Tag: hijacking

Up to 15 years The prosecutor in the Paris trial of six Somalis charged with holding crew of a luxury sailing ship hostage in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 on Monday called for sentences of up to 15 years."These six men you are going to judge ... seriously endangered French lives," prosecutor Bruno Sturlese told the court."They were ready to sacrifice them to get money," he added.Somali pirates seized 30 crew members of the luxury yacht Le Ponant in the pirate-infested waters in April 2008 and held them for ransom.French special forces arrested the six men, aged 25 to 50, in an airborne operation after a ransom had been paid.Only one of them admits to being a pirate. Two admit to having been aboard the elegant 88-metre (290-foot) three-master but only to sell goats, cigarettes and the mild narcotic khat. The other three deny ever having set foot on the boat.Sturlese called for a 15-year sentence against Ismael Ali Samatar, 31, the only one to have admitted his role in the crime. The prosecutor said he had played a greater role in the hostage-taking operation than the others.But he said the others were also implicated, having been arrested aboard ...

They are charged with taking a French luxury yacht in 2008

They are charged with taking the 30 crew of luxury sailing ship Le Ponant hostage Six Somalis go on trial in a Paris court on Tuesday charged with taking the 30 crew of luxury sailing ship Le Ponant hostage in the emerald, pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden in 2008.The six men, aged 25 to 50, face life in prison if convicted of kidnapping and theft as part of a gang after they were arrested in a French airborne operation on land in Somalia after a ransom was paid.Only one admits to being a pirate, two admit to having been aboard the elegant 88-metre three-master but only to sell goats, cigarettes and the mild narcotic khat. The other three deny ever having set foot on the boat.Le Ponant left the Seychelles on March 30, 2008 with 30 crew and no passengers on board, headed for Yemen where they were to take on passengers for a cruise.On entering the notorious Gulf of Aden on April 4, the ship was boarded by pirates armed with assault rifles who forced the crew to head for Somalia.A week later, the ship's owner, shipping giant CMA-CGM, paid a $2.15-million (1.7-million-euro) ransom, the crew was ...

Somali pirates hold captive 232 crew A strong plea was made in the Lok Sabha today for urgent government intervention into the hijacking by Somali pirates of a Panama flag oil tanker holding captive 232 crew, including 35 Indians.Raising the issue during Zero Hour, senior Congress member P C Chacko lamented that the life of those held captive was in danger and no one was there to intervene as the Nigerian owner of the vessel was untraceable.The families of the Indians held captive were getting frantic calls that food and water supply on the ship M T Royal Grace was running out and urgent intervention is needed to save them, he said.Noting that India has the fourth largest Navy in the world and should not remain a silent spectator to the serious development, he wanted a strong action either through negotiations or intervention.Supported by Left MPs from Kerala, he recalled how Italy has been proactive over the arrest of two of their marines over the killing of two Indian fishermen.Source: Zeenews

Philippine ship, named Rosita, with 23 crews attacked by pirates Iranian naval forces released a Philippine freighter hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Oman.The Philippine ship, named Rosita, with 23 crews was attacked by pirates while heading from India toward Qatar, but the Iranian naval forces managed to free the ship, the IRNA News Agency reported.Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has said that Navy will dispatch its 20th flotilla of warships to the international waters."Iran's Navy will continue dispatching fleet of vessels in waters to protect naval routes and provide security for Iranian merchant vessels and tankers," he stated, the Fars News Agency reported.Sayyari stated that the Iran's naval fleet will also protect vessels belonging to other countries.In the latest development, an attempt by pirates to hijack a Panamanian ship was foiled due to the timely action of the Iranian fleet of warships present in the regionSource: Trend

Back from hell A brand new laptop meant for Jitiksa Solanki, an engineering student, is now in the hands of Somali pirates. But she does not mind. She is happy that her father, who purchased it as a surprise gift from Belgium, is back from their clutches.Shantilal Solanki, a 51-year-old sailor from Diu, was among 18 crew members of Italian-flagged tanker Enrico Levoli who were taken hostage by Somali pirates in December 2011. The tanker was carrying caustic soda to Turkey from Iran when it was hijacked off the Oman coast.After four months in captivity, the crew members - seven of them Indians - were released on April 21 after the shipping company reportedly paid the ransom.Solanki, who for more than half his life has travelled through Arabian and Red Sea as technician on cargo vessels, said he would return to work only if his Italian employers shift him to the route within Europe."By grace of god, we all returned alive. Otherwise it was four months of hell where our each breath was at the mercy of the pirates," said Solanki, now at his home in Diu with his wife and two daughters. He does not mind that the pirates ...

Greek-owned oil tanker has been hijacked Pirates have hijacked a Greek-owned oil tanker carrying 135,000 metric tonnes of crude oil while in the Arabian Sea, the first successful attack on an oil tanker off the Horn of Africa in more than a year.The vessel's manager, Dynacom Tankers Management, said it had lost contact with the crew of the MT Smyrni, a Suezmax-class tanker, following the attack off Oman at 1115 GMT (12.15 p.m. British time) on Thursday."The Liberian-flagged Tanker, the M/T SMYRNI, is carrying a cargo of 135,000 MT of crude oil," it said.Suezmax tankers typically can transport a crude oil cargo of up to 1 million barrels, compared with 2 to 3 million barrels for very large oil tankers.Dynacom gave no further details but Kenya-based piracy expert Andrew Mwangura said the vessel was headed for the Somali coastline. Industry websites said the vessel had sailed from Turkey, but there were mixed reports about its destination."Aboard are nine Indians and about eight Filipinos," Mwangura, who is maritime editor of Somalia Report, said."It is headed to Somalia," he added.OceanUSlive.Org, a social networking site for the maritime industry, said the attack was one of four to have taken place in the Arabian ...

Documents detailing al Qaeda plans to seize criuse ships reveal their plans CNN has reported a very disturbing story which revealed that investigators had obtained more than 100 al Qaeda documents outlining plots for the terrorist group. Among their plans, seizing cruise ships and killing passengers! The investigative journalist who reported on the documents is named Yassin Musharbash, a reporter with a German newspaper Die Zeit. According to this journalist, the writer of the document "says that we could hijack a passenger ship and use it to pressurize the public."This has been interpreted to mean that the terrorists would then start executing passengers on the cruise ship until their demands to release prisoners were met.The terrorist plan is also reported to have included dressing up passengers in orange jumpsuits, to make them look like al Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and to then videotape their execution.I previously testified in Congress during Congressional Hearings addressing security and safety aboard passenger cruise ships. The Congressmen at the hearing were very concerned about what security measures the cruise ship had in effect to deal not only with shipboard criminal activity that was being investigated, but also inquiries were made regarding addressing potential terrorist ...

Regarding SV Quest case A Somali pirate, who acted as the primary negotiator duringkidnap-ransom negotiations, was convictedFriday by a federal jury in Norfolk, Virginia, for his involvement in the abductionof Americans onboard ayacht, the S/V Quest. He and his fellow pirates tookfour U.S. citizens hostage andultimately killed them before their release could be secured by U.S. special forces.Mohammad Saaili Shibin, a/k/a "Khalif Ahmed Shibin," a/k/a "Shibin,"was found guilty of all counts of a superseding indictment which charged him with serving as the ransom negotiator for conspirators. Shibin was also found guilty of all counts relating to the attack on the Quest. A full list of the charges and their penalties are provided below:* two counts of piracy under the law of nations, which each carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison;* two counts of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, which each carry a penalty of up to life in prison;* two counts of hostage taking, which each carry a penalty of up to life in prison;* two counts of conspiracy to commit violence against maritime navigation, which each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison;* two counts of violence against maritime navigation, which each carry a ...

Pirates threatened the crew, stole money and then escaped in a boat - no one was injured The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued an incident alert stating that a tanker en route from Singapore to Vietnam was boarded by seven pirates late on the night of 15 April while 20 miles northeast of Horsburgh Lighthouse.The pirates, armed with guns and knives, threatened the crew, stole money and personal possessions, and escaped in a boat. The crew was not injured.For more information, click here.Source: ReCAAP