Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Somali Piracy RE-Located
Somali Piracy has not gone away. There have been many articles that have praised the Naval Forces for the reduction of piracy lately. The fact is, yes the naval forces have had a significant impact on piracy, but even more, is the weather this time of year. This is the Monsoon Season and operations are difficult, if not almost impossible for the pirates to operate in the Indian Ocean and in the areas of the actual IRTC.
As you can see, the wind in the Gulf of Aden as of this writing, is up to 30 knots.
The wave heights in the Indian Ocean are actually up to 8 meters at their highest and an average of 4 meters.
This has caused a push into the Red Sea with 5the furthest attacks yet to the North and the first hijacking inside the Red Sea to date. It is nice to give a bunch of credit to the naval forces in the reduction of piracy, but with the actual reality of the full story, it must be understood that the weather is the most contributory factor in the current reduction of piracy, and also the adaptation of pirates to go further North into the Red Sea than ever before. Attacks have actually taken place North of Al-Hudayda, Yemen, near the Saudi Arabian border.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Tanker Hijacked in Red Sea
As reported HERE
NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU's anti-piracy task force says Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker carrying lubricating oil in the Red Sea.
The force says pirates attacked the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Motivator on Sunday in the northern Strait of Bab al Mandeb. The seizure was only confirmed early Monday after communication with ship was lost, the force says in a statement.
The EU Naval Force says the 13,065 ton-ship has a crew of 18 Filipinos on board.
The Horn of Africa nation's 19 years of lawlessness have allowed piracy to flourish. The waters surrounding Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden that connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, are known to be among the world's most dangerous.
NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU's anti-piracy task force says Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker carrying lubricating oil in the Red Sea.
The force says pirates attacked the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Motivator on Sunday in the northern Strait of Bab al Mandeb. The seizure was only confirmed early Monday after communication with ship was lost, the force says in a statement.
The EU Naval Force says the 13,065 ton-ship has a crew of 18 Filipinos on board.
The Horn of Africa nation's 19 years of lawlessness have allowed piracy to flourish. The waters surrounding Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden that connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, are known to be among the world's most dangerous.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Hijacking Of MV Golden Blessing
As reported HERE
In the early hours of 28 July, pirates took control of the MV Golden Blessing approximately 60 nautical miles off the northern Somali coast. On notification from the Master of the MV Golden Blessing that pirates were on board, the EU NAVFOR German warship Schleswig-Holstein immediately launched its helicopter and reported sighting suspected pirates on board the MV Golden Blessing.
The MV Golden Blessing, a Singapore flagged tanker of 14,445 tonnes is carrying a cargo of glycol ethelene and is now moving towards the Somali Coast . The MV Golden Blessing has a crew of 19 Chinese; there are no reports of injuries. The vessel is now under pirate control and moving towards the Somali Coast. EU NAVFOR is continuing to monitor the situation.
EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EUNAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Somali Pirates Kill Ship Captain
As Reported HERE
There was a brief shoot-out with the seven pirates before they were captured, he added.
The pirates seized the 15,000-tonne ship, MV QSM Dubai, in the Gulf of Aden in the early hours of Wednesday.
"Our troops stormed the Panama-flagged vessel and engaged the pirates. There was brief fighting before they defeated them," Said Mohamed Raage, Minister of Ports and Marine Transport, said.
"We arrested seven pirates after they killed the captain of the ship."
The vessel has a crew of 24 made up of Ghanaian, Egyptian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, and was taking supplies to northern Somalia.
It was sailing from Brazil in the "internationally recommended transit corridor" in the gulf when it was seized.
Puntland, which declared itself an autonomous state within Somalia in 1998, has been used by pirates as a base of operations.
On Wednesday, the crew of a Libyan-owned merchant ship seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden were reported to have recaptured their vessel.
Soldiers from Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region have stormed a Panama-flagged cargo vessel held by pirates, a Puntland minister has said.
The pirates, who refused to surrender, killed the captain of the ship, he said. There was a brief shoot-out with the seven pirates before they were captured, he added.
The pirates seized the 15,000-tonne ship, MV QSM Dubai, in the Gulf of Aden in the early hours of Wednesday.
"Our troops stormed the Panama-flagged vessel and engaged the pirates. There was brief fighting before they defeated them," Said Mohamed Raage, Minister of Ports and Marine Transport, said.
"We arrested seven pirates after they killed the captain of the ship." The vessel has a crew of 24 made up of Ghanaian, Egyptian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, and was taking supplies to northern Somalia.
It was sailing from Brazil in the "internationally recommended transit corridor" in the gulf when it was seized.
Puntland, which declared itself an autonomous state within Somalia in 1998, has been used by pirates as a base of operations.
On Wednesday, the crew of a Libyan-owned merchant ship seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden were reported to have recaptured their vessel.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Seafarer Seriously Wounded by Pirates
As Reported HERE
Today at 1010 local time, the hijacked Libyan owned merchant vessel RIM reported that the crew had successfully retaken control of the ship. One of the crew members was seriously injured during the incident.
The incident took place south east of Garacad, off Somalia’s northern coastline. The closest EU NAVFOR warship, the SPS VICTORIA, was immediately tasked by the Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist, to meet up with MV RIM in order give medical assistance. SPS VICTORIA launched her helicopter immediately.
Confusing reports that the ship had been pirated again came prior to the helicopter reaching the scene of the incident. It was quickly established that the crew were in control of the vessel. There were however, pirates in the vicinity who were attempting to impede the EU NAVFOR operation by utilising another hijacked vessel the MV VOC DAISY. When SPS VICTORIA’s helicopter approached the MV VOC DAISY she changed her course – no warning shots were fired.
It is believed that some of the pirates were killed during the incident; the ship is now under the control of the crew.
Today at 1010 local time, the hijacked Libyan owned merchant vessel RIM reported that the crew had successfully retaken control of the ship. One of the crew members was seriously injured during the incident.
The incident took place south east of Garacad, off Somalia’s northern coastline. The closest EU NAVFOR warship, the SPS VICTORIA, was immediately tasked by the Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist, to meet up with MV RIM in order give medical assistance. SPS VICTORIA launched her helicopter immediately.
Confusing reports that the ship had been pirated again came prior to the helicopter reaching the scene of the incident. It was quickly established that the crew were in control of the vessel. There were however, pirates in the vicinity who were attempting to impede the EU NAVFOR operation by utilising another hijacked vessel the MV VOC DAISY. When SPS VICTORIA’s helicopter approached the MV VOC DAISY she changed her course – no warning shots were fired.
It is believed that some of the pirates were killed during the incident; the ship is now under the control of the crew.
Ship Hijacked in IRTC
As Reported HERE
In the early hours of 2 June it was reported by the owner of the MV QSM Dubai that a group of armed pirates had boarded the ship and taken control. USS COLE from CTF 508 (NATO) first reported that they had seen a person with an RPG on board. A coalition Maritime Patrol Aircraft was tasked to investigate the situation and reported that the ship was hijacked.
The MV QSM Dubai, a Panama flagged general cargo ship with dead weight of 15,220 tonnes and a crew of 24 comprising Egyptian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Ghanaian nationals, was in bound from Brazil when hijacked in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor.
In the early hours of 2 June it was reported by the owner of the MV QSM Dubai that a group of armed pirates had boarded the ship and taken control. USS COLE from CTF 508 (NATO) first reported that they had seen a person with an RPG on board. A coalition Maritime Patrol Aircraft was tasked to investigate the situation and reported that the ship was hijacked.
The MV QSM Dubai, a Panama flagged general cargo ship with dead weight of 15,220 tonnes and a crew of 24 comprising Egyptian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Ghanaian nationals, was in bound from Brazil when hijacked in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Letter of Marque Against Piracy
As Reported http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-isenberg/there-is-more-than-one-wa_b_594777.html
On May 27 I wrote about the pros and cons of using private security contractors to fight piracy. But that article considered just the use of putting armed guards aboard ship. That is not the only way, or even the best way, private security firms can be involved in fighting pirates.
Using private contractors help provide security against pirates is an increasingly popular notion. Congressman Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) called on Congress to "issue letters of marque and reprisal, deputizing private organizations to act within the law to disable and capture those engaged in piracy." Indeed, this idea is grounded in the U.S. Constitution, which expressly invests Congress with authority to define piracy on the high seas and to issue letters of marque. (Art. I, § 8, cls. 10, 11).
For detail let's consider the article "Reconsidering the Letter of Marque: Utilizing Private Security Providers Against Piracy" by Maj. Theodore Richard, which was published in the Spring issue of the Public Contract Law Journal. Richard is an Air Force Judge Advocate and is currently serving as trial attorney in the Air Force Commercial Litigation Division in Washington,
As Richard notes, piracy thrives in coastal regions where people are drawn towards criminality by desperate circumstances combined with an absence of law-enforcement authorities. The pirate scourge originated in the failure of the rule of law and international institutions to prevent exploitation of Somali waters. The now sophisticated and aggressive pirate operations are thought to have morphed out of a self-help police or military function into piracy earlier this decade. Somali fisherman started out trying to deter illegal dumping and fishing and graduated from attacking vessels to seizing them for ransom, with the Hawiye clan, based around Haradere in central Somalia, emerging as the dominant group of pirates in 2004.
When the short-lived Union of Islamic Courts government took over the Haradere area in 2006, they suppressed local piracy, so the Darod clan, with strongholds around the east coast of Somalia and in the semi-autonomous Puntland region on the Gulf of Aden, took over the piracy role.
By 2008 a United Nations report described the pirates as "loosely organized and poorly trained," with a fluid membership. The report described two significant overlapping networks: one in Puntland, mainly consisting of the Majerteen clan, and another in central Somalia, mainly consisting of the Habar Gidir clan.
Puntland's current president, Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, has made fighting piracy a priority. During a meeting with an international delegation in February 2009, President Farole explained that military operations against the pirates would not be sufficient to end the piracy problem. Instead he "strongly suggested that the world must first address the root causes of piracy, including illegal overfishing and toxic waste dumping."
It is not excuse for piracy to point out that it is not well realized that illegal fishing by foreign vessels is a significant concern for Somali leaders: a United Nations Secretary General report lamented the "pillage of Somali Indian Ocean and Red Sea waters by literally hundreds of vessels from a variety of nationalities" and expressed concerns of overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
In 2005 some of the intruding vessels attacked local Somali fishermen and destroyed their boats and equipment. It should be no surprise that another United Nations report described the Somali fishery situation as resembling "naval warfare": "Fishing boats are typically mounted with heavy anti-aircraft canons and many of the crews are armed."
This analogy has become even more appropriate in recent years, with reports of international naval vessels firing on local fisherman and protecting their own vessels illegally fishing in Somali waters.
Richard points out that Puntland has employed a number of different security contractors since 2000, meeting with various levels of success.
The point here is that maritime security contractors can be hired for a variety of purposes. Putting armed guards aboard ships is just one of them. As that is a defensive measure it is inherently a reactive, rather than a proactive one. In medical terms it is a cure and not a preventive measure. Using contractors to help provide a comprehensive coast guard force is likely a better way to go.
If governments, rather than commercial shipping companies, hired private security contractors for that purpose we might see real progress in fighting pirates. But that, as Richard notes "must be centrally organized and controlled."
In that regard letters of marque might be a useful tool. Richard concludes that:
What are your thoughts?
On May 27 I wrote about the pros and cons of using private security contractors to fight piracy. But that article considered just the use of putting armed guards aboard ship. That is not the only way, or even the best way, private security firms can be involved in fighting pirates.
Using private contractors help provide security against pirates is an increasingly popular notion. Congressman Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) called on Congress to "issue letters of marque and reprisal, deputizing private organizations to act within the law to disable and capture those engaged in piracy." Indeed, this idea is grounded in the U.S. Constitution, which expressly invests Congress with authority to define piracy on the high seas and to issue letters of marque. (Art. I, § 8, cls. 10, 11).
For detail let's consider the article "Reconsidering the Letter of Marque: Utilizing Private Security Providers Against Piracy" by Maj. Theodore Richard, which was published in the Spring issue of the Public Contract Law Journal. Richard is an Air Force Judge Advocate and is currently serving as trial attorney in the Air Force Commercial Litigation Division in Washington,
As Richard notes, piracy thrives in coastal regions where people are drawn towards criminality by desperate circumstances combined with an absence of law-enforcement authorities. The pirate scourge originated in the failure of the rule of law and international institutions to prevent exploitation of Somali waters. The now sophisticated and aggressive pirate operations are thought to have morphed out of a self-help police or military function into piracy earlier this decade. Somali fisherman started out trying to deter illegal dumping and fishing and graduated from attacking vessels to seizing them for ransom, with the Hawiye clan, based around Haradere in central Somalia, emerging as the dominant group of pirates in 2004.
When the short-lived Union of Islamic Courts government took over the Haradere area in 2006, they suppressed local piracy, so the Darod clan, with strongholds around the east coast of Somalia and in the semi-autonomous Puntland region on the Gulf of Aden, took over the piracy role.
By 2008 a United Nations report described the pirates as "loosely organized and poorly trained," with a fluid membership. The report described two significant overlapping networks: one in Puntland, mainly consisting of the Majerteen clan, and another in central Somalia, mainly consisting of the Habar Gidir clan.
Puntland's current president, Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, has made fighting piracy a priority. During a meeting with an international delegation in February 2009, President Farole explained that military operations against the pirates would not be sufficient to end the piracy problem. Instead he "strongly suggested that the world must first address the root causes of piracy, including illegal overfishing and toxic waste dumping."
It is not excuse for piracy to point out that it is not well realized that illegal fishing by foreign vessels is a significant concern for Somali leaders: a United Nations Secretary General report lamented the "pillage of Somali Indian Ocean and Red Sea waters by literally hundreds of vessels from a variety of nationalities" and expressed concerns of overfishing and depletion of fish stocks.
In 2005 some of the intruding vessels attacked local Somali fishermen and destroyed their boats and equipment. It should be no surprise that another United Nations report described the Somali fishery situation as resembling "naval warfare": "Fishing boats are typically mounted with heavy anti-aircraft canons and many of the crews are armed."
This analogy has become even more appropriate in recent years, with reports of international naval vessels firing on local fisherman and protecting their own vessels illegally fishing in Somali waters.
Richard points out that Puntland has employed a number of different security contractors since 2000, meeting with various levels of success.
It first contracted the British company Hart Security ("Hart") from 2000 to 2001. Hart was hired "mainly to protect Puntland's maritime resources against illegal foreign fishing by providing training as well as on-ship support to the local Coast Guard." The company's force consisted of one boat and seventy men, primarily Somalis with a balanced composition from the local clans. Hart was financed through the sale of fishing licenses. "Hart was very successful: the frequency of piracy declined, and the nucleus of a relatively efficient coast guard was formed with its spine consisting of British advisors and British-trained Somali militia acting as boarding parties.Internal conflicts within Puntland ultimately doomed the Hart Group. Other companies -- such as SOMCAN, Al Hababi Marine Services, TopCat Marine Security, Northbridge Services Group, Secopex, Odyssey Consulting SA -- that followed Hart did less well, for a variety of reasons; some their own fault, and others beyond their control.
Hart successfully tapped British legal resources to settle international disputes.
For example, when the Somali coast guard detained a Spanish ship for illegal fishing, Hart contacted a British law firm and resolved the matter through arbitration.
Hart did not simply ransom the vessel, but made use of a legal international dispute resolution forum, strengthening Puntland's legal authority.
Hart stood apart from its successors by respecting the rule of law; it actively sought legal advice and followed fisheries guidelines.
The point here is that maritime security contractors can be hired for a variety of purposes. Putting armed guards aboard ships is just one of them. As that is a defensive measure it is inherently a reactive, rather than a proactive one. In medical terms it is a cure and not a preventive measure. Using contractors to help provide a comprehensive coast guard force is likely a better way to go.
If governments, rather than commercial shipping companies, hired private security contractors for that purpose we might see real progress in fighting pirates. But that, as Richard notes "must be centrally organized and controlled."
In that regard letters of marque might be a useful tool. Richard concludes that:
Littoral governments should reconsider letters of marque to license and control privatized maritime security. The letters can be used to license defensive weapons on merchant vessels, and could even be used to authorize active anti-piracy operations. Furthermore Somali governments can use the letters to deputize their security contractors. Maritime security contractors can be part of the solution to piracy--especially if they are properly licensed and regulated through letters of marque.
What are your thoughts?
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