Tag: maritime piracy

No one on the tanker was injured The crew of the USS "Bulkley" came to the aid of a German tanker, Artemis Glory, which was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Oman.The incident occurred on Monday while the ship was heading from Saudi Arabia to China. The distress signal was intercepted by the Americans who arrivced on the scene.A helicopter was dispatched from the destroyer which then killed all of the pirates. No one on the tanker was injured.Since early this year Somali pirates have made more than a hundred attacks. Currently they are holding nearly 500 people captive and 50 ships.Source: Voice of Russia

To combat the illicit flows of money linked to Somali piracy During this week BIMCO is meeting with national and international experts in organised crime, financial intelligence and financial services to explore options for combating the illicit flows of money inextricably linked to Somali piracy.Chaired by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime and held in East Africa, the meetings constitute an important forum for BIMCO to be part of to help ensure that the interests of ship owners - and not least seafarers - are properly reflected when financial counter-piracy strategies are discussed.BIMCO would emphasise that from a ship owner's perspective, the safety of the crew should always take precedence over co-operation with law enforcement agencies during and after a hijack.Maritime piracy has drastically transformed itself from an outmoded, criminal activity, crafted by generations of authors and film makers into romantic legends, to a serious threat to global human and economic security. One of the driving forces behind this rapid expansion - both in terms of piracy attacks and the associated financial flows - has been the large ransoms.The phenomenon has now evolved, however, and is no longer the province of amateurs.The increasing sophistication and organization that pirate ...

Questions to Theme day launch Panel

Marine insurers should stop charging a war risk premium, already many insurance costs India wants marine insurers to stop charging a war risk premium on cargo ships plying the Indian Ocean that increases freight costs, and is lobbying the global maritime regulator for help in the matter.A joint war committee comprising underwriters from the Lloyds Market Association and International Underwriting Association on 8 January expanded large parts of northern Indian Ocean as a conflict zone, the eastern border of which extends to the west coast of India.This has raised insurance costs of cargo reaching or going out of the countrys western ports.Indias exporters and importers will also have to bear higher costs for transporting goods because of restricted availability of ships as many fleet owners may avoid using this route instead of paying higher premium, according to T.V. Shanbhag, group adviser to Indias biggest ship-broking firm, Mumbai-based Transocean Shipping Agency Pvt LtdConsidering that there have been no (pirate) attacks reported for the last two months within 500 nautical miles (926km) from the Indian coast, after the Indian Navy has taken remedial measures, it is imperative that the eastern boundary of the war zone be reduced to an appropriate longitude, M.M. ...

Patrol with the EU force

The game suggests ways of combating piracy off Somalia coast This month, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is rolling out its first ever internet wargame intended to tap the minds of online gamers in order to find solutions to real-world problems facing the Navy.Scheduled to run for three weeks, the MMOWGL the Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet exercise will recruit more than 1,000 online players to suggest ways of combating piracy off the coast of Somalia.MMOWGLI is an online game designed to find and collectively grow breakthrough ideas to some of the Navys most complex problemsthose 21st-century threats that demand new forms of collaboration and truly outlying ideas, said Dr. Larry Schuette, ONRs director of Innovation, whose office is managing the project.The piracy scenario was chosen as a means to demonstrate the platform, but MMOWGLI itself can be applied to any scenario, officials said.ONR intends to produce varying results from a diverse group of players drawn from the ranks of academia, defense, and government and nongovernment organizations. The plan is for MMOWGLI to identify solutions to difficult challenges by tapping into the intellectual capital of a broader community.We hope MMOWGLI will help us to understand what happens ...

Somali pirate story

The pirate Patrols

Piracy high on the Agenda Piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean will be high on the agenda when IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meets at the Organization's London Headquarters for its 89th session from 11 to 20 May 2011.The busy agenda also includes adoption of amendments, concerning lifeboat release hooks, to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and work related to the implementation of the Torremolinos Protocol on fishing vessel safety, as well as goal-based standards for vessel construction and the long-range identification and tracking of ships. The MSC will also consider the approval of a number of draft resolutions for submission to the IMO Assembly, to be held in late 2011.Piracy and armed robbery against ships to be discussedThe MSC is expected to discuss the development of guidance on the employment of private, armed security service providers on board ships; measures to improve compliance with the Best Management Practices to Deter Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and in the Arabian Sea area; and proposed guidelines to assist in the collection of evidence after a hijack.The number of ...