Tag: SaveOurSeafarers

Once Capacity Is In Place SaveOurSeafarers The recent arrest by the UK naval vessel RFA Fort Victoria of 14 Somalis on a hijacked fishing boat in possession of rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and explosives put the UK government on the spot - perhaps unfairly given the recent successes of the Royal Navy and other navies in disrupting pirate motherships, pirate activities and the political leadership the UK, particularly, has shown.The latest arrests, however, mean up to 46 Somali pirates are now being held by US, UK, Danish, Italian and Spanish warships operating in the Indian Ocean, evidence of the new vigour being shown by the naval forces to contain Somali piracy.Spain's judicial authorities will prosecute the six Somali pirates who attacked the EU Navfor flagship ESPS Patino on 12 January. The UK is said to be talking with the Seychelles about transferring the 14 pirates there for prosecution.Giles Heimann, chairman of the steering committee of the shipping industry's SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign, observes that many of these suspected pirates may be released because seemingly no country is willing to prosecute them.Not enough countries are actively contributing to the fight to counter Somali piracy - especially those with interests in shipping. The ...

The SOS SaveOurSeafarers antipiracy campaign is looking for support from business leaders The SOS SaveOurSeafarers antipiracy campaign is looking for support from business leaders to increase international pressure on governments to take tougher action against Somali piracy, which is estimated to be costing the world economy $12 billion a year."These criminal gangs are holding the world economy to ransom," says Campaign Chair Giles Heimann. "The potential economic impact of the crisis is hugely disturbing given the knife edge on which the global economy is currently perched.""Any business or organisation that conducts trade though the Suez Canal and across the Indian Ocean to the Indian sub-continent and Asia and Australasia is at risk," says Mr. Heimann. "That's about one-fifth of global trade. We feel that businesses which rely on these routes remaining safe will be keen to offer their support. They rely on the movement of manufactured goods, raw materials, food and fuel to operate."Saying that the pirate gangs "have discovered the meaning of scalability" and that their "business model" now extends across an area of ocean twice the size of Europe, Mr. Heimann warns that there is a real risk that the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the ...

During this year;s holidays, 212 people still being held hostage! This humanitarian tragedy of Somali piracy becomes particularly apparent over Christmas and New Year with 212 people still being held hostage - even after the release of the Italian crude oil tanker Savina Caylin this week at the end of more than 315 days of being held by pirates.The merchant ships Iceberg 1, Olib G, Albedo, Orna, Fairchem Bogey, Liquid Velvet have clocked up over 2,000 days between them with 127 hostages on board in total.The fishing vessels Malaysia 618, Shiuh Fu No 1, Al Musaah, Alfardous have clocked up 1,595 days between them with 72 hostages on board in total.The yacht Choizil has clocked up 417 days with two hostages on board.But we think in particular of those seafarers being held without the negotiating power of being on board a ship - this includes the seafarers not released and retained when the Asphalt Trader was released (seven Indians), when the Gemini was released (four South Koreans) and when the rest of the crew from the fishing boat Prantalay 12 were released (four Thais). They are now being held ashore and should NOT become the forgotten casualties of Somali piracy.The ...

Hostage talks his story - held for 33 days! "At the moment of the attack there were 78 people onboard and 1 million barrels of crude oil. I cannot imagine what could have happened if we did not surrender to the pirates. Human lives endangered and disastrous pollution; they had over 100kg of C4 explosive in one of the speed boats."Piracy off the coast of Somalia is big business but the increased production of oil in the Gulf of Guinea has encouraged more acts of piracy in the region during 2011.The role of the seafarer, however, has not changed much in the task of transporting goods across the sea lanes of the world. The scourge of piracy, thought to have faded in the pages of history, has seen resurgence that puts the lives of innocent sailors at risk. As greater international effort is called for to stem the spread of piracy, it is acknowledged that long-term economics will suffer, but in the short-term, it is the seafaring community that literally 'pays the price'.For 33 days he was held in the depth of the jungle not knowing whether he would see out each day as it came. As an officer of ...

Reaction and comments by ITF, SOS, Nautilus and Intermanager News that the UK Government has endorsed the use of armed guards on UK-flagged vessels has triggered comment from the major shipping organisations, most of which were favourable but with caveats.ITF's general secretary David Cockroft said: "Somali-based piracy has been allowed to become so successful, savage and wide-ranging that seafarers' and seafaring organisations' worries about armed guards have had to be set aside. However, guards can never be anything but a supplement to the sorely-tried existing naval presence, which is now trying to cover an entire ocean."The ITF, like the International Shipping Federation and International Chamber of Shipping, would like to see on-vessel detachments made up of the ship's flag state forces whenever possible."He continued: "Sadly no move is without risks. Pirate gangs are making fortunes out of their crimes. It is easy for them to reach for heavier and heavier weapons and turn to obscene levels of violence to counter defensive measures."'We welcome David Cameron's interest in maritime affairs, but we also have to warn him that the current defence cuts are likely to compromise the Royal Navy's ability to fight piracy."ITF seafarers' section chair Dave Heindel added: "What's an ...

The keynote presentation was the SOS SaveOurSeafarers Campaign The World Maritime University's (WMU) International Conference on Piracy at Sea (ICOPAS) attracted a good international gathering of over 400 people this week in Malmo, Sweden.The keynote presentation on the second day was on the subject of the industry's SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign. Bill Box, Secretary of the campaign's Steering Group gave delegates some background to SOS and an update of what it has achieved in its first 7 months.There were some useful insights offered from the hijacking in 2008 of the general cargo ship CEC Future which stayed under pirate control for 71 days. Gary Porter, Corporate Security Manager of Clipper Ferries/Ro-Ro, shared the lessons learned from this incident:Piracy is an industry - money is what counts.Information sharing is crucial.Prepare for the unexpected - a flexible approach is important.Prepare for the mental tiredness of all those involved.Prior preparation prevents poor performance.Cdr Martin Ewence, Maritime Security Advisor to EUNAVFOR, talked of the need for flexibility in dealing with the piracy scourge, so that naval forces and shipping interests can adapt to changing pirate tactics. It is vital that ship operators work on accordance with the latest Best Management Practice (BMP4), he stressed, adding ...

Supporting the SaveOurSeafarers Campaign Capt Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General of InterManager, is giving a presentation regarding the SaveOurSeafarers Campaign, during the 2nd Annual Safety4Sea Forum, Session 1The 2nd Safety4Sea Forum, a PRO BONO event, successfully completed on 5th of October 2011 in Athens, covering a wide range in QHSE issues.The event has been attended by over 340 delegates at the venue representing more than 170 companies, plus more than 100 persons watching live streaming. The event organized by IBS Marine Consulting Group and sponsored by Aspida Maritime Security, Dorian Hellas, Transmar Shipping and Lloyd's Register and supported by BIMCO, Intermanager, SaveOurSeafarers campaign, Steamship Mutual, Green Award, Cardiff University, ELNAVI, NAFTIKA XRONIKA, Tanker Operator, Shipmanagement International and Marintech NewsFor more information about the Forum visithttp://www.safety4sea.com/forum/2For more information about Safety4Sea visit the official site http://www.safety4sea.com

The six-minute video launched at Safety4Sea SaveOurSeafarers is takingits message to celluloid with the launch of a short video highlighting the human and economic cost of Somali piracy.The six-minute video launched at Safety4Sea, an international maritime security conference in Athens, this week highlights the significant threat of Somali piracy attacks for the worldwide seafarer community.The video, which is also being posted on YouTube, uses a mixture of hard-hitting real life interviews, and the latest technology to create a "Hollywood style" action sequence where a ship is captured and hostages taken.The video can be viewedhere.Source: SaveOurSeafarers

The cost of Somalian piracy is both human and economic Innocent seafarers on commercial cargo ships are being held to ransom for millions of dollars by armed gangs of Somali pirates. The cost of Somalian piracy is both human and economic.It affects seafarers and their families and YOU. Piracy costs the global economy $7-12bn a year because it is beginning to strangle key supply routes. You can make a difference.

Both the Philippine and British Governments have give their support Both the Philippine and British Governments have give their support to the SaveOurSeafarers (SOS) initiative.Seafarers' organisations, shipping companies together with business leaders and the largest group of shipping industry associations, recently joined forces to campaign against Somali piracy under the banner of www.saveourseafarers.com.In the UK, correspondence between members of the SOS campaign and the British MP Henry Billingham, Minister for Africa, the UN, Overseas Territories and conflict Issues, has led to the Minister expressing deep concern at the latest developments in pirate tactics, particularly the distressing and intolerable conditions in which seafarers are being held, as well as the increasing incidents of violence being used against seafarers.Billingham, said: "The (British) Government supports the campaign and the key actions it has prioritised. Together with the Minister for Shipping, Mike Penning and the Minister for the Armed Forces, Nick Harvey, I intend to hold another meeting with the shipping industry soon to discuss the action the Government is taking against the priorities of the campaign as well as the wider fight against piracy."In the Philippines, the Filipino Labour and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has said in a public statement that the world's ...