Hunt of the Sea Wolves

AFP

Somali pirates captured a freighter, a bulk carrier and a chemical tanker in a few days, defying foreign warships in the Gulf of Aden and ending the year with a flurry after collecting millions in ransom.

The marauding sea bandits’ latest catch was the St James Park, a UK-flagged chemical tanker with a crew of 26 from nine different countries, Andrew Mwangura of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme said Tuesday.

He said the vessel, which was seized on Monday en route from Spain to Thailand, had been commandeered near the northern Somali coast.

“It is expected to arrive there later this evening,” Mwangura told AFP.

Read entire story at AFP

AFP

A Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew members aboard was heading for a safe port after being released by pirates off the coast of Somalia, the European Union naval force in the region said Monday.

“The crew and the ship are in good condition and are now heading to a safe port,” EUNAVFOR said in a statement after the bulk carrier Dexinhai was released Sunday.

Pirates said they were paid 3.5 million dollars (2.2 million euros) in ransom.

The Dexinhai was hijacked on October 18 northeast of the Seychelles as it was sailing to India from South Africa.

The vessel, owned by Qingdao Ocean Shipping, had been held on the Somali coast between the pirate lairs of Harardhere and Hobyo, where it laid at anchor with other captured vessels and negotiations on its fate began.

On Sunday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the hijacked vessel was under the protection of the Chinese naval escort fleet, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.

Pirate leader Mohamed Rage told AFP by telephone: “We have been discussing with the Chinese ship owners for several weeks and they finally agreed to pay 3.5 million dollars.”

Press Trust of India

A Shipping Corporation of India vessel with 35 crew members on board was attacked by pirates in the Arabian Sea, around 300 miles off the western coast, but it managed to escape, a top company official said today.

The hijack bid took place last night when the vessel ‘Maharaj Agrasen’ was on its way to Vizag from Kuwait, he said.

“The incident took place on Monday late night when a group of pirates in three speed-boats attacked the vessel with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. However, quick thinking by the ship’s captain saved the crew members,” National Union of Seafarers of India’s General Secretary, Abdulgani Y Serang, told PTI here.

The Captain, after making an attempt to ram the ship into a pirate boat, changed the direction of the vessel and sped away, Serang said.

SCI’s Chairman S C Hajara confirmed the incident.

Manila Bulletin

Suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits and rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) exploded three bombs in Sulu province on Monday, damaging a newly repaired bridge, the Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) reported here Tuesday.

WesMinCom chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino said the first bomb exploded at 1:45 a.m. followed by another explosion at 1:55 a.m. Monday at the garbage dump of Liang Elementary School in Patikul town. The third bomb exploded shortly after 10 a.m. destroying the newly repaired Salam Bridge (Peace Bridge) in Indanan town.

The military accused members of the MNLF led by Tahil Sali, whose group is being pursued by government troops for criminal offenses. Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the Joint Task Force Comet (JTFC), said the Salam Bridge is located near the MNLF camp in Barangay Bato-Bato, Indanan town. Guerrero said they are still assessing the extent of damage caused by the explosion that left a crater on the bridge’s approach.

“They (MNLF) are trying to disrupt the ongoing United States and Armed Forces of the Philippines projects in Indanan by sabotaging the bridge,” he said.

Read entire story at Manila Bulletin

Mindanao Examiner

Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels bombed a bridge Monday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where security forces are fighting insurgents, officials said.

Officials said the attack damaged the bridge near a base of the Moro National Liberation Front rebels in Indanan town. There were no casualties in the attack and that troops were sent to pursue the bombers, said Marine Brigadier General Rustico Guererro, commander of military forces in Sulu.

“The bombing affected the residents in the area, especially the farmers who cannot deliver their agricultural produce to the markets. We have sent troops in the area to pursue the attackers who are believed to be Abu Sayyaf and MNLF rebels under Tahil Sali,” the general said.

Read entire story at Mindanao Examiner

AFP

Government security forces have surrounded a mountain hideout of suspected Islamic militants holding a college professor hostage in the southern Philippines, an official said on Saturday.

A negotiator has been ordered to try and talk the kidnappers into releasing Orlando Fajardo in a last ditch effort to peacefully solve the crisis, the official added.

“Our emissary is still up there and law enforcement forces are still surrounding the area where the kidnappers and the victim are,” said Al Rasheed Sakalahul, deputy governor of Basilan island province where Fajardo was seized.

Read entire story at AFP

Associated Press

Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned ship and its 21 crew members, including 14 Filipinos, after more than a month in captivity, the Philippine government and the ship’s owner said Friday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, reported that the MV Delvina was heading to Mombasa with its crew, who were safe and in good health.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Ed Malaya said the ship, seized on Nov. 5, was released around 2 a.m. Friday (1 p.m. EST Thursday, 1800 GMT Thursday).

“All the crew are reported unharmed and are well despite their 43-day ordeal,” the ship’s owner, Meadway Shipping & Trading Inc., said in a statement in Athens, Greece.

Read entire story at Associated Press

Earth Times

They have been shot dead by US Navy Seals, hunted down by flotillas of international warships, battered by monsoons and appeared in courts across the world, but still the Somali pirates keep on coming. An estimated 2,000 pirates ply their trade in the waters off Somalia - skinny young men who take to the seas in mother ships bristling with weaponry and modern technology and then launch their attacks on commercial shipping from fast skiffs.

No ship is too large or small for the industrious Somalis: from fishing boat to supertanker, they will hijack anything that can score a hefty ransom from the vessel’s foreign owners.

2009 was supposed to be the year when the international community banded together and tackled the problem after an explosion of pirate attacks at the tail end of 2008 threatened commercial shipping through the Gulf of Aden ­ one of the world’s busiest waterways.

Yet dispatching over a dozen warships to patrol the Gulf of Aden has failed to send the pirates scurrying back to their hideouts in Puntland, the semi-autonomous region of Somalia where many of the gangs are based.

Nor has the threat of violence acted as a deterrent. French and US forces have both shot dead pirates during hostage rescues this year.

The International Maritime Bureau says the number of attacks in 2009 is almost double the 2008 figure. As of November 30, there had been been a total of 204 attacks by suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Of those attacks, 42 were successful.

According to Roger Middleton, a Horn of Africa analyst with London-based think tank Chatham House, the upward trend is down to a number of factors, including the fact that naval patrols have been a victim of their own success.

The pirates have shifted out into the Indian Ocean, where they are harder to find than in the relatively narrow Gulf of Aden.

“Because of the success in the Gulf of Aden, the pirates have moved out into the Indian Ocean,” Middleton told the German Press Agency dpa. “There aren’t enough warships in the world to provide the same level of protection in the Indian Ocean.”

Read entire story at Earth Times

Later, Parris, Roy, Raj, and Marchetti watched as two corpsmen carried Moses, now conscious, out of the head on a stretcher. The ship’s doctor, a lieutenant commander, followed and turned to Parris, “His collar bone is shattered,” he said. “It’s a clean break. We can set it in sickbay. He’s going to be laid up too long to do you any good.”

            “Thanks, commander,” Parris said. “I’ll come up later to see how he’s doing.”

            “We should be finished in about an hour.”

            “Yes, sir.” Parris placed a reassuring hand on Moses’ chest. “Take it easy.”

            “Sorry, sir,” Moses said in a blur of pain. “I screwed up.”

            “Hey, things happen,” Parris said. “You’ve got to admit it, though, even for Crazy Horse, this is pretty good.”

            Moses groaned as much from the pain as embarrassment at his own absurd predicament.

            “But I don’t think I can write you up for a medal this time.”

            Moses grinned at Parris. “No purple heart, huh.”

            “I’ll see you up in sickbay. The doc is going to take care of you.”

            “But you’re going to need a corpsman?”

            Parris nodded to the two sailors at either end of the stretcher. They picked Moses up. Parris looked at Roy, then back at Moses. “Don’t worry about it.”

The corpsmen moved down the passageway. Parris turned back to Roy, and then glanced at Private Raj. “All right, Private, you’re in. Get your gear ready.”

The boy grinned broadly, “Yes, Sir. You won’t regret it, Sir,” he said, then ran as fast as the pitching ship allowed him to down the passageway.

“I hope not,” Parris murmured.

“You won’t,” Roy said. “He’s a good soldier—and an excellent medic.”

“We’ll see.” James murmured, just clearly enough for them to hear.

Bernama.com

Pirate attacks against ships in the Asian region, particularly in the seas off Malaysia and Singapore, including the Straits of Malacca, have dropped last month as compared to a year ago.

Five pirate attacks and three attempted raids were reported in the region last month, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre here on Thursday.

In November last year, nine pirate attacks and an attempted raid were reported in the Asian region.

In its monthly report, the centre said no incident was reported in the Straits of Malacca and seas off Singapore and Malaysia last month.

However, it said the number of incidents reported in Indonesia last month had increased to six, including two attempted attacks, as compared to two incidents in November last year.

The centre said bulk carriers and chemical tankers appeared to be the preferred targets in piracy as compared to other types of ship such as tug-boats and oil tankers.

It said that during the incidents, pirates were usually armed with guns or knives, adding that so far, there was only one incident involving the kidnapping of a crewman and two incidents of crewmen held hostage.