Sure the Pirates lost the American Ship, but the real problems remain

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2238570/posts

Yemen Oil Tanker Recovered; 11 Pirates Seized
Saba Net ^ | 27 April 2009
Posted on April 27, 2009 12:51:07 AM PDT by nickcarraway

Yemen’s navy released on Monday an oil tanker hijacked earlier by Somali pirates in the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden, naval source said.

Early on Monday, naval forces carried out a release operation which resulted in recovering the tanker, releasing the crew and the arrest of 11 pirates.

3 marines were injured during the operation.

The tanker was returning to the southern port city of Aden from Mukalla province where it had unloaded its cargo.

On Sunday, two pirates were killed, one injured and four arrested as Yemeni naval forces freed three ships which Somali pirates hijacked off Aden.

Troops used helicopters to hunt pirates and retake over ships.

However, naval sources then said pirates could seize an oil tanker which was returning from Mukalla seaport.

The hijacking was the latest in a series of recent pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean.

Many pirates have been captured as NATO forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden freed seized ships and prevented attempted attacks against others.

ICC-CCS.ORG
http://www.icc-ccs.org

Click on the link above for more piracy-related information.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=table&tableid=26&calculations=0&Itemid=82

Live Piracy Report
The IMB Live Piracy Report (replacing the Weekly Piracy Report) displays all Piracy and Armed Robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in the last ten days. Click on the map for more details.

Incident Details: View
27.04.2008: 1050 UTC: Posn: 13:10N - 056:37.3E, Gulf of Aden.

One speed boat with 3 pirates armed with guns and RPG approached an oil tanker and ordered it to stop. Master commenced evasive manoeuvres. Pirates opened fire with the guns and RPG. After 30 minutes, two speed boats with 4to 5 pirates in each boat approached the vessel and opened fire with guns and RPG. The master continued to carry out the evasive manoeuvres and succeeded in preventing the pirates from boarding.

View
26.04.2009: 1942 UTC: Posn: 01:17S - 055:40E, About 645 nm ESE of Mogadishu, Somalia.

Pirates in a skiff attacked and fired upon a passenger vessel underway. The attempted boarding was unsuccessful due to vessels evasive manoeuvres and the armed security team onboard the vessel. Vessel sustained light damages.

View
26.04.2009: 1130 UTC: Posn: 13:25.5N – 047:24.4E, Gulf of Aden.

A product tanker was attacked and hijacked whilst underway. Somali pirates have boarded the vessel and have taken control of the ship. Further details awaiting.

View
25.04.2009 : 0600 LT : Posn: 14:00.9N – 051:31.7E, Gulf of Aden

Two small speed boats with five persons armed with guns approached a general cargo ship underway. When the speed boats were about three cables away from the vessel they opened fire using automatic guns. Master enforced anti piracy measures and prevented the boarding.

View
25.04.2009 : 0335 LT: Posn: 14:01N – 051:34E, Gulf of Aden

Pirates in skiffs armed with guns attacked and hijacked a bulk carrier underway. It is believed the pirates are in control of the vessel and have taken the crew hostage.

View
22.04.2009: 2145 LT: Posn:
03:10.8N - 105:28.5E, Off Pulau Mangkai, South China Sea.

Five pirates armed with long knives in a boat boarded a container ship underway. They attacked the master and stole ship’s cash and escaped. No injuries to crew.

View
21.04.2009: 0345 LT: Sandakan port. Malaysia.

While at berth, two robbers boarded a container ship from a small boat during heavy rain. Alarm raised and crew mustered. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped in their boat. An inspection showed three container seals were tempered with but nothing stolen.

View
21.04.2009: 0510 LT: Posn: 06:46S – 039:21E, Dar es Salaam anchorage, Tanzania.

Alert duty crew onboard a tanker at anchor saw a boat near the port quarter. The duty watchman raised alarm. On hearing the alarm ten robbers were sighted on the poop-deck. The robbers jumped overboard and escaped. On inspection the robbers had managed to gain access and steal ship stores by cutting the padlocks to the store. Port authority was informed.

View
20.04.2009: 1050-1115 UTC: Posn: 12:43.5N - 047:47.5E: Gulf of Aden.

Two speed boats with five to six pirates in each boat armed with guns approached a general cargo ship on the stbd quarter at a distance of 100-150 meters. Vessel fired rocket flares at the pirate boats and contacted the coalition warship for assistance. The pirates aborted the attempt.

View
20.04.2009: 1841UTC: Posn: 03:24.96N -105:29.83E: South China Sea.

Eight pirates armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker and stole crew cash and escaped.

View
20.04.2009: 2030 LT: Posn: 04:00.0N - 006:07.50E, 30 nm Off Onne, Nigeria.

About eight pirates, in a speed boat, wearing masks and armed with guns fired upon a chemical tanker underway. They boarded the tanker, shut down the Inmarsat system and took hostage the chief officer. Main engine was stopped under armed threat and another boat came alongside with two more pirates. Their intention was to get the ship’s cash and not to harm any crew. Master gave all cash to the pirates. Pirates kidnapped the master and 2/E and escaped with ship’s cash and crew personal belongings. The kidnapped crew were released on 22 April 2009.

View
18.04.2009: 1230 UTC: Posn: 12:18.3N - 046:29.7E: Gulf of Aden.

Pirates, armed with automatic weapons, in a blue hulled skiff approached a tanker underway. Vessel increased speed, activated fire hoses, made evasive manoeuvres and contacted coalition warships for help. The pirates aborted the attempt.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=34660

“The Legal Left Comes to Pirate’s Defense”
By: John Perazzo
Friday, May 01, 2009

SNIPPET: “In the aftermath of the recent hijacking of the U.S. ship Maersk Alabama by four Somali pirates—a crisis that ended with three dead pirates and a fourth in American custody—the lone pirate survivor, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, is set to face justice. That is, unless the legal Left, led by so-called “civil rights” attorney Ron Kuby, succeeds in blaming the United States for the attack on its own ship.

Kuby already has deployed the tactic that has been the defining emblem of his professional career—portraying a morally bankrupt defendant as a victim whose actions were compelled by a set of unfortunate external circumstances, and essentially condemning the United States for attempting to prosecute an individual who committed a grave and potentially deadly offense against American interests.

There are clear indications that as this case unfolds during the coming weeks, Kuby and his cohorts will put the respective crews of the Maersk Alabama and the USS Bainbridge (the Navy ship that came to aid the Maersk) on trial instead of the hijacker, second-guessing every action taken by the ship commanders and by the U.S. Navy SEALS who ultimately brought the crisis to a close.

The charges facing Muse are serious indeed: piracy; conspiracy to seize a ship by force; discharging a firearm in a conspiracy to seize a ship; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and brandishing a firearm during a conspiracy to commit hostage taking. U.S. law plainly dictates that “whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.”

In an effort to evade such an unhappy prospect, Muse’s mother first asked President Obama to pardon her son, depicting him as nothing more than a confused youngster who had been recruited into piracy by a coterie of persuasive “gangsters with money.” The father echoed her story, explaining that his boy had never previously hijacked a ship in the Indian Ocean.

Next, the parents sought to secure legal representation for their pirate son. Toward that end, they contacted Omar Jamal, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Somali Justice Advocacy Center. Jamal is a sort of “Somali Al Sharpton,” having made a career out of depicting his constituency – fellow Somalis living in the U.S. – as victims of American injustice and bigotry.”

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54207

Shipper-Supplied Security is Best Defense Against Pirates, Flournoy Says

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 – The U.S. military will continue its efforts to help thwart acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, but merchant-ship-supplied security is the best short-term defense, a senior Defense Department official told Capitol Hill legislators here today.

“Our goal is to encourage all vessels to take appropriate security measures to protect themselves from pirates,” Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, told Senate Armed Services Committee members.

“We will continue to respond when U.S.-flagged vessels and U.S. citizens are attacked by pirates,” Flournoy continued. “But when ships have effective on-board security measures in place, the vast majority of attempted pirate attacks can be thwarted without any need for military intervention.”

Therefore, the U.S. military’s main task with regard to piracy, Flournoy said, is “to help commercial carriers turn their ships into hard targets.”

About 78 percent of pirate attacks on merchant vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen were thwarted by the ships’ crews, Flournoy pointed out.

More than 33,000 vessels transit the Gulf of Aden area each year, Flournoy said. In 2008, she said, pirates achieved 42 successful attacks out of 122 attempts. And the relatively low instance of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden region, Flournoy said, “does have implications for how we allocate military resources.” Military or law enforcement interventions, she noted, played a role in thwarting pirates in only 22 percent of unsuccessful assaults.

“This highlights the fact that the single most effective short-term response to piracy will be working with merchant shipping lines to ensure that the vessels in the region take appropriate security measures,” Flournoy said. Such security measures, she said, can be passive or active in nature.

Passive anti-pirate security measures may include maintaining good communications with maritime security authorities, varying routes, avoiding high-risk areas, removal of external ladders, posting look-outs, limiting lighting, rigging barriers and other tactics, she said.

Commercial shipping companies also may opt to adopt active anti-pirate security measures, Flournoy said, such as rigging fire hoses to repel pirates or maintaining professional civilian armed security teams aboard ships.

The U.S. Congress could be engaged to offer tax credits so merchant shipping firms could more easily invest in anti-pirate measures, Flournoy said.

From the Defense Department’s viewpoint, Flournoy said, confronting piracy off the coast of Somalia involves components of deterrence, disruption and interdiction, and prosecution. However, she said, combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden region is a challenging endeavor for several reasons:

— The geographic area is vast; the Somalia-based pirates operate in a region of more than one million square nautical miles, making it difficult for naval or law enforcement authorities to reach the scene of a pirate attack quickly enough to thwart it.

— The causes of Somali piracy are rooted to the poverty and instability that continues to plague that country.

— International law recognizes a country’s right to arrest pirates and put them on trial. However, some nations still lack a viable system of laws or an effective judicial system to prosecute pirates.

— Many merchant shipping firms believe, unrealistically, that military forces always will be present to thwart pirate attacks. Consequently, many firms are unwilling to make investments to outfit their vessels with anti-pirate security measures.

Most merchant vessels plying the Gulf of Aden’s waters that are prepared and equipped to thwart pirate attacks successfully do so, Navy Vice Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s director for strategic plans and policy, told committee members.

“The majority of ships, notably those with high access points and reasonable rates of speed,” Winnefeld said, “are able to defend themselves quite well, without any kind of assistance, using the relatively simple passive measures that we’ve discussed.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. military will continue its longer-term efforts to prevent and punish those who commit piracy off Somalia’s coast, Flournoy said.

“We will work with allies and regional states to develop their capacity to control the seas and protect their own shipping and we will encourage them to take any steps necessary to prosecute pirates in their own courts,” Flournoy said. “And we will work, when possible, with Somali authorities to address the on-shore components of piracy – tracking pirates’ investors and safe havens.”

Biographies:
Michele Flournoy
Navy Vice Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr.

ICC-CCS.ORG
http://www.icc-ccs.org

Click on the link above for more piracy-related information.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=table&tableid=26&calculations=0&Itemid=82

Incident Details: View
03.05.2009: 0400 LT: Karamunting palm oil terminal, Sandakan port, Malaysia.

Four robbers in a fishing boat approached a chemical tanker at berth. While crewmembers were busy at the manifold, the robbers boarded the tanker using hook attached to a rope. Several crewmembers saw unidentified persons on forecastle deck and they approached them. The robbers escaped in their boat upon seeing the crew alertness. Nothing stolen.

View
03.05.2009: 0001 LT: Sandakan anchorage, Malaysia.

A fisherman offering fresh fish approached on the stbd side of a container ship at anchor. While four robbers in a speedboat approached from the port side of the vessel and attempted to board. Alert crew saw the robbers and raised alarm. Robbers aborted the attempt due to crew alertness.

View
02.05.2009: 0530 LT: Posn: 06:07S - 050:12E, About 560 nm SE Mogadishu, Somalia.

A pirate mother vessel and two high speedboats were observed at a distance of six nm from a tanker underway. Master altered course and the boats started chasing the tanker. Master raised alarm, sent distress message, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. The boats came very close to the tanker and suddenly the 2nd boat stopped chasing the tanker, probably engine problem. The 1st boat fired upon the tanker with RPG and aborted the attack as the distance from the mother vessel increased to 20 nm. No damages and injuries to crew.

View
02.05.2009: 0230 UTC: Posn: 07:19S – 052:11E, About 670 nm SE Mogadishu, Somalia.

Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a bulk carrier underway. Additional information awaited.

View
02.05.2009: 0600 UTC: Posn: 04:12N - 047:58E, Off Mogadishu, Somalia.

Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a general cargo ship underway. Further report are awaited.

View
01.05.2009: 0500 UTC: Posn: 03:05S - 053:19E, About 560 nm, SE Mogadishu Somalia.

A pirate mother vessel and two speedboats were observed by a tanker underway at a distance of 8nm. The speedboats doing 22 knots came close to the ship and fired upon at the bridge with automatic guns and RPG. The pirates tried to board the ship five times using hand ladder. Due to the ship’s freeboard and the evasive manoeuvres taken by the ship has prevented the boarding. No injuries to crew. Ship sustained some damages.

View
01.05.2009: 0540 UTC: Posn: 04:44S - 060:04E, About 960 nm ESE, Mogadishu Somalia.

Pirates in two small boats armed with automatic guns attacked a bulk carrier underway. D/O raised alarm and crew locked all access. 1st boat attempted to board the ship using ladder and the 2nd boat fired upon the ship at bridge and accommodation. Pirates aborted the attempt at 0620 UTC due to the evasive manoeuvres and the freeboard of the ship. No injuries to crew. Ship sustained some damages.

View
30.04.2009: 0224 UTC: Posn: 07:46S - 051:32E: Alphouse island off southern Somalia.

Two speed boats, the first, white hull and black stripes with 6-7 pirates and the second boat with white hull and 3-4 pirates chased a container ship and fired automatic weapons and RPG. The vessel sustained damages to it’s stbd side accommodation. One RPG shell fell onboard but did not explode.

View
04.2009:0350 UTC: Posn: 00:36N - 050:08E: 255nm ESE of Mogadishu: off Somalia.

tes armed with automatic weapons in a skiff chased a RoRo vessel and opened fire with automatic weapons. Vessel made evasive manoeuvres and escaped the boarding.

View
30.04.2009: 1224 UTC: Posn: 04:01.3S - 059:33.7E, About 900 nm ESE Mogadishu, Somalia.

Eight pirates in two speedboats armed with guns and RPG chased a container ship underway. Ship raised alarm, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. The pirates fired upon the ship with automatic guns and later aborted the attack. No injuries to crew. Ship sustained some damages. There was one pirate mother vessel, 10 - 15 meter length observed at 3 nm from the ship.

View
29.04.2009: 1250 UTC: Posn: 01:40S - 047:12E: 250nm SE of Mogadishu, Somalia.

Pirates armed with automatic weapons chased and fired upon RoRo vessel underway. Vessel made evasive manoeuvres and prevented the boarding.

View
28.04.2009: 0704 UTC: Posn: 13:49N-056:30E: Gulf of Aden.

Pirates in two skiffs launched from a mother vessel approached a general cargo ship and opened fire at it with guns and RPG. Vessel activated water hydrant and released timber baulks into the sea. Pirates aborted the attacked.

View
28.04.2009: 0630 UTC: Posn: 12:31N-046:07E: Gulf of Aden.

One blue coloured speed boat with six pirates armed with guns approached a general cargo ship underway and opened fire at it. Vessel took evasive manoeuvres and contacted warships for assistance. Vessel fired rocket flares and operated smoke signal to prevent boarding. Later the speed boats aborted the attempt.

View
27.04.2008: 1050 UTC: Posn: 13:10N - 056:37.3E, Gulf of Aden.

View
26.04.2009: 1942 UTC: Posn: 01:17S - 055:40E, About 645 nm ESE of Mogadishu, Somalia.

View
26.04.2009: 1130 UTC: Posn: 13:25.5N – 047:24.4E, Gulf of Aden.

A product tanker was attacked and hijacked whilst underway. Somali pirates have boarded the vessel and have taken control of the ship. Further details awaiting.

View
22.04.2009: 2005 UTC: Posn: 03:13N - 105:29E, Off Pulau Mangkai, South China Sea.

Six pirates armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier underway. They stole ship’s cash and crew personal belongings and escaped. No injuries to crew.

View

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2245880/posts

Sea-Jacking of German-Owned MV Victoria Has Been Confirmed (PHOTOS) [Somali Pirates]
Germany recalled its GSG-9 commando unit from the pirate-infested region over the weekend after deci ^ | May-06-2009
Posted on May 6, 2009 9:41:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Germany recalled its GSG-9 commando unit from the pirate-infested region over the weekend after deciding that attempting to storm another ship – the Hansa Stavanger – could have ended in a bloodbath.

“At approximately 09:09 a.m. AST, the Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda was advised that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo vessel M/V Victoria had been hijacked by eight pirates in the Gulf of Aden whilst proceeding towards the Port of Jeddah in the Red Sea,” the Antigua and Barbuda government said in a statement.

It added that the 7,767 gross ton, 146-metre general cargo vessel had a crew of ten and it was believed the hijacked vessel was being taken to the Somalian port of Eyl, a known pirate lair.

The statement gave no more details about the fate of the ship’s crew, believed to be all Romanian, while a US Navy spokesman said on Wednesday the ship would have 11 Romanian crew members, but he had no information on the condition of the crew.

Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet, said the ship was seized on Tuesday in an area 75 miles south of Yemen.

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program said the crew are unhurt.

The Government of the Caribbean state said the vessel, which is managed by a German company, had been registered with the European Union anti-piracy flotilla operating in the region and was navigating in the recommended East-West corridor of the Gulf at the time of the hijacking.

The crew is covered by an ITF agreement through Kru Maritime SRL with the Romanian Seafarers’ Free Union.

The 2004 built vessel is said to have been carrying 10,000 tonnes of rice, is owned by Victoria Schiffahrts Gmbh of Germany, managed by INTERSEE Schiffahrtsgesellschaft GmbH in Haren, Germany and insured by Sveriges Angfartys Assurans Forening (Swedish Club).

The German government recalled its GSG-9 commando unit from the pirate-infested region over the weekend after deciding that attempting to storm another ship – the Hansa Stavanger – could have ended in a bloodbath.

Some German politicians have since complained the government needs to improve cooperation between the military and the elite police unit to avoid bureaucratic delays in the future. An executive at INTERSEE confirmed the hijacking to Bloomberg but said he couldn’t make any further comment.

Other Pirate Updates

The Italian Navy prevented a pirate attack on an Italian-flagged tanker Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden, defense officials said.

ANSA reported the pirates fled as a military helicopter and the Italian frigate Maestrale approached. The ship, the 2004 built MT Neverland, owned by an Itakian company and managed from Monte Carlo, Monaco, was heading east toward India, carrying natural gas, the Italian news service reported.

The large crude-oil tanker with a gross-tonnage of 56,346 is said to not have been damaged and no one was hurt in the incident. Shortly after the Italian navy came to the assistance of the Greek-owned cargo vessel Michael S.

The Greek operator of the handymax bulk carrier MV Ariana, seized by pirates four days ago, has reported that it has been in contact with the captain of the ship.

The 24 crew on board are apparently in good health and the pirates have not been aggressive. The ship is being held near the Somali coast after its hijacking between the Seychelles and Madagascar.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=45081

USNS Lewis and Clark Prevents Suspected Piracy Attack
Story Number: NNS090507-02
Release Date: 5/7/2009 8:56:00 AM

From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) — At approximately 10:30 local time May 5, Military Sealift Command ship (MSC) USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1) was approached by suspected pirates off the eastern coast of Somalia and took evasive action to prevent a successful attack.

While transiting north to provide logistics support for U.S. Navy and coalition ships operating in the area, two pirate skiffs pursued Lewis and Clark for more than an hour, closing to a distance of approximately one nautical mile.

Once shipboard lookouts spotted the two suspected pirate skiffs, Lewis and Clark conducted evasive maneuvers and increased speed to elude the pirates. The ship’s embarked security team also used a long range acoustical device (LRAD) to issue verbal warnings to the approaching skiffs.

Suspected pirates then fired small arms weapons from approximately two nautical miles toward Lewis and Clark, which fell one nautical mile short of the ship’s stern. Lewis and Clark continued to increase speed and the skiffs ceased their pursuit of the U.S. ship.

“The actions taken by Lewis and Clark were exactly what the U.S. Navy has been recommending to prevent piracy attacks – for both commercial and military vessels,” said Capt. Steve Kelley, Commander, Task Force 53, to which Lewis and Clark is operationally assigned.

“Merchant mariners can and should use Lewis and Clark’s actions as an unequivocal example of how to prevent a successful attack from occurring.”

Despite recent successful pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, merchant mariners have proven successful as first-line defenders against pirates. Along with Lewis and Clark, a number of merchant vessels have conducted evasive maneuvers and other pro-active defensive measures, including embarked security teams, to protect their ships and their cargoes.

More than 30,000 vessels transit the Gulf of Aden annually. In 2009, there have been 97 attempted attacks on merchant vessels, 27 of which have been successful.

Lewis and Clark, which operates out of Norfolk, Va., is part of MSC and assigned to CTF 53 while deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Operations. CTF 53 is responsible for providing operational logistics support for the entire U.S. 5th Fleet and coalition forces both ashore and afloat. The ship also provided support to the counterpiracy task force, Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, as an afloat staging base earlier this year.

U.S. merchant mariners have a long and storied history of providing direct support to U.S. military operations ashore. From resupplying Navy ships at-sea to delivering combat cargo to deployed troops in war zones, merchant mariners have played an integral logistics support role in U.S. military operations.

For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/cusnc/.

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