Counter Piracy Update

Status of seized vessels and crews in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. U.S.A.: Nothing to celebrate this 4th of July.

"We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas." Sugule Ali Courtesy: mtholyoke.edu

(NAIROBI, Kenya Ecoterra) - Today, at least 34 larger plus 17 smaller foreign vessels and one stranded barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners.

At least 573 hostages or captives - including a South-African yachting couple as well as a Danish yacht-family with three children and two friends suffer to be released.

But even EU NAVFOR, (European Union Naval Force Somalia - Operation Atalanta) who mostly only counts high-value, often British insured vessels, admitted now that many dozens of vessels were sea-jacked despite their multi-million Euro efforts to protect shipping.

Having come under pressure, EU NAVFOR's operation ATALANTA felt now compelled to publish their updated piracy facts for those vessels, which EU NAVFOR admits had not been protected from pirates and were abducted.

EU NAVFOR also admitted in February 2011 for the first time that actually a larger number of vessels and crews is held hostage than those listed on their file.

Since EU NAVFOR's inception at the end of 2008 the piracy off Somalia started in earnest and it has now completely escalated. Only knowledgeable analysts recognized the link. Please see the situation map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA (2011) and the CPU-ARCHIVE

ECOTERRA members can also request the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor for background info. (see also: HELD HOSTAGE BY PIRATES OFF SOMALIA)

Somali Pirates video posted by Halima Ahmed, Mount Holyoke College in Mass.

Don't forget that SOMALI PIRACY IS CUT-THROAT CAPITALISM

WHAT THE NAVIES OFF SOMALIA NEVER SEE:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/05/fighting_for_control_of_somali.html

What Foreign Soldiers in Somalia and even their Officers Never Seem to Realize:
The Scramble For Somalia

PEACE KEEPERS OR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENTS ?
SG Ban Ki-Moon (UN) and President Ram Baran Yadav (Nepal) should resign and take the responsibility for 4,500 Haitians having been killed by a Cholera strain introduced by unchecked, so-called UN Peace-Keepers from Nepal into Haiti.

STILL ALMOST 600 SEAFARERS ARE HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !
ECOTERRA Intl. has been the first group to clearly and publicly state that the piracy phenomenon off the Somali coasts can only become an issue of the past again, if tangible and sustainable, appropriate and holistic development for the coastal communities kicks in. Solutions to piracy have to tackle the root causes: Abhorrent poverty, environmental degradation, injustice, outside interference. While still billions are spend for the navies, for the general militarization or for mercenaries or conferences, still no real and financially substantial help is coming forward to pacify and develop the coastal areas of Somalia.
Updates on known cases of piracy  - please see also below this latest news in the status section.

Rough Seas and Tough Talks Make Release Operations Difficult (ecop-marine)

©2011 - ecoterra / ecop-marine - articles above are exclusive reports and, if not specifically ©-marked, free for publication as long as cited correctly and the source is quoted.
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What you always wanted to know about piracy, but never dared to ask:
SEARCH THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE INTERNET PORTAL ON PIRACY

Iranian Fishers Disarm, Arrest Somali Pirates (FNA)
A number of Iranian fishers who were attacked and kidnapped by Somali pirates in international waters managed to disarm and arrest their captors.
"Owing to the vigilance of the sailors of the Iranian fishing dhow, 6 Somali pirates were disarmed and handed over to Chabahar sea border guards," Lieutenant Commander of Chabahar Sea Border Base Ahmad Asheqi said on Monday.
According to Asheqi, the Iranian fishers had been sailing in international waters for 38 days before they were attacked and kidnapped by the 6 Somali pirates and taken to Somali coasts.
Asheqi said the Iranian fishers managed to disarm the buccaneers and sail the vessel towards Iran after several days of captivity.
The Iranian sea border guards discovered 5 Kalashnikov rifles, 2 RPG-7s along with six RPG rockets, and a cache of ammos from the Somali pirates.
Iran has already sent several flotilla of warships to the volatile Gulf of Aden to fight against Somali pirates and provide a safe passage for Iranian and foreign trade and cargo vessels.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.
The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

Statement by Mr. Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, at the Security Council concerning Piracy in Somalia
Nearly five months ago, the Security Council met to listen to the report of the Special Adviser of the Secretary- General on Piracy, Mr. Jack Lang (see S/PV.6473). The overall feeling then was one of urgency. More recently still, in a message of 18 April, the Secretary-General underscored that piracy was rapidly growing and that the scale of the phenomenon seemed to be overtaking the efforts being implemented by the international community to overcome it.
I will make two comments today (21. June 2011). First of all, the diagnosis has not changed. By adopting resolution 1918 (2010), the Council noted that the absence of legal solutions encouraged the pirates’ impunity and only increased the scourge of piracy. Since then, that situation has only deteriorated.
The report before us (S/2011/360) notes that attacks off the Somali coast, their geographical range and the level of violence used have continued to increase. Since 1 January, there have been 177 attacks, of which 18 were successful. In May, pirates detained 26 boats and 601 hostages. Crews that are taken hostage are used as human shields. Recently, a Filipino sailor was executed. Four American citizens have been killed. According to estimates, there are about 50 pirate leaders, 300 group leaders and 2,500 carrying out the attacks. That being the case, 9 of 10 pirates are released owing to the lack of capacity of judicial and prison systems.
France once again thanks the States of the region for their efforts — Kenya, where the prosecution of 69 people is still ongoing; the Seychelles, which has 23 on trial; and Tanzania, which is prosecuting six. Their contributions must be acknowledged. However, it would be unfair to think that those countries could cope with the scale of the phenomenon. A new solution is necessary. We must show pragmatism.
My second comment is that we know the solution, and it is a Somali solution. In entrusting the drafting of the report to Jack Lang, the Secretary-General was proposing to the Security Council a formula that could provide a rapid and effective solution. Two months ago, the Council decided to urgently study the possibility of creating specialized Somali jurisdictions, including an extra-territorial Somali specialized court. The Council also requested a strengthening of the incarceration capacity in Somalia and a report by the Secretary-General on modalities for these initiatives, with a view to taking new decisions. What does the report tell us? First of all, that the legislative, penal and procedural framework in Somalia for fighting piracy is incoherent and out of date. Duly noted, but we must be proactive and try to adapt that framework.
With respect to the issue of jurisdiction in Somalia, the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will enable Puntland and Somaliland to try only “around 20 additional cases each per year” (S/2011/360, paragraph 10), but not for three more years. That is why we must set up specialized jurisdictions and not simply use what we have. Here also, the work has just begun.
Finally, with respect to incarceration, UNODC has the funds to build two new prisons, one in Somaliland and one in Puntland, with the capacity to hold 1,000 inmates, which, it is proposed, would be reserved for pirates convicted outside of Somalia. How can we deprive Somalia of the right to prosecute its own nationals? In addition, the two-year delay is too long. We therefore need to look, together with UNODC, at ways of shortening that time period. It is not a time to be discouraged, but a time to take action. In reading the report of the Secretary-General, I sometimes feel that the Secretariat is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the undertaking. This we understand, and we sympathize, but opportunities do exist. The report notes that there is a pool of international experts in the Somali diaspora who would be ready to participate in specialized jurisdictions, whether inside or outside Somalia. Creating an off-site Somali court, an idea that was supported by most of the speakers preceding me, would, of course, be feasible. We know, for example, where the court could be set up temporarily. Tanzania, whose commitment to this matter I welcome, expressed its readiness to host such a chamber in Arusha, on the site of the current International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The use of infrastructure from the Residual Mechanism of the ICTR to deal with piracy at the judicial level would be negligible in terms of cost. Also, more generally, establishing an off-site Somali court would be an easy solution. The court’s functioning would require an estimated USD 7.5 million over three years, or hardly more than USD 2.5 million per year. Above all, this cost is negligible in comparison with the overall global cost of piracy. If we add up the economic costs of this scourge and the cost of related military operations, piracy every year costs us between USD 7 billion and USD 12 billion.
The report notes the division among the Somali authorities. It is up to the members of the international community to make clear their expectations to the Somali authorities. We expect the Transitional Federal Government to shoulder its responsibilities in dealing with this threat, which the Council has called a threat to international peace and security. The proposed solution offers an opportunity to develop Somali judicial capacities with the assistance of the international community.
Among the important questions raised by the report concerning extraterritorial Somali jurisdiction, I would highlight that of the scope of jurisdiction. Should such a court investigate and prosecute those who finance and plan acts of piracy, or prosecute only those who carry them out? That is a good question. It is clear that preparing comprehensive files on those primarily responsible for such crimes would require international expertise — more so than in other cases. Could we consider a precursor group in Tanzania to deal with such questions? Such prospects must be investigated quickly and in a lasting manner in order to effectively strengthen Somali capacities. We must be creative and imaginative. It is clear that obstacles remain, and my delegation is the first to recognize them. But if we talk only about obstacles, we will not accomplish anything.
Over a year after the adoption of resolution 1918 (2010), it is time to act. We owe it to the sailors and users of the sea, who are on the front lines of the battle. The Secretary-General stated recently — and France shares his view — that their security and well-being should be our primary concern. We are ready to work with the members of the Council and with the Secretariat to move forward in a concrete and speedy manner.

Seychelles Government will evaluate the use of heavy weapons in tuna vessels (FISupdate)
The president of Seychelles, James A. Michel, signed an agreement with the defense minister of Spain, Carmen Chacón, to collaborate in the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean.
During an official visit to Seychelles, the Spanish minister also met with her Foreign counterpart, Jean Paul Adam, and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Environment and Transport, Jael Morgan.
The authorities of both countries agreed to explore the possibility of shipping heavy arms, with larger caliber, in tuna fishing vessels engaged in slaughter work in the Indian Ocean in order to repel attacks by Somali pirates.
Chacón said that the two parties agreed to set up a bilateral commission made up of civilian and military members, to assess the shipment of weapons of greater caliber in Spanish tuna vessels.
While the Spanish government has already authorized the shipment of such weapons, Seychelles authorities do not allow military equipment in their territory.
According to the Spanish minister, the commission will help improve the capacity in the fight against piracy, reported EFE agency.
She also said that the will of the Government of Spain is to maintain their collaboration "hand in hand" with the shipowners and offered trainers and instructors for the Seychelles security forces to combat pirates.
Government representatives also signed agreements related to the overflight of airspace and the use of ports and airports in Seychelles by Spanish military units; to the support from the Government of this nation to detain suspected pirates; and to the information exchange on pirate groups operating in the area.
This is the third visit of the Spanish defense minister: the first one was on November 2, 2008 and the second one on April 20, 2009.
This time, Chacón visited Seychelles accompanied by representatives of the two main associations of tuna companies: the National Association of tuna vessel freezers (Anabac) and the Associated Producers’ Organization of Big Tuna Freezers (Opagac), the newspaper El País reported.

Private armed guards now in mid-hundreds (FoC)

Americans for a Stronger Israel