Tag: kidnapping

Crew from Bourbon Liberty 249 kidnapped in Nigeria

Four foreign oil workers kidnapped off Nigeria freed

Hostage to give evidence against the Somalis who captured him and his girlfriend Bruno Pelizzari will appear before an Italian prosecutor today (25 June) to give evidence against the Somalis who captured him and his girlfriend.Pelizzari, who holds dual SA and Italian citizenship, and South African Calitz were freed on Wednesday in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and flown to Rome via Djibouti.The Italians played a key role in freeing them, along with the SA, Turkish, Qatari and possibly other governments, as well as other organisations such as SA's Gift of the Givers charity and the Somali community in SA.That is part of the reason they flew to Italy. But Pelizzari also wanted to see his 83-year-old mother who lives in Lake Como near Milan.The Italian judicial authorities also wanted him to relate the key facts of his ordeal in case they decide to open a case against those responsible for the abduction and other potential crimes, official sources said.Crucial details of their 20 months in captivity and the circumstances of their release remain obscure, partly because the Italian authorities have decided to keep it under wraps for legal reasons until Pelizzari has testified, the sources said.They were met in Rome ...

Michael Scott Moore being held hostage by Somali kidnappers

Kidnappers Demand $20M or Threaten to Sell Writer to Al-Shabaab After almost five months of holding kidnapped American/German Michael Scott Moore without results, his kidnappers are getting impatient. Somalia Report has obtained exclusive video footage of Moore filmed by his captors on Friday May 18, 2012. Two local journalists from Galkayo were driven to the spot in a Toyota Hilux blindfolded. One journalist was ordered to videotape the staged event while the other took still photos. His kidnappers have been demanding a ransom but without any luck. The three dozen kidnappers are living under the daily fear of attack by U.S. Special Operations based in nearby Camp Lemonnier.Mr. Moore went to Somalia in early January of 2012 to write about Somalia and pirates. Now he has a front row seat. He had met a former resident of central Somalia in Germany who had invited him to Galmadug to write about the idea of developing a port to handle World Food Programme deliveries in Hobyo. Moore knew that Somalia was a dangerous place for foreigners having written about the region since 2008. Today Somalia has just under 300 international hostages currently being held for ransom.Two weeks into his trip he was ...

Piracy is a crime As an employer, the shipowner, shipoperator or manager has an obligation to offer a safe and secure working environment. A ship trading internationally however has an added challenge. The Master is the representative of the employer and must ascertain that the ship is safe and secure, and he is largely dependent on individual states and the territory through which the ship passes or the international community in respect of trading on the high seas, in order find protection against piracy. Any BIMCO view or action described in the following position serves the primary purpose of protecting the crew, ship and cargo, in that order of rank, against such criminal activity. The freedom of navigation on the high seas is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), leaving contracting governments with an obligation to cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas. Despite the deployment of naval assets to affected areas by contracting and other states, the current anti-piracy resources continue to be inadequate in deterring and defeating piracy.Arrest and Prosecution: Piracy is a crime, and in accordance with UNCLOS and the Convention for the ...

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday that Filipino seamen continue to face kidnappin Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday that Filipino seamen continue to face kidnapping in the pirate-infested seas off Somalia as the number of those held captive since 2006 has reached 769 Filipino seamen onboard 63 vessels.In the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) report on measures taken to protect Filipino workers overseas, del Rosario said the Philippines, which supplies 20 percent of seamen in the world have instituted security cooperation with the United Nations and several countries to ensure the safety of seamen, particularly those onboard ships traversing Somali waters.Rampant hijacking of vessels on the high seas off Somalia has prompted the passage of United Nations resolutions in 2008 that allow Western powers to deploy warships to escort commercial vessels and bulk carriers traversing the pirate infested waters of Somalia.UN Resolutions 1814, 1816 and 1838 allowedcountries like Canada, Denmark, France, India, the Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, the United Kingdom and the US, as well as North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Union members to counter piracy off Somalia by deploying naval ships to escort vulnerable vessels "to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery ...

Tthe attack happened off the coast of Port Harcourt Private security sources tell The Associated Press that pirates have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta and kidnapped the foreign crew.The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the seizure with journalists, said the attack happened off the coast of Port Harcourt.An unknown number of foreign crew members remained held Thursday as the pirates offloaded the tanker's oil cargo. The tanker was identified as the MT Halifax, a ship flagged out of Malta. The Associated Press could not immediately reach the ship's owner Thursday.Analysts say the area has seen a growing trend of oil tanker hijackings as pirates target legal and illegal oil shipments moving out of Nigeria.Source: AP