Somali pirates seize Ukrainian ship carrying 33 T-72 tanks

[Biggs]

 note - these pirates are from Puntland, an independent northern province of old somalia, they are not part of the Islamic Courts Union the group fighting for control over southern Somalia with the US proxy forces of ethiopia


Somali pirates 'seize tanks'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/somali-pirates-seize-tanks-943282.html
AP
Friday, 26 September 2008
 
Pirates have seized a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying T-72 tanks off eastern Somalia, an official said today.
Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had 21 crew members.
The seizure is the latest in a string of hijackings in waters near the troubled African country.

The hijacking brings the number of attacks off Somalia to 61 this year, and pirates are now holding 14 ships and more than 300 crew members, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre based in Malaysia.

Choong said pirates attacked the Ukrainian vessel yesterday. He declined to reveal the crew's nationalities or the ship's destination, citing policy.

Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, to the north of the African country. However, yesterday's hijacking was in the Indian Ocean waters off eastern Somalia — the third in that area in recent weeks.

Choong said the United Nations and the international community should take "serious action" to prevent further attacks.

"There must be a deterrent for the pirates not to attack the ships. If there is no deterrent, it will continue," he said.

The US Naval Central Command has set up a security corridor patrolled by an international coalition of warships. However, pirate attacks remain prevalent off Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Some 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden every year while traveling between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

[MikiQuick123]

There was a reason even mercantile ships back in the days of canvas carried cannons. Looks like the only way to deter them is to arm all transports. Lets see how lucky they feel when facing guns themselves. It's obvious the authorities can't protect them. Kinda like the police...

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There was a reason even mercantile ships back in the days of canvas carried cannons. Looks like the only way to deter them is to arm all transports. Lets see how lucky they feel when facing guns themselves. It's obvious the authorities can't protect them. Kinda like the police...

makes you wonder what all those US & NATO ships in the area are doing, and the base in Djibouti, I mean they only have to send out a gunship to fire a few rounds across their bows and the pirates will go home, there is no way they can claim they cannot track them with all their monitoring equipment they can see every ship in these waters.

[MikiQuick123]

makes you wonder what all those US & NATO ships in the area are doing, and the base in Djibouti, I mean they only have to send out a gunship to fire a few rounds across their bows and the pirates will go home, there is no way they can claim they cannot track them with all their monitoring equipment they can see every ship in these waters.

Just like everything else; Selective enforcement. Easy to do when you disarm everyone in the name of security and the war on terror.

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Just like everything else; Selective enforcement. Easy to do when you disarm everyone in the name of security and the war on terror.

yeah, I suspect too that they like the waters being unsafe so at some later date they can do a crack down on all the ships and turn the waters into an NWO owned space, allow or create the problem wait for the outcry from governments and shippers and then come in with the solution.

[MikiQuick123]

yeah, I suspect too that they like the waters being unsafe so at some later date they can do a crack down on all the ships and turn the waters into an NWO owned space, allow or create the problem wait for the outcry from governments and shippers and then come in with the solution.

Perfect.

[Biggs]

Somali pirate 'shoot-out' on ship


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7643561.stm

There has been a shoot-out between Somali pirates on a hijacked cargo ship loaded with 33 tanks, the East African Seafarers' Association says.

The maritime group's Andrew Mwangura told the BBC three men were shot in a row over tactics.

Pirates seized the Ukrainian ship last week and have demanded a $20m (£11m) ransom to release it.

Mr Mwangura said the situation is very tense with the ship, the Faina, surrounded by US navy vessels.

US navy spokesman Lt Nathan Christensen said on Monday that destroyers and cruisers has been deployed within 10 miles (16kms) of the hijacked ship.
    We are asking the international community and the negotiators around that area to pull back - so they cool off
Andrew Mwangura
East African Seafarers' Association

Life in Somalia's pirate town


Meanwhile, Malaysian shipping company MISC Berhad says two of its oil tankers hijacked in August have been freed.

Company chairman Hassan Marican said ransoms were paid for MT Bunga Melati 2 and MT Bunga Melati 5, but declined to name the amount.

He said paying ransoms was against company policy, but necessary to obtain the release of its crew.

Somalia has been without a functioning central government for 17 years and has suffered continual civil strife, with rival armed clans and groups fighting for control.

'Concern'

Mr Mwangura said there are pirates from two different clans on board the Ukrainian-operated Faina.
   

Somalia's pirates face battles at sea
Somalia: Special report

"One clan is radical the other is moderate," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

It seems the radicals wanted to take hold of the shipment of 33 72-T tanks and other weapons, while the moderates wanted "to backpedal on the ransom issue", he said.

It was not immediately clear if the three men shot in the incident had survived.

Mr Mwangura said his main concern was the safety of the crew, and that the military activity in the area had unnerved the hijackers.

"We are asking the international community and the negotiators around that area to pull back - so they cool off."

One of the ship's 21 crew is reported to have died from an illness on board.

The Faina, which had been sailing to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, has been moored near the town of Hobyo.

Kenya has insisted that the shipment of tanks on board were destined for its military.

But other sources, including the US navy spokesman, have said they were bound for the autonomous government of South Sudan, in possible contravention of a UN arms embargo.

The waters off Somalia's coast are considered some of the world's most dangerous.

Even ships carrying food aid are often targeted, hampering the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the estimated three million Somalis in need of aid.

A Canadian navy frigate has been escorting food aid supplies for the UN World Food Programme over the last month.

WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon told the BBC Canada's mission is due to end on 23 October and no-one has offered to replace them.