Tag: maritime piracy

Crew of 8 people On the 13 February, the Yemeni Fishing Vessel ALFARDOUS was believed to have been pirated close to Socotra Island in the Gulf of Aden.The vessel has a reported crew of 8, nationalities presently not known. There is no further information on the condition of the crew.EUNAVFOR is monitoring the situation.There are now at least 31 vessels and 694 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia. A list of FV ALFARDOUS and other pirated vessels can be found here.Source: EU NAVFOR

Incedents of piracy and armed robbery The IMO has issued its monthly report MSC.4/Circ.167 dated 7 February 2011 giving all incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported to the IMO between 31 December 2010 and 31 January 2011.The report makes a distinction between acts of piracy, and acts of armed robbery against ships, and attempted attacks.Source : IMO

14 February 2011 12.02.2011: 1218 UTC: Posn: 20:15.43N - 064:16.09E, around 280nm SE from Ras al Had, Oman, (Off Somalia) Pirates have hijacked a bulk carrier underway. The owners received a distress alert from the ship and informed the coalition forces. A coalition aircraft was sent to the location, which noticed two suspected pirate skiffs on board the ship. There has been no communication with the ship. 10.02.2011: 1440 UTC: Posn: 13:09.6N - 043:06.5E, Bab el Mandeb, Red SeaFour skiffs chased a bulk carrier underway. D/O altered course and alerted the armed security team on board who made themselves seen. Warship contacted for assistance. The skiffs came close to 0.3 nm and the duty lookout saw 4-6 pirates in each skiff armed with guns. The pirates observed the ship with binoculars and aborted the attempted attack upon noticing the armed security guards. 10.02.2011: 0045 LT: Posn: 05:31.9N - 003:38Ee, around 50nm off Lagos, Nigeria Seven to eight armed robbers in a fishing boat approached a drifting chemical tanker from astern. The duty officer noticed the suspicious movement of the boat and informed master. Master raised alarm, activated SSAS alert, increase speed and took evasive manoeuvres. Robbers open fire while attempted ...

SA deployed a frigate South Africa has deployed a frigate to the Mozambique Channel off east Africa to help fight the southward creep of piracy, the public broadcaster SABC reported.The deployment marks the first time South Africa has sent a ship to take part in anti-piracy operations, and follows international pressure on the key regional player to step up its role in the fight against piracy.The ship, the SAS Mendi, will join five other frigates and 18 smaller boats in the operation, SABC said.Somali pirates have been striking farther afield as the European Union and other countries have cracked down on piracy off the coast of Somalia.In December, pirates staged their southernmost attacks yet when they tried unsuccessfully to hijack two ships in the Mozambique Channel. According to the International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates are currently holding 31 vessels and 700 hostages.Source: AFP

The vessel has a crew of 23 On the afternoon of 12 February, the MV SININ is believed to have been pirated approximately 350 nautical miles East of Masirah (Oman) in the North Arabian Sea.The vessel, which has a crew of 23 (13 Iranian and 10 Indian nationals), sent out a distress signal, saying she was under attack, late afternoon on Saturday to which an aircraft from the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) immediately responded. The aircraft photographed 2 suspected pirate skiffs on board the vessel. There has been no communication with the ship since the distress signal was sent and the MV SININ has now changed course towards the Somali coast. There is no information on the condition of the crew.The MV SININ is a Maltese flagged and owned Bulk Carrier. She has a deadweight of 52,466 tonnes and was on route to Singapore from Fujairah (UAE) when she was attacked. The ship was not registered with MSC(HOA) and was not reporting to UKMTO. EUNAVFOR is monitoring the situation.Source: EU NAVFOR

32 people onboard The Iranian Navy foils attempts by pirates to hijack a Hong Kong ship in the Gulf of Aden.The merchant vessel, with 32 people on board, which was sailing en route from Italy to Australia, was attacked by Somali pirates during the course of Friday night, but they were swiftly encountered by ships of the 12th Fleet of the Navy. The Iranian Navy has so far dispatched a number of military warships to the Gulf of Aden to guard Iranian and foreign vessels sailing in international waters. Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have expanded the reach of their hijacking attacks on merchant vessels and oil tankers in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden over the past 2 years, making tens of millions of dollars in ransom, despite the fact that dozens of foreign naval vessels are patrolling the area.Source: Tehran Times

IMO issued a new document The IMO has issued document MSC.4/Circ.165 dated 14 January 2011, which lists acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships reported during December 2010.Please click here to view the document.Source : IMO

International Conference about piracy threat The Foreign Ministry and DP World are organising an international conference to explore ways to safeguard shipping against the growing threat of Somali piracy.The event, set for April 17 to 19, will bring together foreign dignitaries and industry experts to discuss a "regional response towards a joint approach against maritime piracy", said the state news agency WAM.Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, extended the first public invitations this week to his Syrian and Lebanese counterparts."Piracy is a growing problem that is having a direct impact on shipping lines and an indirect impact on the supply chain as a whole," said DP World, the third largest ports operator in the world, based in Dubai.The conference comes as the economic and humanitarian cost of piracy has reached record highs. This year, pirates have seized seven vessels and 148 crew members, for a total of 33 vessels and 758 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau.The number of captive ships and seafarers is at its highest yet, said Nato representative Cdr Stein Olav Hagalid, speaking on the sidelines of a piracy conference earlier this week. Average ransoms now top US$5 million (Dh18.3m) and average ...

A continuous effort to tackle piracy After one of its fast attack craft sunk a pirate mother ship near Lakshadweep, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma today said his force will continue to carry out "heavy patrolling" against pirates there."We have already put in very heavy patrolling as far as our waters are concerned and that is the reason why this pirate ship could be tackled...This effort would continue," he told reporters here.Last week, a Naval Fast Attack Craft (FAC) sunk a pirate mothership named 'Prantalay' 75 miles off Lakshadweep saving the 20-member crew of the hijacked vessel on-board and arrested 15 pirates from it.To thwart any piracy attempts around Lakshadweep, the Coast Guard along with the Navy has launched the Operation Island Watch along the Lakshadweep Islands.Noting that the joint Coast Guard and Navy patrols were keeping a strict vigil there, he said, "That is why it just did not carry out an attack and escape and that is why in good time, we could detect it and take action."In the recent past, activities of pirates around Lakshadweep have increased and they were also successful in hijacking a Bangladeshi-flagged merchant vessel about 90 nautical miles off Kochi and 80 nautical ...

The monsoon has not affected the possibility of small boat operations in the GoA Gulf of Aden/Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) The monsoon has not affected the possibility of small boat operations in the GoA although pirate activity has been low this last week. A further improvement in weather during the next few days is forecast, and skiffs blending in with the local traffic to conduct piracy can be expected at any time with little or no warning. Arabian Sea/Greater Somali BasinOver the past week the northeast monsoon hampered pirate activity in both the Arabian Sea and the Greater Somali Basin. However, the improved forecast for the next days will allow the Somali pirates to exploit the opportunity both in the Somali Basin and especially in the Arabian Sea. The past week (21-27 January) saw one pirating (BELUGA NOMINATION) and one attempt (ZHEN HUA 26). Pirates continue to launch the majority of attacks from pirate-controlled local dhows, primarily Iranian-flagged, and pirated ships have also been used in the same area.The number of pirated fishing vessels and dhows conducting piracy operations is assessed to be at least four dhow type mother ship pirate attack groups (or PAGs) underway in the western ...