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Greek ship latest victim of Somali piracy
The Africa News.Net
Wednesday 19th November, 2008 (IANS)
A Greek ship has become the third vessel seized by Somali pirates since they took control of a Saudi supertanker over the weekend in their most daring raid yet, a maritime official said Wednesday.
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said he had received reports that a Greek ship was taken Tuesday along with some 25 crew members. There was no information on the ship's name, cargo or destination.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, said Wednesday he could not confirm the report.
Choong said he only knew of the hijacking Tuesday of a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship and a Kiribati-flagged fishing boat.
The Hong Kong-flagged Delight, with around 25 crew onboard, was operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and was carrying wheat to Iran. The Kiribati-flagged fishing boat was operated out of Thailand and had 12 crew members onboard.
Both ships were believed to be heading to anchorage off the coast of Somalia.
Pirates have been extremely active, with other failed hijackings reported, since they seized Saudi Arabian supertanker Sirius Star Saturday.
The supertanker anchored near the Somali port of Harardhere on Tuesday. The ship's owner Vela International Marine Limited, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco, is waiting for ransom negotiations to begin.
Harardhere is around 400 km from the pirate stronghold of Eyl, where the hijackers often take ships and keep international warships at bay by holding crew members hostage.
Vela International said the ship was carrying a full load of crude oil when it was seized. The Sirius Star, which is 330 metres long, can carry up to two million barrels of oil, meaning its cargo is worth in the vicinity of $100 million.
The ship's 25 crew members, who are from Britain, Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia, are all safe, Vela International said in a statement on its website.
'Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew,' said Salah B Ka'aki, president and chief executive of Vela International. 'We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return.'
Authorities in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia and the US Navy, which operates a security patrol in the Gulf of Aden, have said they do not plan to attempt to free the tanker by force.
The Sirius Star is the largest taken by pirates in a series of hijackings in the area over the past months and represents their most daring raid yet, despite the presence of international warships.
The attack took place well outside the normal danger areas in the Gulf of Aden. The Sirius Star, which was sailing under a Liberian flag, was seized Saturday some 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.
Choong said this showed that hijackers could be changing their tactics to avoid international warships that have been deployed in the area.
The surge in piracy has prompted increased patrols by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, the US-led coalition forces and France along the Somali coast.
The European Union has also authorized a force of between five and seven frigates, which is expected to arrive in the Gulf of Aden early December.
The Gulf of Aden is a relatively narrow and busy shipping channel which forms part of the route linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.
Prior to the latest seizures, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said there had been 92 attempts at piracy off the coast of Somalia this year, 36 of them successful.
If the latest report of the Greek ship being hijacked proves correct, 17 ships are in the hands of pirates with over 300 crew.
Amongst the ships being held is Ukrainian freighter, the MV Faina, which was captured while carrying 33 military tanks to Mombasa.
A kuala Lumpur report said: Pirates have hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia, bringing the number of pirate attacks in the troubled region to 95 this year, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.
The vessel, which was seized Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, had made a distress call late Monday as it was being chased by pirates in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
However, the phone line got cut.
The Thai boat was heading for the Middle East, said Choong. He said the fate of the crew members remains unknown.
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Comments on this story
Anonymous
11-19-08, 02:39 PM |
Interesting. They say the arms for pirates came from Yemen. Remember that ship load of Scud Missiles from NK to Yemen. Wonder where they are now.
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Anonymous
11-19-08, 10:59 AM |
Greek ship latest victim of Somali piracy
Guess redeployment of spy satellites will have to suffice.
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waltky
11-19-08, 10:28 PM |
Piracy is profitable...
:eek:
Somali pirates paid up to $30m this year: UN
20 Nov 2008, Pirates plying the waters off Somalia are estimated to have netted between USD25 million and USD30 million in ransom this year as lawlessness and insecurity increases across the country, the UN chief said.
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his quarterly report to the UN Security Council the surge in piracy and armed robbery against ships along the Somali coast has severely affected trade, contributed to a humanitarian crisis, and further weakened the country’s transitional federal government. From January through October, Ban said, about 65 merchant ships, with about 200 crew members each, have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia.
“It is estimated that, since the beginning of 2008, between USD 25 and USD 30 million has been paid in ransom to pirates," the secretary-general said. That doesn’t include the potential ransom for 17 vessels and more than 300 crew members which the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Malaysia said yesterday were still in the hands of pirates. They include a Ukrainian ship loaded with weapons and a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying USD100 million in crude.
Ban said the global economic downturn has “has had severe repercussions on Somalia’s already troubled economy," with the surge in piracy affecting trade so adversely the Somali shilling has depreciated by almost 80 per cent. Inflation is “unbridled," especially in south-central Somalia where fuel prices increased by almost 170 per cent and staple food prices by more than 250 per cent between August 2007 and August 2008, he said.
[url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Somali_pirates_paid_up_to_30m_this_year_UN/articleshow/3734963.cms:
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Pirates demand ransom for Saudi oil tanker
19 Nov 2008, Somali pirates are demanding a ransom for the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star, a man presented as one of the pirates said on Wednesday, according to an Al-Jazeera audio tape.
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“Negotiators are located on board the ship and on land. Once they have agreed on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker," said the man identified as Farah Abd Jameh, who did not indicate the amount to be paid.
“We assure the safety of the ship that carries the ransom. We will mechanically count the money and we have machines that can detect fake money," the man said on an audio tape produced by the Dubai-based television network. Seized at the weekend in the Indian Ocean some 800 kilometres off the coast of Kenya, the Sirius Star is now anchored at the Somali pirate lair of Harardhere, according to local officials.
The super-tanker was loaded to capacity with two million barrels of oil when it was seized along with its crew of 25 — 19 from the Philippines, two from Britain, two from Poland, one Croatian and one Saudi. It was the largest ship yet taken by Somali pirates and the attack furthest away from Somalia.
[url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pirates_demand_ransom_for_Saudi_oil_tanker/articleshow/3731450.cms:
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