A maritime security alert has been issued for the Arabian Sea after a fishing vessel was boarded by pirates approximately 35NM SW of Masirah Island in position 19:57.1N 58:25.51E at 1930 local time on 14 February.
According to reports, armed pirates operating from a 20 foot brown-coloured dhow named 'Hander' stole the crew's possessions, food and fuel before escaping.
Pre-emptive strikes by international navies and the presence of private armed guards on board ships nearly halved the number of hijackings by Somali pirates in 2011, said the International Maritime Bureau.
Somali pirates hijacked 28 ships last year compared with 49 in 2010, even as the number of attacks grew to 237 from 219 in the previous year, the maritime watchdog said.
“Pre-emptive naval strikes, the hardening of vessels in line with the best management practices and the deterrent effect of privately contracted armed security personnel have all contributed to this decrease,” said IMB director Pottengal Mukundan.
Scanning goals have not proved feasible and July deadline cannot be met, says government security chief
US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have not shown they can meet 100% screening of cargo containers, as required by the 9/11 Act, according to Stephen Caldwell Director, Homeland Security and Justice for the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) .
“Uncertainty persists over how DHS and CBP will fulfill the mandate for 100% scanning, given that the feasibility remains unproven in light of the challenges CBP has faced implementing a pilot programmme,” Caldwell said in a statement to the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security.
The huge industrial port of Ponta da Madeira in tropical northern Brazil is far removed geographically and culturally from the picturesque Tuscan island of Giglio. But the two share something important.
Both in the past two months have witnessed scenes that illustrate a growing risk facing large swathes of the maritime industry — of large-scale accidents involving members of a new breed of giant ships.
Images of the stranded, half-submerged wreck of the Costa Concordia, the 291-metre long cruise ship that hit rocks off Giglio on January 13 and capsized, have become familiar round the world and led to calls for tighter cruise ship regulation.
A warship — the fourth of six being developed for the UAE navy in a Dh4 billion project — was launched yesterday in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) unveiled the 72-metre vessel, called Mezyad, which is equipped with propulsion engines and weaponry.
Mezyad is the third ship under the Baynunah Corvette Class Programme to be developed by the company. The vessels are expected to be delivered to the UAE Navy by 2014, with a six-month interval between each delivery.
"Baynunah Class is a unique ship, very sophisticated and very complex that attracts every navy in the world," said Mohammad Salem Al Junaibi, CEO of ADSB.
The US-based anti-piracy think-tank, One Earth Future has got the calculator out again and has been crunching the costs of piracy.
According to their latest figures the economic cost of Somali piracy last year came to $6.6bn-$6.9bn, with about 80% of the bill falling on the shipping industry, according to research
Average ransoms increased by 25% from approximately $4m in 2010 to $5m in 2011. Although the total cost of ransoms hit $160m in 2011, that still represents a modest 2% of the overall impact.
Total Number of Attacks in January: 46 Total Number of Attacks this year: 46 Ships Released in January: 2 Crew Released in January: 45 New Ships Taken in January: 2 New Crew Taken in January: 24 Ships Held at end of January: 16 Crew Held at end of January: 257
A planned attack on the hotly disputed Mubarak Port in Kuwait is the latest incident in a long line of protests against the development, which, Baghdad claims, will strangle its shipping lanes.
A court spokesman said, "The police have arrested six people accused of preparing an attack on Mubarak port," according to Agence France Presse (AFP). However, it is not yet clear if the suspects are members of a particular group and no trial date has been given.
A planned attack on the hotly disputed Mubarak Port in Kuwait is the latest incident in a long line of protests against the development, which, Baghdad claims, will strangle its shipping lanes.
A court spokesman said, "The police have arrested six people accused of preparing an attack on Mubarak port," according to Agence France Presse (AFP). However, it is not yet clear if the suspects are members of a particular group and no trial date has been given.
Four attacks were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea in January, an increase from two last month. Notably, only one attack was an incident of low-level armed robbery. The remainder were attacks at distance from the Nigerian coastline. Due to severe under-reporting of piracy in the region, the actual number of attacks on merchant vessels is likely to be higher.
Three attacks off the Nigerian coastline were recorded at distances of between 45-85NM from the shore. On 3 January, MV Tradewind was boarded and robbed south of Lagos, with reports of violence carried out on crewmembers and navigation equipment destroyed in the process. At 2015 on 9 January, a drifting Norwegian-flagged bulk carrier was boarded near the Usan oil terminal around 55NM south of Port Harcourt. The crew retreated to the citadel for 12 hours, emerging to find cash, possessions and ships stores stolen.
The Anglo-Eastern chemical tanker FAIRCHEM BOGEY (26,350-dwt), has been released by Somali pirates, was allowed to sail away from Somalia after a record payment of US$8 million was paid, according to Chinese news reports.
If correct then this is the most money paid so far to Somali pirates to release a ship and her crew. The previous highest ransom paid was for the 1743-TEU container ship MSC PANAMA and her crew of 23 for which $7 million was handed over.
During 2011 the average ransom paid for a ship and crew was in the region of $4 million.
Parliamentary committee calls for government guidance on use of lethal force against Somali attackers
Members of a UK parliamentary committee have called on the government to provide clear guidelines on whether armed guards protecting UK ships can kill Somali pirates during an attack.
Prime Minister David Cameron last year gave permission for UK ships in waters off East Africa to use private armed guards. However, a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report, Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, published this week, calls for official guidance on the use of lethal force.
Over the course of December global pirate activity decreased by five attacks from the previous month, giving December the lowest level of recorded attacks in 2011. The drop in attacks is largely attributable to a significant reduction in activity off East Africa and in the Indian Ocean, caused by a combination of poor weather and low success rates. One merchant vessel was successfully hijacked by Somali pirates in December, the first in over eight weeks. In West Africa all forms of reported piracy dropped significantly, although the statistics do not reflect the reality of maritime security environment. Seven attacks were registered in Asia, one less than the previous month. Three attacks were also registered in Latin America.
Schettino, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, may be the least popular man in Europe. However, he does have at least one fan. Domnica Cemortan (sometimes spelled "Dominica Cermotan") of Moldova is doing her best to defend Schettino's honor.
The 25-year-old gave an interview with Moldova's Jurnal TV. She claims Schettino "did a great thing, he saved over 3,000 lives" and that he stayed on deck until 11:50 p.m., an assertion that contradicts other reports. The ship sank on Jan. 14. Eleven people have been confirmed dead; 21 more are missing.
Cemortan has worked on cruise ships, but she claims, according to ABC News, to have been onboard the Costa Concordia as a passenger. The trip, she has said, was a birthday present.
Over the past several days, web interest in Cemortan has skyrocketed. Information about the Moldovan is scant; several photos, however, apparently from her Facebook account, have surfaced.
Total Number of Attacks in December: 17 Total Number of Attacks this year: 427 Ships Released in December: 1 Crew Released in December: 22 New Ships Taken in December: 1 New Crew Taken in December: 18
East Africa: The risk of piracy remains high despite a dip in attacks and low success rates,
although the continuing northeast monsoon season will push attacks closer to shore, and into traditionally sheltered areas in the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea. A slight increase in attacks may occur as pirates are emboldened by high reported ransom payments and the first successful hijacking of a merchant vessel in eight weeks in December.
West Africa: Fewer reported hijackings are likely as STS operations have been pushed to areas under control of the Togolese navy. Nonetheless, the risk of low level armed robbery remains pertinent, despite a lack of recorded incidents.
Asia: Mostly opportunistic attacks set to continue, with hijackings at sea still a risk.
Latin America: An increase in instances of low level armed robbery may be seen in response to the pressure being placed on criminal activity on land.
IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has met Secretary-General Ban at UN Headquarters in New York, and discussed matters related to IMO’s work and cooperation between the UN and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to combat Somalia-based piracy.
It was the first time the two had met after Mr. Ban’s reappointment as Secretary-General of the United Nations and Mr. Sekimizu taking the office of Secretary-General of IMO.
The meeting followed the endorsement of IMO’s work in this area, reiterated in November 2011 by the Security Council and the recent report of the Secretary-General (S/2011/662 of 25 October 2011), in which the UN Secretary-General encouraged UN Member States and multinational organizations to consider how they could contribute further to address the root causes of piracy, including through developing land-based initiatives to strengthen Somali and regional maritime and law enforcement capacity.
Total piracy incidents fell again by two from November to just two in December. As was the case in October and November, the drop is largely attributed to a reduction in reported instances of low-level armed robbery due at least partly to the joint naval patrols of ‘Operation Prosperity’ in traditional high risk anchorages and ports in Nigeria in Benin. The majority of STS operations have moved from high risk Nigerian waters to areas off Togo under the control of the Togolese navy, causing a reduction in tanker hijackings.
However, it is unlikely that the official statistics provide an accurate representation of the security situation due to the under reporting of attacks.
In one of his last official functions as secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, Efthimios E Mitropoulos, together with Madagascar’s Minister for Transports, Benjamina Ramarcel Ramantsoa and Mr Jérôme Sambalis Director General of the Agence Portuaire, Maritime et Fluviale (APMF) commissioned a new search and rescue sub-centre at Antananarivo in Madagascar, which will operate in conjunction with the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town, South Africa.
The commissioning took place on 11 December last year.
The people of the coastal settlement of Akassa in the Brass local government area of Bayelsa State have raised alarm over the rising cases of deadly pirates' attacks on their waterways and the attendant loss of lives.
Only last Tuesday, two commercial speedboats were attacked by suspected sea pirates close to Okobotuo fishing settlement long the Akassa-Yenagoa routes leading to the death of one passenger.
In a petition to the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, the people of Akassa Kingdom, through the Chairman, Akassa National Council of Chiefs (ANCC), Chief Franco A.
According to a report in The Australian, the British government has secretly approved the payment of millions of dollars in ransom money to Somali pirates despite stating publicly that it opposes such deals.
They claim that dozens of payments — most for hijacked ships — have been sent from banks in London through British airports to pirate gangs on the Somali coast, and suggest that the British government has knowingly supported these transactions.
However, the truth is perhaps somewhat different. Given the response to ransoms in the recent UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee report,freed.
About three months after running onto a reef off the coaat of New Zealand, the grounded container ship Rena has started to break up but remains firmly wedged on the Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga in New Zealand.
The ship, which ran onto the reef at full speed on Oct. 5, split in two over the weekend, according to Maritime New Zealand. Swells of up to 15 feet have widened a gaping crack in the ship's hull.
The ship had been expected to break up long before now, but it has held together under water.
Major revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (the STCW Convention), and its associated Code enter into force on 1 January 2012, with a five-year transitional period until 1 January 2017.
The “Manila Amendments” were adopted at a Diplomatic Conference in Manila, the Philippines, held in June 2010, and are aimed at ensuring that the necessary global standards will be in place to train and certify seafarers to operate technologically-advanced ships for some time to come.
The important changes to each chapter of the Convention and Code include the following:
• Improved measures to prevent fraudulent practices associated with certificates of competency and strengthen the evaluation process (monitoring of Parties' compliance with the Convention).
Regulation I/15 Transitional provisions of the amended STCW Convention states that:
“.1. Until 1 January 2017, a Party may continue to issue, recognize and endorse certificates in accordance with the provisions of the Convention which applied immediately prior to 1 January 2012 in respect of those seafarers who commenced approved seagoing service, an approved education and training programme or an approved training course before 1 July 2013.
Taiwan is considering a plan to place armed guards on board local ships that sail in pirate-infested waters, especially off Somalia, officials and media said Tuesday.
"The proposal has been under evaluation, but details of how it can be done have not been finalised," an official at the transportation ministry told AFP, declining to give his name.
Industry officials said the proposed measures would not be implemented until an amendment to the law governing guns and firearms that bars the employment of armed guards on board local vessels.
While awaiting the government's decision, leading shipping firms Evergreen Marine Corp and Yangming Marine Transport Corp have both already taken steps to protect their vessels.
Most Commented