Hunt of the Sea Wolves

PR Newswire

Several of the Iraqi civilians who were injured or who lost family members when Blackwater personnel opened fire in Nisoor Square in Baghdad in September 2007 have added claims to their lawsuit in Virginia federal court, according to their U.S.-based legal team.

The new allegations against several Blackwater-related defendants - now operating as Xe and other names under the control of chairman

Erik Prince - include violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The RICO allegations include murder; destruction of audio and videotaped evidence; distribution of controlled substances (steroids); tax evasion; child prostitution; and weapons smuggling.

According to the complaint, Prince “has created an enterprise that has engaged in a series of illegal acts that suffice as RICO predicate acts extending over a substantial period of time beginning at least in 2003. The Prince RICO Enterprise continues to exist, continues to engage in repeated illegal acts, and poses a grave and special threat to the social well-being of the world.”

Read entire story at PR Newswire

Lloyd’s List

Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia on the rise and could cause a significant increase in the price of shipped goods, according to a new report commissioned by Lloyd’s of London.

“(The) piracy risk is likely to get worse before it gets better,” the report said, echoing “serious concerns” over piracy voiced last month by the Group of Eight powers (G8).

“The cost of keeping global trade routes open could result in a growing ‘piracy tax’ that will be felt by a wider range of businesses and consumers, already battered by the effects of recession,” the Lloyd’s report said.

As insurance costs escalate with the pirate attacks, shipping companies are increasingly choosing longer sea routes to avoid the region.

Read story at Lloyd’s List

Allianz Global Corporation & Specialty

In a study released today (June 22) entitled “Piracy: An ancient risk with modern faces,” AGCS suggests that special ‘war’ insurance policies should be used to meet the needs of ships in high risk areas. AGCS also identifies a number of practical responses that crews can take when passing through piracy zones, and the study also points out that whilst piracy may be on the rise off Somalia and other parts of Africa, it is declining in other areas, but still poses a real threat to shipping and trade. “Anybody who has been involved with actual pirates knows the grim reality they live in and the damage they can inflict,” states AGCS Global Marine Head Arthur E. Moossmann.

Currently many vessels are insured for piracy as part of their standard ‘hull and machinery’ insurance policies, which are not specifically designed to address security-related risks such as piracy. This means that some ship-owners are paying for piracy coverage when they do not need it because they are not sailing through piracy zones. So-called ‘war’ insurance provides special cover for ships exposed to piracy risks on a ‘per transit’ basis, meaning that it can be specifically underwritten to handle various exposures besides damage to the vessel and therefore can be priced more flexibly.

“There may be a lot of shipping companies out there that are paying for piracy cover that do not need it as part of their hull and machinery policies,” explains Dr. Sven Gerhard, Global Hull and Liabilities Product Leader at AGCS. “Conversely, there are a lot of vessels that are exposed to high levels of piracy risk because of the routes they travel that – under current underwriting – cannot arrange more flexible, individually suited piracy coverage because it could be part of their general hull and machinery policies.”

Read entire article at Allianz

ABS CBN News

Basilan Governor Jum Akbar has declared an all-out war against Abu Sayyaf bandits responsible for the bloody ambush of police commandos over the weekend, a police official said Wednesday.

Senior Superintendent Salic Macapantar, Basilan provincial police director, said the “all-out” offensive will commence as soon as 226 members of the police’s elite command unit, Special Action Force (SAF), arrive in the province.

Macapantar said the SAF members will reinforce the 300 elite members of the provincial police office and the 1st Marine Brigade of the military.

Meanwhile, the provincial police head said Police Officer Midjar Madjiram, who was reported “missing in action” after the deadly ambush in Sumisip town on Sunday, has been found by a police search team.

He said the missing policeman was found a few meters away from the ambush site.

Members of the 1520th Police Provincial Mobile Group were on a regular patrol when ambushed by a group of Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sitio Mompol, Barangay Lower Benembengan.

Seven policemen were slain in the ambush.

Macapantar said Madjiram went missing at the height of the gun battle between police forces and the bandits.

AFP

Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea on Monday discussed forming a joint anti-piracy force, saying defending the crucial Red Sea waterway was the “primary responsibility” of littoral states.

At a conference in the Saudi capital, delegates from 11 regional states stressed the “importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Instead the representatives from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen called for the establishment of an Arab Naval Task Force to take a lead role in anti-piracy efforts.

“This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to reach an agreement to form this force,” Royal Saudi Navy commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd bin Abdullah told journalists.

Read entire story at AFP

Reuters

Pirate attacks on vessels sailing off Somalia could get worse, pushing up insurance and shipping costs and possibly forcing companies to use longer sea routes, industry officials say.

Piracy has flourished in recent months off the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes and seaborne gangs have seized several cargo ships and collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom for the safe release of crews and cargoes.

Last week the Group of Eight powers said it was “seriously concerned” about the increasing threat.

“(The) piracy risk is likely to get worse before it gets better,” said a report this month commissioned by Lloyd’s of London [LOL.UL], the specialist insurance market.

Read story at Reuters

Boctoc Meana

The third task force of RF Navy Pacific Fleet has set off from Vladivostok to the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy. The task force comprises big anti-submarine ship “Admiral Tributs”, tanker “Boris Butoma” and tugboat “MB-99.”

Along with sailors the detachment also includes a Naval Infantry subunit, which will execute tasks of protection of commercial ships passing through the gulf. The chief of northeast branch of RF Pacific Fleet, 1st-Class Captain Sergei Alekminsky stated that the mission will differ from previous counter-piracy missions. The operations are expected to be more complicated. “Presence of our ships will hamper pirates’ activity in the region urging them to change their attack tactics” – stated Sergei Alekminsky.

According to the captain, the RF Navy Pacific Fleet holds information relating to attacks on commercial ships included in the convoy of Navy ships. “Not all vessels can be furnished with a security group and therefore some of them remain unguarded. As a rule, pirates track radio communications and select these very vessels from a vessel train.” – said Sergey Alekminsky.

The mission is expected to last for about five months. The sailors yet have to cover 7000 miles to reach the destination point.
Let us remind that on March 30, the second naval unit of RF Pacific Fleet comprising destroyer “Admiral Panteleev”, salvage tug MB-37, tankers ‘Irkut” and “Izhora” was deployed to the Gulf of Aden to conduct anti-piracy patrols off Somalia coast. At present a part of the detachment is on its way to Vladivostok and tankers ‘Izhora’ and salvage tug MB-37 arrived at the main base of RF Navy Pacific Fleet.

GMA News

Suspected al-Qaida-linked militants killed seven policemen in an ambush Sunday after their comrades shot to death two Army soldiers in a separate attack in the southern Philippines, security officials said.

Navy Rear Admiral Alex Pama said suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen opened fire Sunday on a police convoy negotiating a dirt road in far-flung Sumisip township on Basilan island, killing seven policemen. Two other policemen survived the ambush and were taken to a hospital.

The policemen were returning to camp in nearby Maluso township after escorting a Basilan town mayor, who has backed recent offensives against Abu Sayyaf militants. The gunmen apparently thought the mayor was in the police convoy when they attacked, Pama told The Associated Press by telephone.

The gunmen may have wanted to avenge the loss of several fighters during recent Marine offensives and the recent escape of a lending company employee, whom the militants have held for months in the hope of getting a ransom payment, Pama said.

Read story at GMA News

Press TV

Somali pirates have released a Belgian ship and its crewmembers held in captivity for 10 weeks after a ransom payment, Belgian authorities said.

“The crew of the Belgian ship Pompei were released by kidnappers Sunday 28th June,” a statement from Belgian federal crisis center said Sunday.

“We can confirm that they (the 10 crewmembers) are all in good health, considering the circumstances,” Jaak Raes, the center’s director general told a press conference.

The amount of ransom paid was not disclosed, but a pirate spokesman said the hijackers had received USD 3 million, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Read story at Press TV

The Washington Post

soldiers involved in the construction of a school in the southern Philippines, officials said Sunday.

The two soldiers, who belonged to an army engineering brigade, walked off a school construction site in Tipo Tipo township on the predominantly Muslim island of Basilan to buy cigarettes when they were fired upon by two suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen late Saturday, navy Rear Admiral Alex Pama said.

Government forces are hunting the attackers. Pama said the attackers may have thought the soldiers had guns they could steal.

“This is pure murder of unarmed noncombatants who were helping the town build a school,” Pama told The Associated Press by telephone.

Read entire story at The Washington Post