The Puntland government signed an agreement with Mauritius to temporarily hold inmates convicted of piracy until Puntland detention facilities meet the international standard, Radio Garowe reports - Garowe Online.
Saeed Mohamed Ragge, Minister of Ports, Sea Transport and Counter Piracy for Puntland met with Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam and various Mauritanian government officials. Minister Ragge’s delegation included Puntland Chief of Corrections Officers, Gen. Ali Nuur Omar.
The purpose of the meeting was to reach an agreement on how convicted pirates captured at sea would be incarcerated and for how long. After a long closed door meeting with the Prime Minister both government officials reached an agreement for tried and convicted pirates to be jailed in Mauritius until the facilities reach the UN standard.
The agreement says that the convicted pirates will finish their sentences in their land after the Puntland government has constructed proper facilities to house the convicted pirates.
The Mauritius government agreed to help improve the quality of Puntland corrections facilities through funding by the UN and the international community. Read more.
Six Somali pirates went on trial in Paris charged with hijacking a French yacht in 2008, the second case of its kind to be brought before a French court in a bid to tackle the problem of piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa - Defence Web.
The men, aged 25 to 50, are accused of hijacking an 88-metre luxury yacht, the "Ponant", in the Gulf of Aden in April 2008, and holding 30 members of its crew hostage in exchange for a ransom of 2.15 million euros.
Five of the six pirates say they are innocent and played no direct role in the assault, while a sixth pleaded guilty and apologised to the crew, their families and the French nation, Reuters reports.
All six men, who listed their professions as taxi-driver, truck driver, accountant and fisherman, face France's toughest jail sentence for kidnapping and hostage-taking. If sentenced to the maximum penalty, they would only be eligible for parole after 18 years of incarceration. Read more.
“You don’t have to be mad to work here…but it helps”. Ah the staple joke of many an office wall seems to have reached our new gun toting brethren of the seas, the “Armed maritime security” guard - Shiptalk.
According to Lloyd’s List, which is developing an unhealthy fascination in this armed arena, research is being undertaken to view the mental health (or otherwise) of private maritime security personnel.
Much has been made of the requirements of various standards, such as the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC), requiring employers to implement a range of policies to support a “safe and healthy working environment”, which includes the psychological health of staff. Read more.
The 90th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) ended yesterday [Friday, May 25] after intense discussions regarding the future of the private maritime security companies (PMSC’s) increasingly seen aboard passenger, bulk freight and container ships travelling routes known to be home to the threat of pirate attack. The IMO is of course after all, the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping - Handy Shipping Guide.
The MSC heard how, worldwide, seven crew members were killed in 2011, up from two in 2010, while 569 crew members were reportedly kidnapped, with the majority of piracy incidents occurring off the East African coast totalling 223 in 2011, up from 172 the year before. The drop in kidnapped personnel (down from 1,027 in 2010) would seem to indicate that the tide is turning as regards the size of vessel now under threat with captures of small fishing craft for example virtually ignored by the world’s media.
With most of the major shipping nations seeing their native flag carriers using PMSC’s to protect their investments regardless of official policy, it was inevitable that retrospective action by the IMO would become necessary if only to protect the organization’s credibility. Following the debate the MSC agreed interim guidelines for PMSC’s providing contracted armed security personnel on board ships in the High Risk Area.
The MSC agreed that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) would be best placed to develop international standards based on the guidelines agreed upon so one seriously wonders just how long it will take to develop a uniform code of practice given that people are dying on both sides of an ongoing conflict. Given the plethora of nations involved, the huge variation in the size and value of pirate targets and victims and the abundance of national laws and regulations involved nothing would be more welcome than a standardisation of protective measures but just how long will such legislation take?
The other consideration is that any such legislation can probably never become mandatory and therefore will remain voluntary, as with the Best Management Practices which have done so much to aid shipping under threat, yet are still ignored by some vessels travelling in the danger zone. The MSC’s intent is excellent, now global shipping executives will look for rapid implementation or the cases of hijacking will have virtually disappeared in vessels of a size which warrant their own security team due to the major shipping companies own policies. Read more.
EU Naval Force Operation Commander was welcomed on board Flag Ship FS Marne to visit the ‘in theatre’ Force Commander and his staff - MarineInsight.
In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Operation Commander Rear Admiral Duncan Potts visitedFS Marne and met EUNAVFOR Force Commander Rear Admiral Jean-Baptiste Dupuis and his staff. Admiral Potts exchanged views on the current situation in the area with different members of the task force staff. The meeting was an ideal opportunity to enhance cohesion between the task force and the EU HQ.
The French officers and allies from the staff, drew up an initial review of operations since the handover from the previous Spanish Flag Ship Patino on April 7, and emphasized the significant and encouraging decrease in pirate activity over recent months. Addressing the entire staff of the force, the Operation Commander congratulated them on their hard work and progress since the start of their tour.
Rear-Admiral Dupuis agreed that the improved situation is due to military action, coupled with the adoption by merchant vessels of security measures (Best Management Practices). The scourge of piracy is not eradicated and only the improvement of the situation in Somalia could allow a return to normality. In this sense, Operation Atalanta interacts with the navies of the region to help them further develop their own capabilities, as part of the comprehensive approach of the European Union in Somalia.
World leaders and Somali politicians have started talks in Istanbul on how to end decades of anarchy in Somalia - BBC News.
The two-day talks are hosted by the Turkish government, which has tried to raise Turkey's profile in Somalia since last year's drought there.
Traditional elders, business leaders and civil society groups from Somalia are also due to attend.
They are expected to discuss the end of the transition period of the UN-backed interim government, due in August.
But the government only controls the capital, Mogadishu, and one nearby town, while al-Qaeda linked militants still run many areas of the country.
In recent months, troops from the African Union, Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as pro-government militias, have helped government forces gain territory from al-Shabab but the militants continue to stage attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
Kenya's government has accused al-Shabab of carrying out Monday's bombing in Nairobi, which injured some 33 people.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that Mogadishu was now open for business, reports the AFP news agency. Read more.
Image - Turkey has been at the forefront of giving aid to Somalia and started commericial filghts to Mogadishu last year.
IMO helps strengthens international resolve to tackle piracy - a video update.
Shipping costs could rise by 150 per cent over the next 10 years, if piracy in the Persian Gulf continues to increase - Supply Management.
A report said new criminals joining the ranks of pirates in Somalia would push up the cost of security and insurance premiums.
The study, Managing Supply Chain Risk: Understanding Piracy Threat, published by AT Kearney and the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) detailed three possible outcomes affecting supply chain costs in the Gulf depending on how the piracy problem is tackled.
The first of these - if pirate attacks increase - will dramatically raise supply chain charges. The current cost of pirate attacks off the coast of the Horn of Africa is estimated to be between $3 billion (£1.9 billion) to $6.5 billion (£4.15 billion).
In the second scenario – an increase in international counter piracy measures would contain the rate at 30 to 50 per cent of its current intensity. There would be no additional cost to the supply chain. Lower ransoms would help reduce costs, but these would be offset by higher spending on security. Insurer premiums would remain stable.
A third outcome - the economic stabilisation of Somalia - would be a permanent solution where piracy would be eradicated from the region. Additional costs would initially remain the same for the next two or three years, but would start to decrease later along with insurance premiums. Read more.
Capt. Miro Alibasic from Croatia was en route to Oman aboard his crude-oil tankerZirku - Safety4Sea. As they passed through the notorious Gulf of Aden, every sailor's nightmare since antiquity materialized before his eyes-pirates were attacking his ship from all directions.
Around 50 heavily armed Somalis in small skiffs, dispatched from a mother ship, surrounded the supertanker, attempting to board.
"I was trying to avoid it by zigzagging and using water canons. But once I lost speed, they hooked me. ... There was nothing I could do," recalls Alibasic.
The pirates boarded the ship and ordered Alibasic and his 34-man crew to kneel down. Alibasic refused and asked the pirates to put down their guns and invited them to come on board to talk.
The crew was locked up inside the ship and forced to stay put-some facedown on the floor.
It was only the first of an 87-day ordeal.
"I am not into mathematics. You can calculate how to navigate a supertanker or how to fly to the moon. But once you are in a warzone, what are you going to calculate?" Alibasic said about the chances of survival in such a situation. Read full article HERE.
More than half the crew members of a Norfolk-based container ship that was at the center of a piracy drama off Somalia in April 2009 are seeking damages totaling nearly $50 million NECN.com.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday that the lawsuits have been filed by 11 crew members aboard the Maersk Alabama. The five-day standoff ended when Navy SEALs killed three of Capt. Richard Phillips' captors.
While Phillips was hailed as a hero, his former crew members allege the New Englander's actions put them in grave danger when the ship sailed within about 250 miles of the African coast despite warnings to stay at least 600 miles offshore because of the threat of piracy.
The ship's owner and a contractor are named in the suits, filed in Norfolk and Alabama.
The Guardian reports one of the most remarkable stories of derring-do on the high seas in modern times has become mired in lawsuits, it has emerged.
The saga of the Maersk Alabama, which was attacked by Somali pirates three years ago, is set to be made into a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks.
But real-life crew members are engaged in legal mutiny, with more than half now suing the vessel's owner and operator claiming their lives were endangered, the Virginia-Pilot newspaper has reported.
The 2009 incident captured the world's attention after the ship's skipper Captain Richard Phillips offered himself as hostage to the pirates in return for his crew and ship's freedom.
The brigands accepted, but the incident ended when elite US navy Seals snipers later shot three of them dead and freed Phillips.
Out of a 20-strong crew, 11 members have launched legal actions against their former corporate bosses claiming that it – via Phillips' actions – put them at risk. Read more.
Somalia Report publishes video of US/German journalist, Michael Moore, held hostage by Somali kidnappers.
Hijacks:
Unsuccessful Attacks/Robberies (All regions):
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South China Sea - LATE Report | A Malaysia-flagged tug, Manyplus 18, towing a laden barge departed from Sasa port, Davao City at 1400 LT at slow speed heading to Thailand as port of destination at 1530 LT: Off Talicud Island, Philippines. 90 minutes after departure, the duty crew noticed 10 small boats surrounding the barge and around 30 pirates boarded the barge, stole and transferred the cargo to their waiting boats and escaped. Incident report to Philippines police. Reported (via IMB) 17 May.
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East Africa - LATE Report | (Robbery) A robber armed with knife boarded an Isle of Man (UK) chemical tanker, Elisabeth Schulte, at berth during cargo operations at 0020 UTC: in position 04:2.9S - 039:38.7E, Berth No. 8, Mombasa Port, Kenya. The robber attacked the duty officer on deck rounds, injured him, stole his personal belongings and escaped. Master reported to port police and agent who boarded the vessel for investigation. Reported (via IMB) 24 May.
EUNAVFOR (latest) figures state 8 vessels and an estimated 235 hostages held captive (Updated 24 May). Somalia Report states 20 ships with 277 hostages and a further 25 hostages held on land bringing the number to 302 held. See Piracy Report. TheInternational Maritime Bureau (IMB) figures at 18 May are: 13 vessels and 200 seafarers held hostage.
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Horn of Africa Pirate Activity (Click on Map for Larger View)
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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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