http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/070130elpaso.htm
January 30, 2007
"'BEST' officers arrest 3 tractor-trailer drivers, seize their rigs
15 Mexican nationals found hidden inside 18-wheelers, SUV after illegally entering United States"
EL PASO, Texas
THE WEEKLY PIRACY REPORT - REPORT SNIPPET - QUOTE:
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php
Weekly Piracy Report
24-30 January 2007
The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 24 to 30 January 2007.
ALERT
Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Forty seven incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
The 2006 Annual IMB Report on Piracy and Armed Attacks against Ships is now published. Please see the end of this page to order.
Suspicious crafts
28.01.2007 0610 UTC in position : 11:20.0N - 065:09.9E, Indian Ocean.
A vehicle carrier underway received a call on VHF ch.16 from a small craft asking for fresh water. The craft closed in to 2 nm from the starboard quarter. Two other craft approached the ship on the port and stbd bow. Ship increased speed, raised alarm and sounded whistle. Later, the craft reduced speed and moved away.
Recently reported incidents
27.01.2007 0530 LT in position 07:01.38N 079:39.22E, Colombo Roads, Sri Lanka.
While a container ship was waiting for pilot, port control instructed master to proceed to open sea at full speed. Whilst underway, small boats followed the ship and one of the boats with two persons on board hit ships hull at stbd quarter and exploded. Another boat continued to chase the ship. Master immediately called port control for assistance. Two naval boats attended and finally destroyed the boat. Five doors to accommodation and six empty containers damaged.
26.01.2007 0330 LT in position : 06:12.64S - 108:26.01E, Balongan anchorage, Indonesia.
A tanker had one of its liferafts stolen while she was at anchor. The robbers boarded via a small boat. Local police and port security were informed via the local agent.
22.01.2007 1800 UTC in position 01:42N - 101:29E at Dumai anchorage, Indonesia.
Duty officer on an oil tanker at anchorage raised the alarm and alerted the crew when he noticed one robber on board and another attempting to board. The robbers jumped over board and escaped.
21.01.2007 2025 UTC in position 03:38.7N - 099:30.0E, 16nm off Kuala Tanjung, Indonesia.
Several unlit fishing boats approached a container ship underway. The master, suspecting piracy increased speed and started taking evasive action. One of the boats was hit on the stbd bow. The emergency alarm was raised and a search carried out. Two persons were found onboard. No one was injured. No arms were found on them however they were carrying mobile phones. Fearing further attacks and repercussions, the master continued his passage towards Singapore. The owners/agents are making arrangements to handover the two persons to authorities for investigations.
20.01.2007 0930 UTC in position 05:33.5N - 005:24.5E, Chanomi Creek, Nigeria.
Armed militants blocked the channel with many boats with sophisticated heavy weapons. They forced the master to stop the vessel, drop anchor and to lower the gangway. 17 crew members were abducted by the militants who boarded the vessel. The remaining militants took seven crewmembers as hostage and hijacked the vessel. The pilot, on board at the time, was later released. Negotiations between Nigerian authorities and militants are in progress
16.01.2007 2240 LT in position 12:01.75S - 077:11.77W, Callao anchorage, Peru.
Five persons, armed with knives, were seen climbing the stbd side of a general cargo ship at anchorage. The master raised the alarm and the robbers escaped in a wooden boat. The attempt was aborted.