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: Location Map
06.04.2009: 0300 LT:Posn: 01:51S – 055:25E, About 630 nm SE of Mogadishu, Somalia.
Armed pirates chased, boarded and hijacked a fishing trawler underway. Information available indicates that the fishing vessel was then used to try to hijack other fishing vessels in the vicinity. Pirates later directed the vessel towards the Somali coast.
06.04.2009: 0620 UTC: Posn 12:33N - 049:02E, Gulf of Aden.
A bulk carrier was attacked and hijacked by Somali pirates whilst underway. The ship is proceeding towards Somali coast.
06.04.2009: 1900 UTC: Posn: 15:13.47N – 067:15.1E Arabian sea.
A bulk carrier underway, detected on radar speed boats approaching from the stbd bow/port bow at a distance of 12nm. The speed boats increased speed and approached closer with a CPA of 0.01nm, master increased speed, all crew mustered, activated fire hoses, switched on all lights, sent distress signal, made evasive manoeuvres and succeeded in preventing the boarding.
04.04.2009: 0530 UTC: Posn: 02:40S – 048:03E, About 315 nm SE of Mogadishu, Somalia
Pirates attacked and hijacked a container ship underway. The pirates sailed the vessel to an undisclosed location in Somalia.
04.04.2009:0641 UTC: Posn: 09:24.52N - 058:15.42E: Off Somalia.
Six pirates in a speed boat chased a container ship underway. Master contacted the piracy reporting centre who informed the coalition forces. Pirates armed with AK47 opened fire on the vessel causing damages. Master took evasive manoeuvres which prevented the pirate boat from closing in.
02.04.2009: Posn: 05:22.6N - 056:12.3E: Somalia.
While underway, a mother vessel launched two skiffs / colour blue which chased and fired upon a container ship. Master made evasive manoeuvres and prevented the boarding.
02.04.2009: 1300 UTC: Posn: 13:51.1N – 051:14.2E, Gulf of Aden.
Two speed boats, blue and white in colour, with 3 or 4 persons onboard approached a bulk carrier underway at over 20 knots. The speed boats came as close as 0.40 nm. The Master sounded the general alarm and whistle. An Indian warship was informed. Two helicopters from Japan and India responded and the pirates aborted their attempt on sighting the helicopters.
01.04.2009: 0510 LT: Posn: 02:30.10N - 104:24.20E, 6 nm NW of Pulau Aur, Malaysia.
Five pirates with masks and armed with knives boarded a tug towing a barge underway. They stole crew cash and personal belongings and escaped.
30.03.2009:1614 LT: Posn: 09:45N - 058:50E: Off Somalia.
Pirates in speed boat chased and opened fire on a bulk carrier with guns and RPG. Ship made evasive manoeuvres which prevented the pirate boat from closing in. Later, the boat retreated and proceeded towards mother vessel which was nearby.
30.03.2009: 0045 LT: Posn: 10:42N – 106:44E: Ho Chi Minh port, Vietnam.
Six robbers in a wooden boat boarded a bulk carrier from the bow. They stole ship’s properties and escaped. Incident was reported to local authorities and police boarded vessel for investigation.
29.03.2009: 2123 LT: Posn: 11:50.2N - 044:53.3E Gulf of Aden.
Pirates in a speed boat approached and attempted to board a chemical tanker underway by using metal hooks and ropes. Alert crew prevented the boarding and informed duty officer on bridge. Vessel made evasive manoeuvres and escaped from the pirate attack.
28.03.2009: 1555 LT: Posn: 07:21.7S - 046:44.4E: 420 NM off Dar es Salaam port, Tanzania.
A high speed boat launched from a mother ship chased a container ship. The vessel increased speed and commenced made evasive manoeuvres. The speed boat came s close as 3 cables to the ship but stopped, probably due to engine problem. Ship continued passage.
28.03.2009: Approx. Posn: 09S – 047E, Off Seychelles islands / off Somalia.
A yacht with seven crew departed from Seychelles. Pirates boarded and hijacked it. On 01.04.2009 the master contacted the owners to inform that the yacht had been hijacked. The pirates are believed to be sailing the yacht to the Somali coast.
26.03.2009: 2220 LT: Lagos anchorage, Nigeria.
Ship’s crew onboard a chemical tanker at anchor noticed a boat with several persons armed with machine guns rocket propelled grenade launchers and machetes attempting to climb onboard with the use of a rope. All crew alerted and alarm raised. Upon seeing the alert crew, the robbers aborted the attempt and escaped.
24.03.2009: 1000 LT: Posn: 06:40N- 099:14E, Off Koh Tong (Tong island), Satun province, Thailand.
Three robbers armed with knives and a hammer attacked and boarded a yacht. They assaulted and killed the skipper and threw his body overboard. The skipper’s wife was also injured. The Satun marine police was notified and sent patrol boats to search for the dead body. When the police arrived at the yacht area, three men were on the life raft. The police detained all three men who were Burmese. The police said that the three Burmese suspects had earlier escaped from a fishing boat by jumping off the boat and headed to the yacht. The body of the skipper was later recovered and sent to the forensic department for further investigation.
Yeah, the real problems remain and here’s one of them...
—
Merchant crews aren’t supposed to fight pirates, short of using high-pressure hoses to try to stop them from climbing aboard, said John F. Reinhart, president and CEO of Maersk Line Ltd.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97EH7HG1&show_article=1
—
The crew will probably get fired now for taking control of the ship back...
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53843
Pirate Attack Foiled by Ship’s Crew, Defense Officials Say
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2009 – A ship taken by pirates off the coast of Somalia this morning is now presumed to be under the control of its crew again, Defense Department officials said.
The cargo ship Maersk Alabama was attacked by pirates early this morning and presumed hijacked, according to information provided by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. The vessel was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was assaulted about 300 miles off Somalia’s coast, officials said.
The Maersk Alabama is home-ported in Norfolk, Va., and has a crew of about 20 U.S. nationals, John Reinhart, president and CEO of the ship’s owner, Maersk Line Ltd., told reporters today.
Reinhart said his company is contacting the crew’s family members. He declined to confirm the ship’s retaking by its crew, or to release the names of crew members.
The Maersk Alabama’s crewmembers were trained to deal with pirate attacks, Reinhart said.
Pentagon officials noted there were four would-be hijackers, at least one of whom was captured by the ship’s crew.
Pirates who attack merchant ships traveling off the coast of Somalia are difficult to deter because of the large area in which they operate, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters today that he didn’t want to comment on possible actions that could be taken in response to the Maersk Alabama’s apparent hijacking.
However, Whitman said the piracy issue “is not going to be something that is solved in a purely military way or in international waters.”
“This is going to have to be something that is addressed broadly by the international community,” Whitman continued, “It’s going to have to be addressed diplomatically, militarily (and) legally.”
The complexity of the piracy issue requires taking “a very broad approach to addressing it,” Whitman added.
Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have attacked five vessels over the past week, according to news reports, not including today’s attack on the Maersk Alabama.
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of Combined Maritime Forces based in Bahrain that oversees anti-piracy efforts in the region, provided an updated advisory notice to regional merchant shipping in a news release issued yesterday.
“We synchronize the efforts of the naval forces deployed to the region,” Gortney said in the release. “However, as we have often stated, international naval forces alone will not be able to solve the problem of piracy at sea.”
Piracy “is a problem that starts ashore,” Gortney added.
And, despite the increased naval presence in the region, Gortney’s notice said, because of an area of water that’s four times the size of Texas, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack.
In view of the pirates’ activity, merchant mariners should be highly vigilant when traveling through Somalia’s coastal region, the release stated.
The release noted that a number of merchant vessels transiting the waters off Somalia have successfully employed evasive maneuvers and other defensive tactics to thwart attempted pirate attacks.
For example, a Panamanian-flagged vessel employed evasive maneuvers and fire hoses to thwart an attempted pirate attack, according to the release.
Biographies:
Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, USN
Rear Adm. Michelle Howard, USN
Related Sites:
U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet
U.S. Navy Second Fleet
Related Articles:
Two Dozen Nations and Maritime Security Conference Enhance Interoperability
Multinational Task Force Targets Pirates
Crews who are armed to the teeth would stop this crap, instantly!
Thanks to Ernest at the Beach for the ping to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2226616/posts
“U.S. Naval Institute CEO: Hit the Pirates at Their Bases in Somalia”
U.S. Naval Institute ^ | April 10, 2009
Posted on April 10, 2009 2:27:07 PM PDT by Saint X
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/11/ship-captain-tried-escape-pirates-adding-reinforce/
“U.S. merchant captain fails in attempt to escape”
By Sara A. Carter
Saturday, April 11, 2009
SNIPPET: “Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder said he could not discuss details of the ongoing operations to free the hostage.
“We’re still monitoring the situation and assessing the options available to us,” Col. Ryder told The Washington Times.”
BLOG:
http://threatswatch.org/commentary/2009/04/somali-piracy-a-solution/
“Somali Piracy: A Solution
Security Aboard Ships - Not USS Sledgehammers - To Fight At Point of Pirates’ Attacks”
By Steve Schippert | April 9, 2009
SNIPPET: “Still, the piracy has long been the most widely covered news out of Somalia for Americans. And for this reason, many of them might be shocked to know that al-Qaeda’s Somali franchise al-Shabaab actually controls much of the country.”
SNIPPET: “The only tenable solution is to put the prevention at the point of risk: Aboard the vessel.
It is the only solution - sans magical liquidation of all pirates and their havens - that is fast-reacting enough or cost effective enough. (Have you ever checked the expense tab of operating a US Navy destroyer for a 24-hour period of steaming? It’s an expense only a stimulus’s mother could love.)”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,514719,00.html
“Ship Captain Rescued From Somali Pirates”
Sunday, April 12, 2009
SNIPPET: “American sea Captain Richard Phillips was safely rescued Sunday from four Somali pirates, who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a U.S. intelligence official said.
Three of the pirates were killed and one was in custody after what appeared to be a swift firefight off the Somali coast, the official said.
Initial reports indicate Phillips jumped overboard for a second time and the military was able to take advantage of the situation.
Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vt., was transported to the USS Bainbridge nearby. He is resting comfortably after a checkup, the Navy said.”
http://www.makingsenseofjihad.com/2009/04/somalia-then-and-now.html
#
http://osint.internet-haganah.com/archives/001573.html
April 05, 2009
“THE AFRICAN ADVANTAGE”
SNIPPET: “Marisa at Making Sense of Jihad dug something out of her archives.”
SNIPPET: “6 Western interests use Africa’s “maritime routes” to transfer weapons and equipment” and “use these routes to shift oil to the rest of the world. Targeting these routes will be fatal for the Crusaders…””