Tag: hijacking

It was released on Saturday after several months of negotiations MV Sinin, a merchant vessel, that had been captured by Somali pirates in February this year, was released on Saturday after several months of negotiations.The vessel, which had 21 persons onboard, including nine Indians, is expected to reach Colombo, Sri Lanka in another week."The Directorate-General of Shipping has been informed that MV Sinin, which was hijacked by Somali pirates on February 12 this year, has been released on August 13. A total crew of 21 persons, including nine Indians are reported to be safe," read a statement issued by shipping authorities.After the release of the 52,446 tonne-bulk carrier, the owners of the vessel have provided for replenishment of stores, fuel and security for the vessel so that it can reach Colombo by August 19."Once the ship reaches Colombo, the vessel is likely to be dry docked for extensive inspection for damage or repairs needed," read the statement.The Malta flagged ship was confirmed to have been captured at around 350 nautical miles east of Masirah, an island off the Oman's coast. The European Union Naval Force has been monitoring the situation of the vessel since February this year. The naval force's ...

United States cargo vessel was hijacked by four Somali pirates On April 8, 2009, the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton United States cargo vessel, was hijacked by four Somali pirates several hundred miles east of Mogadishu. Bobbing in a lifeboatwith the skipper, 53-year-old Richard Phillips, they began negotiating with the ship's owners via cellphone for a multimillion-dollar ransom. For five days, the pirates and their hostage drifted in the Indian Ocean, shadowed by the USS Bainbridge, a destroyer that arrived at the scene not long after the hijacking. At dusk on April 12, Navy snipers killed three of the Somalis, and Phillips was rescued unharmed. The surviving pirate was seized and taken to the United States, where he pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom to a host of charges and was sentenced to 33 years and nine months in a federal prison.The hijacking of the Alabama, the first seizure of an American-flagged vessel in 200 years, drew the country's attention to the return of a scourge once associated with plank-walks, treasure chests and peg-legged marauders. But, as Jay Bahadur makes clear in The Pirates of Somalia, buccaneering has evolved into a very modern activity, complete with night vision goggles, GPS units ...

Carrying 16 members onboard A UAE-based vessel carrying 16 members onboard, including five Indians, has been hijacked by Somali pirates off an island which forms part of Yemen.Sources in the Ministry of Shipping today said they were trying to ascertain the details of the Indians who were part of the 16-member crew that was hijacked by pirates on July 16.Vessel MV Jubba of Juba General Trading was on its regular route from the United Arab Emirates to the port of Berbera, Somalia with the crew members including a Sri Lankan, three Bangladeshis, a Sudanese, a Myanmarese, a Kenyan and four Somalians.According to preliminary information, the vessel was located by a Maritime Patrol aircraft 100 nautical miles north-west of Socotra Island, heading to the northern Somali coast.The sources said the hijacked vessel was a general cargo freighter having a capacity of 2,100 tonne.In a related move, Pakistan's human rights activist and former federal Minister Ansar Burney, whose office had also received information about the hijacking of the vessel, said at present little information was available, but it was reported that nine suspected Somali pirates were onboard.Burney, whose trust has been on forefront of negotiation with pirates, demanded with the United Nations ...

Multimillion-dollar losses for companies It was mid-afternoon one day early this year when workers at a factory in the Malaysian state of Perak finished loading more than 700,000 condoms into a shipping container.The container was then driven to Port Klang, the busiest port in the country, and loaded onto a ship bound for Japan.It was a routine procedure for Sagami Rubber Industries, a Japanese company, but by the time the ship docked in the port of Yokohama at the end of January, the condoms had vanished."The container was empty," said K.K. Leung, the administration manager at Sagami's Malaysian factory, whose Japanese colleagues had alerted him to the theft.The case of the missing condoms made headlines in Malaysia, but it was not an isolated case, according to industry groups.Sagami, they say, was another victim of cargo theft, an underreported crime that sometimes includes violent hijackings.The transporting of goods through countries in the Asia-Pacific region is generally safer than in other parts of the world - like the Americas, Africa and Europe - according to data collected by FreightWatch International, an organization in the United States that collates information on cargo theft from around the world.But the organization's global threat assessment report ...

Increase in such incidents over recent years The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued a Special Report on hijacked/missing tug boats and barges in Asia. Five incidents of hijacking and missing tug boats towing barges were reported during the period March-June 2011.This represents a significant increase in such incidents over recent years. Owners, operators, and masters of tugs operating in Asia should adopt best management practices to minimize the risk of hijacking.To view the Special Report please click hereSource: ReCAAP

The fire was caused by an electrical problem in the ship's kitchen A Somali pirate says a fire is tearing through a hijacked ship that pirates are holding off the country's coast.The pirate, who gave his name as Hassan Abdi, said an undisclosed number of pirates and hostages were forced to abandon the bulk cargo carrier MV Orna. Abdi said it is believed the fire was caused by an electrical problem in the ship's kitchen.Abdi said that plumes of smoke were rising over the ship as the fire moved through it.Cmdr. Paddy O'Kennedy of the European Union Naval Force said he had heard reports of the fire from a credible source but that the EU Naval Force hadn't independently confirmed the information.The MV Orna was seized in December about 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of Seychelles.Source: AP

They masquerade as fishermen Fishermen at Cedros and Icacos claim drug dealers masquerading as fishermen are making life difficult for them. They are calling on the Government for protection.The fishermen, who spoke to the T&T Guardian on condition of anonymity, said this was what might have led to seven of them being held while fishing at Soledado Rock and thrown into a Venezuelan jail two weeks ago.The men, including brothers Sanjay, Rajesh and Jagdeo Mahase, appeared before a Venezuelan magistrate and were released last weekend, after the intervention of Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan. They claim they were fishing in local waters and did nothing wrong.Rambachan said T&T was holding talks with the Venezuelan Embassy to resolve the outstanding fishing treaty between the two countries. At the beachfront in Fullerton on Monday, a fisherman, who asked not to be identified, declared: Is those drug men who have this going on in Cedros Is those drug men who have this going on in CedrosThe drug men paying them in US dollars..I dont want to mess up myself in this big bacchanal, because they would kill me, but we need some protection from the StateWe are at risk every time we ...

Discussed by Working Group at MSC89 The IMO has released a circular (MSC.1/Circ.1404) entitled "Guidelines for flag states and other authorities to assist investigators to collect evidence after hijack".This was on the agenda of Working Group 1 during the meetings of the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC89) last week in London.Items discussed by WG1 included:Development of the Maritime Security ManualConsideration of Periodical Survey to Ship Security Alert System (SSAS)Guidelines for flag states and other authorities to assist investigators to collect evidence after hijackDevelopment of guidance to ship owners, ship operators and shipmasters on the use of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel PCASP) on board shipsImplementation of counter-piracy measures, including Best Management Practices (BMP)To view the Guidelines, click hereSource: IMO 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EL X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

To negotitate over their demands Somali pirates, who have hijacked the vessel MV Asphalt Venture with 46 Indians on board, have offered to talk with the Indian government to negotiate over their demands, media reports claimed on Friday.As per reports, the pirates do not want to carry on any dialogue with the company and instead want to speak directly with the Government of India.The Somali pirates are pressing for the release of their accomplices, who are currently in the Indian jails following their arrests during the Indian Navy and Coast Guard operations in the Indian Ocean in the past few months.Earlier on Wednesday, government ruled out any possibility of holding talks with Somali pirates, and decided to "wait and watch" as ship owners continued to negotiate the release of the hostages.The decision was taken at an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG), which met for the first time after being set up last month to deal with the problem.The meeting was of the view that the government should not negotiate with the pirates or enter into deals for release of crew on ransom, report said.The IMG, headed by Additional Secretary, Shipping, Vijay Chhibber, and including senior official from Ministries of External Affairs, Home ...

The captain confirmed that the crew is alive and unharmed All 25 crew of a hijacked Singapore-registered chemical tanker are believed to be safe, its ship management company said on Thursday after establishing contact for the first time with its captain.The captain of the 29,871 dwt Gemini, which was hijacked by pirates on 30 April, established satellite phone contact on Wednesday with Glory Ship Management. Singapore-based Glory said the satellite phone contact was intermittent as the connection was "very weak"."The captain confirmed that the crew - who are from four Asian countries - were alive and unharmed, but did not communicate any other details," Glory said in a statement."We are relieved that the crew are safe and unharmed. The safety of the crew is our highest priority and we hope and pray for their well-being. We await further contact from their presumed abductors," it added. Gemini, which was carrying Indonesian crude palm, was believed to have been seized off Kenyan waters.Source: Seatrade Asia