By Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
The revitalized phenomenon of Somali piracy is duly re-energized and re-invigorated by a well coordinated and highly secretive group that functions in full concordance with the interests of the colonial capitals, London, Paris and Washington D.C. that intend to keep all options for an amphibious strike against Somalia open.
French yachts sailing deliberately in troubled waters, Russian editors intentionally speaking in public about key details concerning the newly hijacked German container ship, and the irresponsible TFG policy of signing pseudo-agreements with the gangsters of Kenya make an explosive setup that along with others parameters will trigger a grave deterioration of the Horn of Africa situation.
All the recent developments with regard to the Somali piracy phenomenon are to be found in the new Ecoterra Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor press release that I herewith republish integrally.
Ecoterra Intl. – SMCM (Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor) Part XI
Ecoterra International – Updates, Statements & Clearinghouse Citations
A Voice for the Voiceless, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or overseas and neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities or the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate funding.
2009-04-06 19h12:19 UTC
EA Illegal Fishing and Dumping Hotline: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia[at]ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
Clearing-house
News from sea-jackings, abductions or newly attacked ships --------
The present location of the French yacht is said to be a not to far distance off Bandar-Beyla, marine observers reported, but the ship has not yet reached the shore. The hostages are said to be all right and consist of besides the captain and one other male sailor a couple and their three "children" (possibly two teens or adult children) while one is a small child of only 3-years. Our staff already now is working together with clan-elders, powerful local leaders and authorities to secure an unconditional and immediate release of these innocent hostages, Ecoterra Intl. stated and added: "For the traditional Somali leaders such hostage taking including a wife and small child is absolutely unacceptable". The yacht, though, might have at first looked to the pirates like one of the smaller vessels coming to Somalia. However, to achieve a straight release as result is very difficult in times when ship-owners paid millions of dollars to sea-pirates. The pirates are believed to have boarded the yacht on Saturday, abandoned their mother-ship - a captured Yemeni fishing vessel - around 340 nm off Bandar-Beyla and commandeered the yacht to the coast.
The Yemeni vessel has sailed free. During the day today the yacht and the people on board came several times (reports speak of 8 over-flights) under surveillance by naval aircraft, which caused heightened friction among the 14 pirates and a frenzy on board. A naval vessel is said to be nearby. So far no clear confirmation from the French naval forces engaged in anti-piracy operations in the area or other authorities has been made public concerning this case, which is standard practice since the next of kin have to be informed first by the authorities. Also Ecoterra Intl. sticks to that code of conduct, while the organization tries to keep contact through their staff and network to the remote location in Somalia. The captors of the vessel are reportedly at the moment extremely paranoid, not only due to the military over-flights but also because it is said to be a French vessel they captured. France had managed twice to free the crews and vessels of French yachts, and the pirates believe that the French are again coming after them.
Already when the group of pirates responsible for this case were on their way out they were spotted by a military plane at around 300 nautical miles off Ras Hafun, which made pictures of them, a relative revealed. That apparently caused them to venture even further out onto the Ocean, where they then came across the sailing boat far off the place from where they started their piracy expedition. It is advised to handle this case with extreme care, Ecoterra Intl. stated. France launched a rescue operation to free a French luxury yacht, Le Ponant, and its 30 crew almost to the day a year ago – on 11th April 2008 - and in September dispatched commandos to release a French couple seized by pirates aboard their yacht. In a spectacular operation, French commandos went after presumed pirates on land, who were said to be part of a group which had just released the yacht Le Ponant against a ransom and on September 15 in 2009, French special forces stormed - killing one pirate - the Carre d' As, a yacht carrying a retired French couple captured by pirates two weeks earlier. Twelve suspected pirates are currently being held in custody by French authorities in connection with these cases, although lawyers have argued that Paris has no jurisdiction to try their cases. Since the days of those two French operations the local rumours never stopped saying that Somalis were looking for a French vessel to get even.
The number of attacks by ransom-seeking Somali pirates and their success rate had dipped since the start of the year, owing to an increased international naval presence in the Gulf of Aden and unfavourable seas, but some pirate groups have ventured far into the Indian Ocean, south-east of Somalia, to target ships further out at sea, away from the heavily-patrolled shipping corridor in the Gulf of Aden, writes AFP.
A Taiwan-flagged fishing vessel was sea-jacked this morning from the EEZ of the Seychelles, a maritime official from the Seychelles confirmed to Ecoterra. The Taiwanese vessel WIN FAR No. 161 was attacked by presumed Somali pirates and it is assumed that the vessel and her 29 crew will be taken to the Somali coast. Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for America's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, confirmed 29 hostages to AP. The actual crew list has not yet been presented. The Seychelles government said it received a distress call saying that a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the MV Winfar 161, and its 29 crew was hijacked in its exclusive economic zone, north of Denis island.
Transport Minister Joel Morgan said military forces had been deployed to intercept the pirates, amid reports that three more Taiwanese ships were trying to escape capture. The sea-jacked vessel is owned by WIN UNI MARINE from Taiwan (Island-China) - a company which operates their vessels usually under flag of convenience and as no ITF agreement, which guides the working conditions and safety. According to the Seychelles' official the ship has a valid fishing license from the Seychelles. It is not yet known if the vessel was on its way back from fishing in Somalia, but numerous Taiwanese trawlers and long-liners have been observed in the past to venture into Somali waters and poach the high-valued tuna. The FAO proposed plan of action, whereby fishing vessels have to declare from where they caught their catch when entering a port of convenience to off-load has not yet been implemented in the region.
Somali pirates have seized a British-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden, maritime officials confirmed today. The 32,000-tonne UK-owned, Italian-operated bulk carrier was hijacked early this morning, according to the European Union's Horn of Africa maritime security centre, based in Northwood, west London. The Associated Press named the ship as the MV MALASPINA CASTLE, which flies a Panamanian flag. There was no immediate information about the location of the attack, but the mixed nationality crew are believed to be safe. Though the actual crew-list has not been transmitted yet, sources state that there were 24 sailors in board, including Russians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians and Filipinos. Nikolay Apostolov, head of Bulgaria's Maritime Administration confirmed Monday that 16 Bulgarian nationals were part of the crew. The 1981 built general cargo vessel is owned by NAVALMAR UK LTD. of Wimbledon near London / UK and is managed by B NAVI SHIP MANAGEMENT SRL of Marin di Carrara Italy. The vessel has no ITF agreement. At a recent security conference, John Bainbridge, the assistant secretary of the International Transport Workers' Federation, said pirates were now likely to be well-armed militia fighters, perpetrating well-planned, well-resourced assaults.
While official confirmation still lacks details, German media confirmed that the German container ship sea-jacked by Somali pirates on Saturday is the vessel MV HANSA STAVANGER, owned by the Hamburg shipping company, Leonhardt & Blumberg. The boxship, built in 1997 at the Wenchong shipyard in Guangzhou, China, had before several other names and owners. The Greek commander of the European Union's Atalanta naval operation in the region, Commodore Antonios Papaioannou, was quoted as saying there were five pirates on board and the 24-man crew included five Germans. 14 Filipino sailors make the national majority of the crew. Russian sources revealed the presence also of three Russians and two Ukrainians. The editor of a Russian shipping magazine, who played an unclear role during the MV FAINA crisis, spoke of six pirates on board and added: "The ship is carrying containers with Asian-made goods". Via his bulletin he reported also: "On board the HANSA STAVANGER there are hundreds of containers worth tens of millions of dollars". It said this was the first hijacking of goods of this size, noting that the cargo could be easily unloaded and sent to shore, Russian news agency RIA remarked.
Ecoterra Intl. warns that such statements in the media are only serving heightened expectations on the side of the Somali captors and do not contribute to a fast solution. Reportedly a warship from the European Union's Atalanta operation in the Gulf of Aden has set course for the hijacked vessel. There is no information on the condition of the crew or the cargo. The vessel is expected at the Somali shoreline this evening.
Sea-jacked MASINDRA 7 with its barge ADM 1 and Indonesian crew was now commandeered towards Bandar-Bayla while a final conclusion still has not yet been reached to peacefully solve the long overdue case.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 17 (18 with an unnamed sole Barge which drifted ashore) foreign vessels with a total of not less than 297 crew members accounted for (of which 110 are confirmed to be Filipinos) are held in Somali waters and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) have been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 52 averted or abandoned attacks and 14 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as one wrongful attack by friendly fire on the side of the naval forces. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures.
Directly piracy related news
According to the Societe Seychelloise de Navigation, the cargo ship MV ALTECA from the Delmas shipping line came into Port Victoria on Saturday, and was damaged over night by several windows being broken. It is not clear if that was an attempted robbery or if the attackers had some more sinister goals. The ship left the next day. The Ports Authority had said it had been some kind of attack, but the SSN did not want to comment, and said an investigation was taking place.
Illegal fisheries and related issues
The Greek fishing vessels FV GRECO 2 and FV GRECO 4 with mainly Korean crew are still under police custody at the Puntland harbour of Bossasso while further investigations are underway. These will have to clarify if fishing licenses issued for 40 tonnes of tuna for each vessel were actually legally and factually issued and were valid or not. In any case each of the vessels was found with about 450 tonnes of tuna and other marine species.
No real peace in sight yet
At around 10:45am local time today a hot skirmish has taken place at Medina district in south of the Somali capital Mogadishu. This short fighting was between Somali government soldiers at Dabakaya Madow and a group of Islamists based in the former Somali police station in Median district. Reliable sources which Somaliweyn radio has so far contacted confirmed that 2 civilians were killed in the crossfire between the two warring sides, but the actual casualties between the two sides is yet unverified. "The Somali government soldiers were defeated in the battle, but gained reinforcement from their fellow government soldiers based in the other end of Median itself, but eventually in the area around where the battle took place fell into the hands of the insurgents" said Hassan Gedi a resident in Median district speaking to Somaliweyn radio. The Somali government soldiers who were chased from Dabakaya Madow used to take extorts money from the public service vehicles passing inside Medina district. The situation in the district is currently calm despite some sporadic shooting in some parts of the district.
An officer in the radical Islamic movement of Al-Shabab has condemned the Aid Organizations operating in the regions of Bay and Bakool for not contributing to tangible assistance to inhabitants in these two regions. "The regions of Bay and Bakool regions are the among the regions in Somalia where drought has stricken, and many people died due to starvation, and the so called Aid Organizations in the regions are less active tom cover the needs of the desperate people, we as the administration of these two regions we cannot sincerely cover the needs of these people, but in anyway we shall do all means and ways to salvage them" said Moalim Abdullahi Gedi an officer in the Al-Shabab group addressing a large crowed in the town of Baidoa which has came together in praying for rain. The turn out of the rain praying was high and the mobilizers were the Islamic movement of Al-Shabab. The officer also urged the residents in these regions not wait and relay on the donations, but instead to strive hard. The movement Al-Shabab has taken control of Bay region instantly after the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops who have invaded in Somalia in 2006 backing the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, and ousted the Islamic Courts Union which was in control of much of southern and central Somalia and led by the current president of Somalia his Excellency Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Two young Americans who left their homes to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia held a rare "press conference" in Southern Somalia on Monday, saying they want to be killed "for the sake of God", according to a U.S. law enforcement official and a video posted on a Somali news Web site. For several months the FBI has been investigating at least 20 Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area and elsewhere in the United States who traveled to war-torn Somalia to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006. Last month, a source familiar with the FBI investigation told FOX News that "several" of the men had returned to the United States, while others "are still there [in Somalia]". Today is the first time any of these men have spoken publicly. "We came from the U.S. with a good life and a good education, but we came to fight alongside our brothers of al-Shabaab … to be killed for the sake of God", one man said in the video, as translated by Omar Jamal, the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
In the video, two men, identifying themselves as Abu-Muslim and Abu Yaxye, say they are "Somali youth" from the United States who are now stationed near the city of Kismayo, more than 300 miles southwest of Mogadishu, according to Jamal. The men say they are talking to media for the first time so others can learn why they joined al-Shabaab, he said. A spokesman from the FBI Field Office in Minneapolis, E.K. Wilson, said he is "aware of the video", which was posted on the Web site dowladnimo.com. He said the video was first brought to his office´s attention early Sunday. Wilson would not say whether the FBI has identified the men in the video. At their press conference, the men did not say exactly how many other U.S. citizens have joined al-Shabaab, but they insisted that "many" Somali-Americans are now "all over Somalia to join the Jihad", according to Jamal's translation. "Some of us are still in training, others are on the frontline of the Jihad", Abu-Muslim said in the video, according to Jamal. "Sadly a few of us are dead, one of whom carried out a suicide bombing".
Somaliland Election Delayed. Although the Somaliland election faces many external challenges: lack of trainings, logistics, inadequate funding, and incomplete voter registrations, among others, even more serious are the internal obstacles. Delaying the election sounded reasonable for the first time. However, extending President Dahir Riyale Kahin's term for one year raised suspension. Worse yet, postponing the election and increasing Mr. Kahin's term for the second time paints a bleak future for Somaliland, critics state. He secures yet another six month in office. Droughts and terrorists, just to name few ludicrous excuses from the current regime, are cited as the reasons behind the election delays. But just as the doubts of holding a fair, free and transparent election grow, so too the uncertainties of gaining recognition persist.
Impacting news from the global village
The Kenyan and Somali governments on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding on their maritime boundary. The agreement will facilitate the presentation of Kenya's submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by May as required under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). According to the provisions of UNCLOS, coastal states intending to delineate the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles are required to submit particulars of such limits with supporting scientific and technical data to CLCS. The preparation of Kenya's claim for submission requires the cooperation of its neighbors Tanzania and Somalia. This is because, UNCLOS provides that states that have adjacent coastlines to each other need to conclude agreements on the delimitation of their maritime boundaries for their Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelves by means of an agreement in order to achieve an equitable solution. Kenya Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula signed the agreement with Somalia Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Shermake.
Wetangula said the preparation of Kenya's claim for submission requires the cooperation of its neighbors, Tanzania and Somalia. "This is because, the convention provides that states that have adjacent coastlines to each other need to conclude agreements on the delimitation of their maritime boundaries for their territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelves by means of an agreement in order to achieve an equitable solution", he said.Wetangula said the government has negotiated the maritime agreement with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The minister said the government is also in the process of concluding a similar agreement with the Tanzanian government.
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