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June 2 (Reuters) – Somali pirates hijacked a Panama-flagged cargo ship and its 24-strong crew in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, the European’s anti-piracy taskforce said.
EU NAVFOR said an American warship had seen at least one person with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on board the MV QSM Dubai.
It said the crew were from Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana. (Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)
A senior U.S. military commander issued a secret order last year that laid the ground for an escalation of covert operations across the Middle East and the Horn Africa, officials said on Monday.
Issued last September by General David Petraeus, the order authorized an escalation that included boosting military and intelligence assistance to help Yemeni forces strike al Qaeda targets, as well as deployment of more unmanned aerial drones to collect information and track high-value targets.
The order also authorized U.S. Special Operations units to work with local security forces to counter al Qaeda and other threats, a goal Pentagon officials have made no secret of.
As the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, Petraeus oversees U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and plays a major role in planning for any possible military action against Iran over its nuclear program.
The order was first reported by the New York Times, which quoted a document it obtained as saying the goal was to build networks that could “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” al Qaeda and other militant groups as well as “prepare the environment” for future attacks by U.S. or local military forces.
The newspaper said the directive also appeared to authorize specific operations in Iran, most likely to gather intelligence about its nuclear program or identify dissident groups that might be useful for any future military offensive.
Some of the covert military operations that followed the secret order have been reported. These include a September 2009 attack by helicopter-borne Special Operations Forces on a car carrying one of east Africa’s most wanted al Qaeda militants, Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan.
Central Command has been positioning Reaper drones at a base in the Horn of Africa. Officials said the drones can be used against militants in Yemen and Somalia, and even against pirates who attack ships traversing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
“They (the drones) are part of it but it is much broader than that,” one U.S. official said of the order.
In February, Defence Secretary Robert Gates authorized $150 million in security assistance for Yemen for fiscal 2010, up from $67 million last year.
Officials told Reuters the money would be used in part to bolster Yemen’s special operations forces to lead an offensive targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for a failed plot to blow up a U.S. passenger plane on Christmas Day.
The group has emerged as one of al Qaeda’s most active affiliates, and the Obama administration recently took the extraordinary step of authorizing the CIA to kill a leading figure linked to the group — American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
(Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Chris Wilson)
NAIROBI, April 11 (Reuters) – Pirates seized a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flagged merchant ship off the coast of the Seychelles on Sunday, the EU naval force said.
A regional maritime body warned other vessels to avoid the area for the next two days as the weather was suitable for more hijackings.
“The … cargo ship MV Rak Afrikana has been hijacked this morning … approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles,” EUNAVFOR said in a statement.
“The Rak Afrikana has currently stopped due to engine problems.”
Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the ship had a crew of 23 Chinese.
EUNAVFOR said Seychelles’ Rak Afrikana Shipping Ltd owned the 7,561-dwt ship.
Gangs have seized dozens of ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden over the last few years. Despite international naval patrols, pirate activity is predicted to rise in coming months as the weather improves.
Mwangura said ships should avoid the seas around where the Rak Afrikana was taken for the next two days.
“This area will remain high risk for the next 24-48 hours as weather conditions continue to be conducive to small boat operations,” he said in a statement.
Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking ships off their anarchic country’s coast and have extended their range using mother ships, sometimes seized vessels, from which to launch attacks with smaller craft. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Jon Hemming)
NAIROBI, April 11 (Reuters) – Pirates on Sunday seized a merchant ship off the coast of the Seychelles, a regional maritime body said, and warned other vessels to avoid the area for the next two day as the weather was suitable for more hijackings.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, said the vessel’s details inclcuding the number of its crew and nature of its cargo were yet to be determined.
“A merchant vessel reported being hijacked … approximately 250 nautical miles west of the Seychelles,” he said in a statement.
Over the last few years sea gangs have hijacked dozens of ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
Despite international naval patrols, pirate activity is seen rising in coming months as the weather improves.
Mwangura said ships should avoid the seas around where the merchant vessel was taken for the next two days.
“This area will remain high risk for the next 24-48 hours as weather conditions continue to be conducive to small boat operations,” he said. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Giles Elgood)
A South Korean warship is rushing to the area where Somali pirates hijacked a South Korean oil tanker with 24 crew members aboard, the military said on Monday.
The 300,000-tonne Samho Dream was seized yesterday on its way from Iraq to the US state of Louisiana with a crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos.
A South Korean destroyer, which was in the Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy operations, has been ordered to move to waters off Somalia, a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman said.
“The destroyer is sailing in a hurry to catch up with the hijacked ship,” he said.
But the spokesman declined to say whether the 4,500-ton destroyer with about 300 soldiers on board has been ordered to intercept the hijacked ship.
Somali pirates have given no word yet but the South Korean government will not engage in any negotiations with them, the foreign ministry said.
Instead the ship’s owner, Samho Shipping, based in the southern port city of Busan, will be in charge of any negotiations, it said.
The company said the tanker’s captain had remained out of contact.
Somali pirates, targeting one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes, raked in an estimated 60 million dollars in ransoms last year.
A South Korean tuna ship with 25 crew was hijacked by Somali pirates in April 2006. The ship and its crew were released after four months when a ransom was paid.
In 2007 Somali pirates seized two South Korean vessels and 24 crew. The crew were released after six months in captivity.
Somali pirates seized a supertanker carrying as much as $170 million worth of crude oil from Iraq to the United States on Sunday, officials said, the latest sign that sea gangs may be targeting bigger quarry.
The 333-meter-long (1,092-foot) Samho Dream, which can carry more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, was hijacked and its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos was taken hostage, South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp said it was the owner of the crude oil cargo aboard the Samho Dream, which was hijacked off the east African coast. The cargo was bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast, Valero spokesman Bill Day said.
Increasingly brazen pirate activity has driven up insurance costs, forced some ships to go around South Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, and secured millions of dollars in ransoms.
A Nairobi-based maritime group said the tanker had been seized by Somali pirates, and a pirate source named Mohamed said the ship was now heading for Haradheere, the port and pirates’ base at which many ships are held during ransom negotiations.
While attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean have become an increasing risk for all vessels in recent years, it is rare for pirates to successfully seize the kind of massive supertankers that carry most Gulf crude to refiners.
The first successful assault on a very large crude carrier (VLCC) occurred in late 2008 when pirates took the Saudi-owned Sirius Star, the biggest ship hijacking to that date.
Another, the Greek-flagged Maran Centaurus, was seized last November and held for nearly two months until a ransom believed to be between $5.5 million and $7 million was paid.
“I can confirm that the cargo was chartered by Valero,” Day said. “It was bound for the Gulf Coast. We are aware of the situation and we’re monitoring it along with the ship’s owner.”
Valero is based in San Antonio.
The 319,000 deadweight tonnage Samho Dream, which was built in 2002, is carrying crude oil that could be worth as much as $170 million at current oil prices. It holds the equivalent of more than one day’s worth of Iraqi exports.
(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee and Jon Herskovitz, additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; editing by Tim Pearce, Jonathan Leff and Will Dunham)
Thu, Apr 1 08:26 PM
A U.S. warship captured five suspected pirates on Thursday after an exchange of fire in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, the U.S. navy said.
“USS Nicholas captured suspected pirates on Thursday after exchanging fire, sinking a skiff, and confiscating a suspected mother ship,” the U.S. Navy said in a statement. It did not say whether the pirates were Somalis.
After the clash, the American ship chased the suspected pirate ship, which had been damaged, until it stopped, it said.
It said it captured three pirates on the skiff and another two on the mother ship. The United States said that it expected pirates to increase attacks on merchant vessels due to better weather from March through May.
Pirate sources and a maritime source said that a Taiwanese ship had also been hijacked on Thursday.
Pirates operating off Somalia have stepped up hijack attacks on vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden in recent months, making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, despite the presence of foreign navies off the coast of Somalia.
Attacks had created a two-year boom for specialist insurance cover, but stiff competition and moves by owners to better protect ships has taken the edge out of insurance costs.
But analysts say the menace of piracy is far from contained, and unchecked growth in the rest of Africa, possible attacks in other key shipping channels and higher ransom demands will keep insurers interested in the long term.
(Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by George Obulutsa and Elizabeth Fullerton)
Seychelles, Mar 30 (ANI): One out of the total eight boats that were kidnapped by Somali pirates was on Tuesday reportedly traced near the Seychelles port after the Kenyan Navy established communication with the crew.
There are reports that the authorities are giving indications that the other vessels have also been spotted in Seychelles.
Somali pirates had kidnapped the sailors along with 120 other Indians when they were sailing from Somalia to Dubai.
The sailors, who belong to Gujarat”s Saurashtra and Kutch regions had anchored last in the rebel territory of Kismayo in Somalia where they loaded cargo into their boats. But soon after, they were taken as hostages.
The pirates have, however, till now not demanded any ransom.
There are reports that on account of the current hijacking, patrolling has been intensified following naval deployment in the Gulf of Aden and Seychelles.
Somali pirates had earlier also targeted many Indian ships and taken crew as hostages.
Armed pirates had on December 23, 2009 attacked the Indian ship M T Agrasen, just 300 nautical miles off the coast of Maharashtra. The forty-one crew were, however, able to thwart the siege.
A similar incident took place on December 15 last year, when the pirates seized the Indian vessel Laxmi Sagar off the Somalian coast and kept ten members hostage. (ANI)
The Dutch Navy has freed 20 suspected Somali pirates that it nabbed in the lawless waters off the restive Horn of Africa nation and the Seychelles coast.
The pirates were interrogated, disarmed and then allowed to board their vessels, a spokesman for the Dutch defence ministry said, adding that the weaponry included assault rifles, rocket launchers and knives.
The Dutch navy, which is taking part in a European Union anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast, this week arrested 33 pirates travelling on nine vessels.
Thirteen of them were freed on Wednesday.
The defence ministry said the Somalis “had weapons used by pirates”, but that was not enough to charge them.
Since mid-2009, Somali pirates have ventured from the now heavily-patrolled waters of the Gulf of Aden to launch the bulk of their attacks much further out in the Indian Ocean.
- AFP
NAIROBI, Kenya — Swarms of Somali pirates are moving into the waters off East Africa, triggering four shootouts Friday including a skirmish with French military personnel that sunk a pirate skiff, officials said.
The end of the monsoon season and the resulting calmer waters signal the beginning of the most dangerous period for ships traveling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. Nearly half the 47 ships hijacked off Somalia last year were taken in March and April.
Cmdr. John Harbour of the European Union Naval Force said a spike in attacks was very likely in coming weeks. But this season, ship owners and sailors are more prepared to try to evade pirates, fight back, or have armed security onboard, raising the likelihood of violence.
“We know the monsoon is over. We know they’re coming,” Harbour said. “We’re taking the fight to the pirates.”
In the most serious skirmish Friday, six pirates attacked a vessel before breaking off and chasing the French fishing boat Torre Giulia, Harbour said. Two other French fishing vessels nearby — the Jalenduic and the Trevignon — aided the Torre Giula.
A French military detachment onboard the Trevignon fired warning shots at the pirates, but failed to stop the attack. The Trevignon approached the skiff and collided with it, said Harbour, sinking the skiff and throwing the pirates into the water. Four were rescued and a military aircraft was searching for the other two, he said.
In a second incident Friday, the EU Naval Force intercepted a pirate group of one mothership and two skiffs that had attacked a separate French vessel. That attack was also repelled by military personnel onboard.
An EU Naval Force helicopter tracked the pirates and watched them throw a rocket launcher, grappling hooks and fuel barrels into the ocean. The naval force said it destroyed the mothership and one skiff and took 11 pirates into custody.
In the third and fourth attacks, pirates assaulted two Spanish tuna fishing boats off the coast of Kenya, Spain’s Ministry of Defense said. A spokesman said the boats had contacted Spanish navy forces in the area, who dispatched a plane. Between the air support and the private guards on the boats, they were able to repel the attack. The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because government rules don’t allow him to be identified but the clashes were confirmed by deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.
These incidents followed a firefight Thursday between private security contractors onboard a Spanish fishing vessel and pirates. The pirates set the ship on fire with a rocket-propelled grenade and the security guards returned fire. No one was hurt, but the International Maritime Bureau has expressed fears that the increased use of armed contractors could spark an arms race between fishermen and pirates, who are firing at ships with increasing frequency.
“The EU Navfor agrees with that recommendation because we don’t want an escalation of firepower,” said Harbour. “Also, there are lots of gas and oil tankers in the Gulf of Aden that wouldn’t benefit from grenades and bullets flying around.”
Pirate attacks off East Africa have dramatically increased over the past three years. Somali pirates attacked ships 217 times in 2009, according to the International Maritime Bureau. That was up from 111 attacks in 2008.
Last year, the average ransom was around $2 million, according to piracy expert Roger Middleton of the British think tank Chatham House. This year, two ransoms paid were around $3 million and $7 million, he said.
The original Somali pirates were fishermen aggrieved over the huge foreign trawlers depleting their seas — a complaint the international community has yet to address despite pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into anti-piracy patrols. Huge ransoms lured criminal gangs into piracy, though, and ransom inflation has made it more expensive to buy the freedom of the more than 130 hostages still being held.
Among those hostages are a retired British couple snatched last year from their sailboat, who a Somali official said Friday could be freed within weeks. Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized from their 38-foot yacht last October.
Mohamed Omar Dalha, the deputy speaker of Somalia’s parliament, told The Associated Press that Somali communities inside and outside the chaos-wracked country are working to negotiate the “unconditional release” of the Chandlers. Dalha was hopeful they would be released within two weeks without payment.
Somalia has not had a stable government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
Manama (Bahrain), Aug 31 (ANI): A traditional wooden ship with Indian crew sailing from the United Arab Emirates toward Bahrain was targeted by the sea pirates in Persian Gulf waters on Friday late night.
The details of the attack started coming out only after three day.
According to sources the Bahraini dhow was intercepted on Friday night by another ship with an armed crew.
This was the first act of piracy reported inside the Gulf since the issue of piracy came to the forefront of international attention off the Somali coast in recent years.
The four pirates threatened the six-man Indian crew with guns and assaulted them before taking their cargo of fish and mobile phones, sources added.
The crew could not confirm the nationality of the pirates. The Indian sailors were unharmed and were released near Bahraini port on Sunday, sources said.
In recent months Somali pirates had expanded their operations beyond the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden reaching areas as far as the east coast of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
According to the study of London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), piracy attacks around the world were doubled in the first six months of 2009. The IMB recorded 240 as compared to 114 reported in the same period last year.
In July the US Navy 5th Fleet Command in Bahrain warned against increased pirate activity off the Somali coast when the monsoon season ends.
The fleet had established a combined task force with NATO and European Union forces in January to counter the piracy activity in and around the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Somalia basin.
Russia, China, and India also sent warships to the area to help protect and convoy vessels. (ANI)
New Delhi, July 15 (ANI): Mounting pressure from Indian and French navies forced Somali pirates to release an Indian dhow hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
Seeing the movement of the Indian and French warships and anticipating a combined operation, the pirates forced the dhow to close the Somali coast and released the dhow at on July 15, escaping in their skiffs, after robbing the crew of all their cash and valuables.
The crew of the dhow thereafter contacted the Indian warship on VHF and sought assistance. Accordingly, the Indian warship closed the dhow and in coordination with the French warship, boarded the dhow to provide relief.
All 14 Indian crew of the vessel were confirmed safe and the Indian warship provided them with food, water and medicines. The dhow is now heading towards Al Mukkalla in Yemen.
These proactive actions taken by the Indian and French naval ships demonstrate the value of combined exercises and operations and reflect the excellent coordination during this operation. This mutual understanding and operational interoperability resulted in the safe release of the Indian dhow and its crew without payment of any ransom.
A European Union anti-piracy force said pirates who hijacked the Indian dhow, MV Nafeya, earlier this week abandoned the ship and left its 14-crew members unharmed. Naval officials said the pirates left the ship about 24 kilometers off the Somali coast.
The Indian dhow was hijacked off Boosaaso, Somalia July 10 by seven pirates armed with RPGs and AK47s. The vessel was hijacked when it was about 10 nautical miles off Boosaaso in Puntland (the semi-autonomous north-eastern region of Somalia) after it had discharged its cargo at the Somali harbour and was proceeding to Dubai.
After the hijacking, the pirates forced the dhow towards Bab el Mandeb and, on July 13, attempted to hijack MV A Elephant, a Liberian oil tanker.
However, a French warship belonging to the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR), which was in the vicinity, thwarted the attack.
The French warship shadowed the pirated dhow and, putting the well-practiced standard operating procedures with the Indian Navy into effect, continuously exchanged information with the Indian naval ship on anti-piracy patrol.
Attempts to board the dhow for investigation by the French ship were abandoned when the pirates threatened to kill the 14 crew held hostage on the dhow. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)
Sana’a, Yemen – Two Yemeni fishermen were killed and another was injured when a landmine went off on the shore of a Red Sea island on Thursday, the official Saba news agency reported.
The accident comes two days after two Yemeni fishermen were killed as their boat was hit by a missile fired by an international counter-piracy warship in the Red Sea.
The agency said Thursday’s explosion took place as the fishermen were disembarking from their boat at the Honey Island in the Red Sea.
Eight other crew members survived the blast uninjured, it said.
Yemeni official media have frequently reported attacks by international counter-piracy warships against Yemeni boats in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
On January 14, a Yemeni fisherman was killed and two others were injured during an anti-piracy operation by a Russian Navy ship near the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.
Yemeni authorities said the fishermen were caught in crossfire after a Russian frigate attacked Somali pirates attempting to hijack a Dutch vessel.
Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has surged in recent years as Somalia descends further into chaos and the ineffectual central government continues to squabble rather than government. (dpa)
Stockholm – Seven suspected pirates detained earlier this week in the Gulf of Aden after a failed hijacking of a freighter are to be flown to Kenya for a possible trial, the Swedish Armed Forces said Thursday.
A Swedish corvette, the HMS Malmo, early Tuesday responded to a call for assistance from the Antonis and averted the attack.
The Swedish vessel fired warning shots and detained the seven alleged pirates and seized two pistols, a GPS navigator and a ladder on board the pirate’s boat.
Kenya has signed an agreement with the European Union to conduct judicial proceedings against suspected pirates.
“The transfer was based on evidence collected by the HMS Malmo,” military lawyer Johan Henningsson said in a statement.
The evidence included video footage, photos and accounts from crew on the freighter and the Swedish vessel as well as items seized on the pirate’s boat.
Henningsson said some Swedish crew members were to accompany the suspected pirates to Kenya and were likely to be summoned as witnesses in the probe.
Sweden on May 15 deployed two corvettes and a supply vessel as part of a joint European Union operation to escort ships carrying food and other supplies for the World Food Programme (WFP). (dpa)
Stockholm- The Swedish Navy detained seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden, foiling an attempted hijacking of a freighter early Tuesday.
The Swedish HMS Malmo responded to a call for assistance from the Antonis and averted the attack, according to a statement issued by the Swedish Armed Forces.
The Swedish vessel fired warning shots and detained the seven pirates and seized two pistols, a GPS navigator and a ladder on board the pirate’s boat.
Sweden on May 15 deployed two corvettes and a supply vessel as part of a joint European Union operation to escort ships carrying food and other supplies for the World Food Programme (WFP). (dpa)