Hunt of the Sea Wolves

Navy Times

An EU naval spokesman says Danish Special Forces have recaptured a ship taken over by armed Somali pirates and freed the 25 crew on board.

Danish Special Forces were aboard the warship Absolon.

Cmdr. John Harbour says the incident marks the first time a warship has intervened once pirates have boarded a vessel.

Harbour says the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Ariella sent out a distress signal early Friday.

Special Forces approached the vessel in inflatable boats that launched from a nearby Danish warship.

Harbour says the forces scaled the side of the ship and freed the 25 crew, who had locked themselves in a secure room. The forces continue to search the vessel for the pirates.

Similar story with more details at Yahoo News

Signal Scape

A swash-buckling Johnny Depp may be what most think of when the word “pirate” is mentioned, but the problem is much more serious that anything Hollywood could portray. Today’s WEST 2010 mid-day panel discussed just how critical this problem has become — especially off the coast of Somalia — and what is holding back solutions from being implemented. Moderator Dr. Virginia Lunsford did an excellent job of juggling as she encouraged each panel member — as well as audience members — to speak their minds about the problem.

Perhaps the most candid member of the panel was Col. David W. Coffman, USMC, commander of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He clearly expressed his frustration — as well as the frustration of his comrades in arms — in dealing with the piracy issue. The lack of clear commands for aggressively dealing with the issue has many “hitting our heads against the bulkheads,” he said. His point was that they have been assigned the task to fight the war on piracy but when it comes to the decisions about what should or can be done, the waffling in the national and international communities begins. His comment “My answer about how to treat pirates? Kill them,” received a round of applause from an audience comprising both service members and civilians who are fed up with pirates enjoying free reign.

Col. Coffman clarified his opinion even further. Although it may be easy to just say “kill them,” the reality is that it is not a task that can easily be followed through on. The challenge is not a matter of capabilities but rather a lack of a single-minded and strong will to solve the problem by fighting the war in the way that the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps has been trained to fight wars. “There is no appetite for kinetic operations to solve this problem,” he stated.

Although panel members agreed that piracy has become a business matter — it’s more profitable to hold ships and crewmembers hostage than fish the waters off Somalia — agreeing on what is standing in the way of taking control of the situation and bringing the number of takeovers down was not as simple. While panelists pointed to national and international policies, others pointed out that without a resolution about the legal ramifications of piracy, capturing pirates is futile.

This was one of the few panel sessions offered by any organization that ended with almost all audience members rushing the stage at the end of the one-hour discussion to continue the conversation and offer opinions to the experts. The comments ranged from purely simple solutions to the problem to the multitude of reasons fighting the war on piracy has become so complex.

CNN

An Ethiopian-flagged vessel fought off a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week, the multi-national anti-piracy task force said Thursday.

The MV Andinet, part of the Ethiopian Shipping Line, was approached by two pirate skiffs Monday, with one of them coming close enough to fire automatic weapons in an attempt to force the ship to stop, the task force said in a statement.

But the vessel’s crew used anti-piracy measures — including firing flares in the air and utilizing fire hoses, as well as “evasive maneuvering” — to repel the pirates, Combined Maritime Forces said.

After a distress call was sent out, the USS Farragut, a U.S. Navy destroyer assigned to the task force, deployed her SH-80 helicopter to follow the skiffs, and the USS Porter gave chase as well, the task force said.

“A boarding team from the USS Farragut subsequently stopped and boarded the pirate skiffs, but only an empty magazine and used rounds were found on board.”

Read entire story at CNN

By four o’clock in the morning the typhoon had subsided somewhat, but the wind was still blowing across the deck at more than seventy miles per hour, category one level. Only on a ship the size of the Bonhomme Richard would a seaman consider the waves tolerable. Sailors hurried to check the chains that secured the thirty helicopters and eight Harrier II aircraft.

Their Ch-46 medium assault helicopter was warmed up and the teams hurried across the deck to climb aboard. Carrying only their weapons and backpacks this time, the going was much easier than it had the day before going down into the ship and they made their way up the ramp to the helo.

            “The storm picked up speed during the night,” Parris shouted over the noise to Roy. “Our window is down to half an hour.”

            “We won’t make it to the LZ in time,”

            Parris handed Roy a piece of paper. On it were a set of GPS coordinance.

           “Our inside man will leave info there on where the camp is,” he said. “They move around between several camps every day or so, so he won’t know the present location until the last minute.”

            The helo pilot received the all clear signal from the yellow-shirted aircraft handling officer and pulled back on the stick as the craft lifted off and banked left over the frothy sea. They were now flying at one hundred sixty miles per hour in the eye of the storm and the sky above was a brilliant blue, but dark thunderheads loomed just a few miles in every direction around the helo. The helo immediately dropped out of sight as it skimmed only a few feet above the crashing waves and raced toward an, as yet, unseen island over the horizon in an attempt to beat the storm.

            They didn’t make it.

Bloomberg

The United States will receive its first shipment of liquefied natural gas from Yemen this month over the objections of Massachusetts officials who have said the vessels may be targets for terrorists.

U.S. Coast Guard officials announced plans yesterday to allow an LNG tanker from Yemen to pass through Boston Harbor into GDF Suez’s Massachusetts terminal at the end of the month. The announcement was made at a meeting with local officials at the Statehouse in Boston. The Coast Guard also announced security measures for all LNG vessels from Yemen.

“Because we had elevated concern, we found the vulnerabilities and we established a level of security to ensure the ship remains safe,” Lieutenant Erik Halvorson, a Coast Guard spokesman, said in a telephone interview yesterday. He said the procedures will include ship boardings and escorts at both U.S. and Yemeni ports.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he was disappointed with the Coast Guard’s decision. He said in a statement today that “extra security alone” is not a solution.

“It is the duty of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to develop a long-term strategy that will significantly limit, if not eliminate, the need for LNG tankers to travel through Boston Harbor,” Menino said in the statement.

Read entire story at Bloomberg

MSNBC

Somali pirates hijacked a North Korean cargo ship on Wednesday with an unknown number of crew on board, the European Union Naval Force said.

The MV Rim was seized in the Gulf of Aden, outside the internationally recommended transit corridor patrolled by the anti-piracy naval coalition, said Cmdr. Anders Kallin of the EU Naval Force.

The MV Rim has not had any communication with maritime authorities, but Kallin said an American warship, the USS Porter, and a helicopter from American warship USS Farragut confirmed the seizure of the ship to the EU.

Read entire story at MSNBC

Manila Bulletin

An Army soldier was killed and 12 others were  wounded in  two separate roadside bombings Tuesday  in Sumisip, Basilan province.

Basilan Police Provincial Director Sr. Supt Antonio Mendoza said Tuesday that the first bomb exploded  about  11 AM at the village of Giong in Sumisip town, wounding four civilians, including relatives of Basilan Party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman who were then aboard a private jeep.

Hataman is running for governor in this  province against  incumbent Basilan Governor Jum Akbar,  widow of assassinated solon Wahab Akbar.
 
It was not immediately known if the bombing was in retaliation to the murder of Wahab Akbar, who was killed in a blast that ripped through a section of the House of Representatives in Manila in 2007.

Read entire story at the Manila Bulletin

WHDH-TV

The Coast Guard announced Tuesday that tankers from Yemen carrying liquefied natural gas will be allowed into Boston Harbor starting later this month.

The decision comes despite concerns about Yemen supporting terrorists.

The Coast Guard will implement supplemental security measures both when the ships are loaded in Yemen and when they reach Broad Sound.

“The biggest item is to make sure no one has access to the ship that should not have access to the ship. We also want to make sure no one has access to the underwater hull of that ship and we do that through dive surveys,” said Capt. John Healey of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Read story and see video at WHDH-TV

U.S. European Command

Danish warship HDMS Absalon, which is part of NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield, rendered assistance to an Indian flagged cargo ship (known as a dhow), Feb. 2. The dhow “Faize Osamani” and her crew of 12 had been taken by Somali pirates with the intention of using her as a mother-ship to mount further attacks against maritime shipping.

Working closely with maritime partners EUNAVFOR and Combined Maritime Force 151 to gather maritime intelligence, HDMS Absalon shadowed the dhow ensuring that the pirates onboard could not use it to launch further attacks. Realizing that NATO forces were close by, the pirates abandoned the dhow.

HDMS Absalon’s sailors were then able to provide first aid, food , fuel and water to the relieved Indian crew and repair the dhow’s damaged rudder ensuring that it was safe and seaworthy.

Speaking about the assistance given to the dhow, Commodore Rune (Royal Danish Navy) who is in charge of NATO’s Task Force 508 on HDMS Absalon commented, “this operation demonstrates that NATO’s presence in the Gulf of Aden is disrupting pirates. This was a good day for both HDMS Absalon and Faize Osamani – it means NATO has prevented likely acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and one happy Indian crew no longer in the hands of pirates.”

Maritime Security Centre

HIJACKED vehicle carrier Asian Glory has reportedly been put into service by pirates.

The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre said on 29 January: “A previously hijacked vehicle carrier with blue hull and white superstructure, which is still under the pirate control, was in position 05:17N - 050:31E, on a course of 140 and doing 15 kt. It is assessed pirates are using this vessel for their activities.”

The centre warned vessels to stay at least 100 n-miles from the ship’s stated position. Its movement was also reported by anti-piracy organisation Ecoterra, which said: “Somali pirates commandeered the sea-jacked vehicle carrier VC Asian Glory from the holding area off Hobyo towards the Seychelles in order to refuel one of the pirate mother-ships, which has run out of fuel.”

Read story at Maritime Security Centre