, the first nine months of this year saw 352 attacks - a record level. In the past two years, the United States, Europe, and even China have launched military initiatives to battle piracy. But as the numbers show, the potential riches of high-seas crime make it very hard to stop the rise of new-age buccaneers.

Task Force                                                                          

GERMAN FEDERAL FOREIGN Minister Westerwelle's speech in the German Bundestag on the extension of the Atalanta mission off the coast of Somalia, reports StarAfrica.com.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Members of this House, Atalanta's fight against piracy off the Horn of Africa has not only been broadly supported in this House, it has also been successful.

On behalf of the Federal Government I thus ask you to approve the extension of German participation in EU led Operation Atalanta.

Atalanta acts on behalf of the United Nations and at the request of the Somali Transitional Government. On 7 December 2010 the Council of the European Union decided to extend Atalanta until 12 December 2012. That means what we are doing is not only covered by international law, but also embedded in European and international contexts.

The freedom of the seas and security of sea routes are of particular importance strategically. It would be a mistake to ignore that. It would also stand international law on its head. Ladies and gentlemen, Europe profits more than any other continent from the free flow of global trade: the most important trading route between Europe, the Arabian peninsula, and Asia runs through the area off Somalia, above all through the Gulf of Aden. Keeping this route open is an important international security task and is in Germany's inherent interest. I cannot see anything bad about protecting the ships of the international community, or our own ships. That is our right. I even believe it is our duty to protect our ships and their crews.

Within Atalanta, Germany is among the leading contributors and currently provides the commander of the forces in the theatre of operation. That fulfils our responsibilities to our partners, also those in the European Union.

Of course, we are supporting the anti-piracy measures at sea by fighting the causes of piracy on land and by assisting in rebuilding the Somali state. We provide humanitarian aid to ease the suffering experienced directly by millions of people.

THE NETHERLANDS HAS suspended its contribution to the EU and NATO anti-piracy missions until April, says Radio Netherlands.

The naval supply vessel HNLMS Zuiderkruis left Somali waters on Tuesday and headed for home. The supply vessel will be relieved by ships from other countries involved in the mission.

The frigate HNLMS Van Amstel will take part in the EU anti-piracy mission Atalanta from April, to be followed one month later by the frigate HNLMS Evertsen which is to make a contribution to the NATO mission Ocean Shield. A Dutch submarine will also be taking part in Ocean Shield.

The Netherlands will also supply a commander who is to take chargeof all ships taking part in the NATO operation. Part of the mission’s international staff will consist of Dutch soldiers.

The Zuiderkruis is expected to enter its homeport of Den Helder on 15 December. The 36-year-old ship will be decommissioned as a result of cuts to the defence budget.

THE SUPERIOR COUNCIL of National Defence [Portugal] has approved the Portuguese government’s proposal for military missions abroad next year, putting an end to participation in NATO’s anti-piracy mission off Somalia and in the EU peacekeeping mission in Bosnia – Portugal News Online.

The council announced it had given its blessing to participation in the EU’s Atalanta anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean, a training programme for Somali troops, and NATO’s air surveillance programme over Iceland. Continued Portuguese engagement with NATO forces in Afghanistan was approved earlier. Under Lisbon’s austerity bailout programme, the Armed Forces will face a cut of 30%, or €23 million, next year for missions abroad.

THE MINISTERS OF Defence of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) have started talks in Brussels to try to solve the shortage of warships in the Atalanta mission to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, states Naval Today.

Some EU authorities intend to generalize the idea of taking military personnel onboard merchant ships and fishing vessels travelling off the coast of Somalia.

It is expected that later this year the mission has three ships in the area and that it has two boats at the beginning of 2012.

The ministers of the 27 countries also hope to reach an agreement to extend the mission’s term of office until the end of 2014.

Meanwhile, the commander of Atalanta, Duncan Potts, proposed to authorize the embarkation of “between 10 and 12″ members of the military force on the ships of the World Food Programme, which the mission is escorting and on the fishing vessels for “efficiency gains” against pirates, the newspaper La Opinion reported.

“This is already being done. Now the idea is to expand it,” said Potts.

Meanwhile, Hakan Syren, president of the EU Military Committee, warned last week that the lack of ships “is a problem.”

He also warned that the Atalanta mission “has the minimum level” of ships, a “red line” that varies throughout the year from four to six ships, the agency EFE reported.

AT A MEETING held by European Union Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers in Brussels, the acting Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, proposed that Operation Atalanta against piracy in the Indian Ocean be extended for a further two years – Neptune Maritime Security.

Carme Chacón stressed that Operation Atalanta, which is set to run until December 2012, has been the most successful EU mission to date. She also highlighted that, as of the first week of December and for the third time since the mission was launched, Spain will be assuming command of the operation, with the incorporation of the Combat Supply Ship 'Patiño' and the continued contribution of the P-3 Orion maritime patrol plane.

The Minister for Defence also recalled that, at some of the most difficult times in this region, up to 32 vessels were hijacked and 745 people kidnapped, whereas this figure is now at one quarter of that level (8 ships and 219 hostages).

With regard to Operation Atalanta, the Minister added that the European Union is currently considering a project aimed at strengthening regional maritime capabilities so that countries in the region can gradually help to ensure that these waters, considered the most dangerous in the world, are made safer. This mission would involve providing technical assistance and training to the Coast Guard of countries such as Kenya, Djibouti and the Seychelles.

Seafarers' Plight                                                                

VIETNAMESE FISHERMEN ON a Taiwanese fishing boat hijacked by Somali pirates off the Indian Ocean last December are still in stable condition after spending about one year in the hands of the pirates, online newspaper VnExpress reported, says Thanh Nien News.

On Dec. 30, 2010, the FV Shiuh Fu No. 1 was last seen being pursued by a pirate skiff 138 miles off the northeast tip of Madagascar.

There have been no communications from the crew since.

On Wednesday, Tran Van Hung, one of the fishermen, called home saying he and other Vietnamese fishermen are good and have not been beaten by the pirates, his father Tran Van Vinh said.

The phone call lasted three minutes, Vinh said.

Hung told his father the pirates demanded around US$3 million ransom, but the Taiwanese boat owner could not afford it.

The boat’s crew comprises of 12 Vietnamese, 12 Chinese and a Taiwanese captain.

The 12 Vietnamese fishermen hail from the central province of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

THE MOZAMBICAN FISHING Company Pescamar has sacked the 12 Mozambican survivors of last December's Somali pirate attack against one of the company's vessels, reports the Beira daily paper "Diario de Mocambique", reports AllAfrica.com.

The ship, the "Vega 5", was hijacked on 27 December 2010 off the coast of the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, and taken to Somalia. Here it was turned into a pirate mother ship, and the crew members were forced to work for the pirates, as they raided shipping in the Arabian Sea.

In March, an anti-piracy unit of the Indian navy engaged the "Vega 5" in a gun battle. The "Vega 5" caught fire and those aboard jumped into the sea. The Indian navy picked up 61 pirates and 13 of the original crew members (12 Mozambicans and one Indonesian).

Nine other crew members (seven Mozambicans and two Indonesians) were missing, believed drowned. The two Spanish crew members were held hostage in Somalia, and eventually released in May against a large ransom.

Pescamar cancelled the contracts of the survivors on Friday, on the grounds that the company now needed fewer workers.

The "Vega 5" survivors regard their dismissal as an injustice.

Their loyal service to Pescamar was rewarded, first by months of captivity, and now by abrupt dismissal.

"We suffered greatly because of Pescamar, but now it kicks us out of our jobs. This shows a lack of human feelings", a spokesman for the group told "Diario de Mocambique".

Even before the sackings, the survivors were pursuing a claim for compensation. They are demanding the payment of 150,000 meticais (about 5,600 US dollars) each, as compensation for the physical and psychological damage they suffered in pirate captivity.

THE MPHRP GOOD Practice Guide for Shipping Companies and Manning Agents for the Humanitarian Support of Seafarers and their Families is now available on the www.mphrp.org website under the Publication section or at this link.

Piracy Incidents                                                                     

Hijack:

• None.

Unsuccessful Attacks (All Regions):

•  Arabian Sea - 29 Nov (via NSC) at 0820 UTC, Malta-flagged bulk carrier, Christina IV,l came under attack by 1 skiff in position 15:02N - 056:39E. Pirates attempted to board the vessel but ceased attack at approx 0902 UTC. Vessel is safe. Skiff remains operational in the area. Later reports say the onboard security team fired flares and warning shots. The pirates moved to the vessel’s port quarter and fired shots. The security team moved to the port bridge wing and returned fire. The pirates then aborted the attack. A Mothership was said to be in the vicinity.

• Gulf of Aden – November 30 at 1405 UTC, St Vincent and Grenadines-flagged bulk carrier, Faneromeni, came under attack by 2 skiffs with 6-7 POB each in position 12:18N – 044:03E. The six pirates were armed with guns and RPG in two skiffs, and approached and fired upon the underway vessel. The Master raised the alarm, increased speed and all crew, except the bridge team, mustered in the citadel. The armed security team on board the vessel fired a warning shot. The pirates returned fire with AK-47. The exchange of fire lasted for about twenty minutes before the pirates aborted the attack and moved away.

• Malacca Strait – November 30 (via IMB) at 2245 LT: in position: 01:42.28N - 101:29.7E, Off Dumai port, Indonesia. Robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored Singapore-flagged crude oil tanker, Garden City River. An alert duty AB sighted the robbers and informed the OOW who raised the alarm. Seeing the crews’ alertness, the robbers jumped overboard and escaped. Nothing was stolen.

• Malacca Strait - December 1 (via IMB) at 2340 LT - Dumai Port Anchorage, Indonesia. Four robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored Philippines-flagged chemical tanker, AS Orelia, took the duty oiler as hostage and entered the engine store room. The robbers stole ship stores, released the oiler and then escaped.

AT LEAST 14 ships (7 commercial vessels, 7 fishing vessels) and an estimated 262 hostages are in the control of Somali pirates, as well as an unknown number of small dhows. See the Somalia Report Weekly Piracy Report for details of ships held.

EUNAVFOR summary of November pirate incidents (here) differs to that of their counterparts at NATO, included in their Weekly Piracy Assessment, (here), which shows the difficulty in accurate reporting of incidents in the area of operations.

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

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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

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