Tag: maritime piracy

An incident in the Gulf of Oman has once again focused attention on the difficulties under which ships with armed guards embarked can find themselves in these pirate-infested waters. Pirates, for obvious reasons, are moving further and further from their bases on the coast of Somalia and are tending to blend in to the fishing activities that are encountered in these seas. Very large numbers of these small craft fish these waters. Indeed, an estimate from the Omani authorities suggested that up to 40,000 small craft might be found at sea in the north-western sector of the Indian Ocean.Many of these craft are indistinguishable from the skiffs and other local craft employed by the pirates, with only a close inspection identifying boarding ladders and firearms providing a reasonable assumption that the fast craft approaching is a pirate skiff and not an innocent fisherman speeding back to shore with his catch. And it would not be the first encounter that saw a furious fisherman whose lines or nets had been damaged by a passing ship speeding alongside to remonstrate with those aboard the ship that had caused him such damage. With those aboard a ship in a high state of alert ...

Djibouti Code of Conduct The Council of Ministers (Cabinet) on Thursday approved Mozambique's adoption of the Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, also known as the "Djibouti Code of Conduct".The Djibouti Code facilitates the sharing of information among countries in the region and actions to repress maritime piracy.Speaking to reporters shortly after the Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Abdul Razak explained that Mozambique's accession to the Code "will allow Mozambique to share information among member countries in the region and will give access to technical training and support for the purchase of equipment for the fight against piracy".The Djibouti Code, which became effective on 29 January 2009, promotes the implementation of a number of United Nations Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions which fall within the competence of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).So far 19 out of 21 eligible countries have signed the Djibouti Code of Conduct. Mozambique and France are yet to sign the Code. With Mozambique adopting the Code, France is the only eligible country yet to join.During the meeting, the Cabinet also ratified two agreements: ...

Anti-piracy efforts were now focused on "following the money All necessary measures must be taken to punish and prosecute pirates, and governments should adopt a multinational approach to fight the problem, according to the US ambassador to Greece, Daniel Smith.Speaking at the US Department of Commerce's maritime anti-piracy seminar held at Posidonia, Mr Smith criticised the reluctance of certain governments not to pursue cases and said the US was co-operating to implement new prosecution measures."Piracy used to be an ad hoc endeavour but it has now become a highly developed criminal enterprise," he said. "Unless prosecution is enhanced pirates will continue to reap the rewards."Mr Smith said that ransom demands were steadily increasing and said anti-piracy efforts were now focused on "following the money".Mr Smith told shipowners that they simply could not afford not to employ the latest best management practices and added that a vast majority of vessels that had been successfully hijacked in the past had failed to comply with BMP4Source: Intermanager

After being held captive since October 31 last year A Greek-owned chemical tanker, with 21 Filipino sailors onboard, was released from captivity by Somali pirates earlier this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.Raul Hernandez, Foreign Affairs spokesman, said that M/T Liquid Velvet was released on June 4 after being held captive since October 31 last year.The Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned chemical and oil tanker has a full crew of 21 Filipino sailors on board."The families of the crew members were already informed by the local manning agency of this development," Hernandez said.He added that the vessel was already sailing towards Salalah in Oman."The DFA has instructed our Philippine embassy in Muscat to meet and extend assistance to the crew members once the vessel docks at the Port of Salalah," the official said.Currently, there are still 45 Filipino seafarers on board five vessels being held captive by the pirates in the Gulf of Aden.Source: Neptune Maritime Security

There have been a crack down on Somali pirates in the region A group of Puntland officials on Thursday visited Bargal town, Bari region, where there have been a crack down on Somali pirates in the region.The eight member officials led by the area regional governor Abdisamad Mohamed Gallan reportedly travelled to the area to convene a security meeting with the local population.Speaking to the press before leaving the Bosaso town, Mr Gallan said they will hold talks the local with elders in Bargal to chat the way forward in maintaining peace in the area and to rally support for their fight against pirates.Meanwhile, normalcy has reportedly returned to Bali-dini area where there was an aerial attack on Wednesday targeting pirates' base in the area.Puntland's marine forces have been conducting security operations aimed at clearing out Somali sea gangs from the coastal region of Bari.Source: Hayaan Press

Nigerian Justices are brainstorming in Abuja Justices of the High Courts and Courts of Appeal are brainstorming in Abuja at a 3-day maritime seminar jointly organized by the Nigerian Shippers Council and the National Judicial Institute.The seminar which was declared open yesterday by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, is aimed at discussing recent developments in international maritime law.Musdapher said, "it is imperative to regularly organize seminars on a sustained basis for judicial officers, maritime law practitioners and other stakeholders in the maritime industry."The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said most maritime laws are international in nature and directed the House Committee on Marine Transport to commence the process of domesticating international maritime laws with a view to getting them passed into law to enable the country's maritime laws to conform with international laws.Source: Daily Trust

US Ambassador to Greece Daniel Bennett Smith noted that piracy at sea was a crime of global concern The persistent and growing scourge of piracy on the high seas - a problem that is costing billions of US dollars every year - was the focus of the first-ever seminar on available anti-piracy services and technology, hosted by the US embassy in Greece on Tuesday at the Posidonia international shipping exhibition, which is again taking place in Athens on June 4-8.In opening remarks, US Ambassador to Greece Daniel Bennett Smith noted that piracy at sea was a crime of global concern and that counter-piracy patrols - though supported by the United States - were not in themselves sufficient to guarantee ship safety.He pointed out that pirates - from their originally ad hoc, disorganised beginnings - are now using increasingly advanced methods and venturing further and further offshore in what is now becoming a highly developed, transnational criminal enterprise.While referring to cooperative efforts with other nations to investigate and prosecute these crimes and, especially, as he said "follow the money trail" that led to those financing the pirates, he noted they were too often simply let go when caught due to states' ...

Piracy off the Somali coast is estimated to be costing the shipping industry nearly $7bn (4.4bn).Along with the growing terrorist threat, it is one of the main reasons David Cameron has convened this week's Somalia conference in London.Over 100 seafarers and several ships are currently held for ransom in often atrocious conditions.Frank Gardner has become the first British journalist to be allowed aboard an Australian maritime patrol aircraft, as it flew a counter-piracy mission over the Somali Basin.

Said US state secretary deputy assistant International community appreciates considerable role of Russian Navy in counter-piracy campaign, said US state secretary's deputy assistant Tomas Kelly saying that"we very much value Russian participation in the coalition".According to official figures, in the last year Russian warships escorted over 30 convoys through the Gulf of Aden with 168 vessels flying flags of 27 countries including 62 Russian-crewed ships. Security of 448 Russian citizens was ensured. Currently, anti-piracy watch off Somalia is kept by Northern Fleet (NF) destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov.Experts say actions taken against Somali pirates bring certain results. According to French defense ministry, only 200 pirate attacks were registered in 2011 comparing to 700 ones in 2010. Pirates managed to hijack only 13 commercial ships while in 2010 they captured up to 30 vessels.Director of the Atlantic Council research center Peter Pham considers armed security on board merchant ships has played a large part in reducing pirate attacks. Goal-oriented steps taken by commercial shipping companies hinder piracy in the region, pointed out Pham.However, in spite of all countermeasures, there are still many cases of piracy in the Indian Ocean, and demanded ransoms are permanently growing. According to American organization Oceans Beyond Piracy, ...

Chinese researchers say they can predict if a particular vessel with a specific cargo on a given area of ocean is likely to be targeted by pirates.Researchers in Hong Kong analyzing the incidence of maritime piracy during the last decade said they can even predict what degree of violence might be involved in an act of piracy.Writing in the International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, researchers said data from the ICC International Maritime Bureau allowed them to assess the type of criminal action that takes place, whether hijacking for ransom or direct theft, and to report on the approach taken by the pirates in terms of arms and violence.Bulk carriers, general cargo ships, container ships, chemical tankers and tankers were the most-frequently targeted vessels, accounting for more than three-quarters of all ships attacked during the 2002-2009 period, they said."In general, merchant ships are not designed or equipped to fend off pirates' attacks and thus they are susceptible to pirate activities, including boarding, hostage-taking and stealing cargo," the researchers wrote.While valuable cargoes, including gas, oil, rice and fishing products, are commonly targeted, whole vessels might also be hijacked and held for ransom. Kidnapping by pirates is also on the rise, ...