Hostages escape to freedom; Hijack W Africa & SE Asia; China, Vietnam boat squabble; Syria like Somalia? Sewol ferry crew on trial -
Eleven crew members of MV Albedo, held for 3 years and 7 months, escaped their pirate captors with UN, NGO and Galmudug officials assistance. All are being repatriated but fellow crew died during captivity. Facing the likelihood of further torture, the opportunity to escape, they ran 10 km through the dark. Quite literally, 'do or die'.
A Ghana fishing vessel , Marine 711, was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, but a successful rescue mission was conducted within 24 hours. A Liberia tanker, Fair Artemis, reported missing in the same region was confirmed released by pirates after having stolen the fuel cargo.
Another hijack, notified days after it first went missing, occurred off Malaysia, near to the location of a hijack a week earlier. Malaysia tanker, Buda Mersa Dua, was boarded and hijacked by pirates who tied up the crew, turned off radar and navigation equipment, ordered the captain and chief officer to stop the engines as a vessel approached to carry out bunkering of the fuel cargo before escaping with valuables just 10 hours later. Southeast Asia has, once again, become the world's hotspot for pirate attacks. Suspect pirates also hijack a fishing vessel in Philippines waters. Two crewmen were forced at gunpoint to jump into the sea; one was rescued the other remains missing. Locals claim pirate activity threatens fishing economy.
Chinese vessels have removed covers from their weapons to intimidate Vietnam, as China intensifies activity near the oil rig at the centre of the territorial waters dispute.
The death toll for the Sewol ferry is now at 292 with 12 still missing. In court, the Captain and crew face charges of negligence in the presence of angry family members of victims. The Captain leaded not guilty of murder along with three other crew members. Astonishingly, the crew insisted that it was the Korea Coast Guard's responsibility, no theirs, to rescue the passengers. Divers will continue to search Sewol cabins until 20 June. Some 6,000 police raided a church in search of the fugitive billionaire wanted over the ferry disaster in the biggest and most bizarre manhunt. His brother has been arrested.
Australia and Malaysia will share the cost of the next phase of the search for the missing Malaysia Airline plane. A private company is contracted to map the sea floor; meanwhile, frustrated Chinese relative organise a visit to the Airline's Beijing office but are turned away. The Airline's insurer has begun paying the families of passengers initial compensation almost 100 days after the disappearance.
Syria has become a Somalia-style failed state according to retired UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi. The conflict is spreading due to diplomatic failure.
Thousands of migrants have crossed the Mediterranean in boats from Libya, although many do not make it across with NATO warships blamed in the death of all but 9 of 72 people found dead. In Bangladesh, the Coast Guard found 5 dead and nearly 200 injured in a stricken people-smuggling boat rescued in the Bay of Bengal.
A six-month investigation by reporters from the The Guardian UK uncovers the slaves forced to work for no pay for years at a time under threat of extreme violence in Asia in the production of seafood sold in major retail stores.
Italy rejects India's calm to jurisdiction in the case of the 2 Italian marines and warns that it would seek international arbitration if it could not reach an agreement with the news Indian government.
The trial of the Seaman Guard Ohio crew and security guards was to continue in India, however it is reported that the case was adjourned as the prosecution readies their case.
Any convergence of terrorism and piracy would threaten ransom payments for seafarers, say experts. "It's an ongoing debate and one that is, where possible, ignored," says one expert.
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