January 2009 – The Somali Piracy Records. II
The 111th Ecoterra Press Release Update sheds light on the recent political developments in Somalia and the meeting of the Contact Group on Somali Piracy in New York. I therefore republish it integrally.
111th Update 2009-01-15 13h46:38 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates and related news.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
Day 113 - 2687 hours into the MV FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now nearly four months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved, though contacts and some form of negotiations are said to have continued.
Pirates holding a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with tanks have sacked Somali middlemen trying to secure its release and are negotiating directly with the owners, an associate of the gang said on Thursday to REUTERS. The MV FAINA was carrying 33 Soviet-era T-72 tanks and other weapons when it was seized in September. The pirates initially demanded a $20 million ransom, lowered to $5 million. Osman Farah, an onshore associate of the gang on the FAINA, said his colleagues now expected more than $5 million after they sacked the middlemen negotiating on their behalf. "Somali brokers had been delaying the process by reporting only half, or less, of the ransom being offered", Farah told Reuters by telephone from the coastal town of Harardheere. "So the pirates are now directly negotiating with the Ukrainians and we hope things will be better now ... they are expecting more then $5 million and the ship will be freed soon". Meanwhile the captors of MV FAINA have asked for medical and other humanitarian assistance to the crew.
The Ukraine-induced and Russia-fostered gas-supply crisis in Europe is far from over. Insiders maintain it is all about the blackmail to reinstitute original fund-values of Russian as well as Ukrainian investments in and through banks, whose assets have crumbled during the ongoing crunch of the world-economy.
Mr. Vadim Alperin (alias Vadim Oltrena Alperin, alias Vadim Galperin) was named in the Ukrainian parliament as the real owner of the vessel, while Mr. V. Murenko is believed to act as the managing proprietor with Mrs. E. Kopitsyna as executive director.
Ecoterra Intl. demands immediate humanitarian assistance to be allowed, facilitated and dispatched to the vessel, and calls for human rights protection to be provided for all crew members, their families in Russia and Ukraine as well as for all well-meaning people assisting in solving the case, which have been subjected already to serious threats, acts of intimidation and persecution.
Ecoterra Intl. repeats its call to solve the FAINA case now with absolute top priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed by the captors and facilitated by the owners. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen or those, who believe they would be capable to try an attempt of a military solution, must be held fully responsible for the surely resulting disaster. The saga and secrecy surrounding MV FAINA must not - like in the MS ESTONIA case, which is the worst naval disaster in Europe since WWII - become the shroud for its 20 seafarers.
Clearing-house:
News from other abducted or newly attacked ships
Games Crazy People Play: Kidnapping, Pirating, and War - Naval War-games to protect Fish-piracy and to cover the real agenda !
The Russian large Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyer "Admiral Vinogradov" has defended on Tuesday at 08h20 GMT a 278m long UK-owned and Dutch-managed container ship MV NEDLLOYD BARENTSZ from a Somali pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. The captain of the Dutch vessel under Netherlands-flag sent a distress signal to the Russian ship saying that pirate boats were approaching his ship and shooting at it, Russian Navy spokesman from the Information Service of the RF Navy Department Captain I. Rank Igor Dygalo informed. There was battle alarm on the "Admiral Vinogradov" and Ка-27 helicopter took off. The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes. The vessel was recommended to rise speed and change course abruptly. The pirates made an attempt to board the Dutch ship, but the Russian crew fired warning shots from the helicopter, forcing the pirates to halt. One of the three boats was stopped and two others were seized by the crew of the Admiral Vinogradov. The one skiff was halted and believed sunk near Yemeni waters and Russian teams boarded the other two, finding ropes with grappling hooks and gas canisters, but no fishing equipment. The ship’s doctor gave the necessary medical assistance to three pirates who were wounded by ricochet fire. "The pirates didn’t seem to feel the pain from the wounds, which can be a result of the fact that they were under the influence of drugs", Igor Dygalo said. The boats manned by the pirates were handed over to Yemeni coast guards. The Admiral Vinogradov is patrolling Somali waters to help maintain security in the area that is threatened with frequent raids by the pirates. MV Nedlloyd Barentsz is registered in the Netherlands MAERSK Ship Management BV as manager of the A.P. Moller-Maersk group, but has as registered owner UK-based Scotland Structured Asset. The container ship, built in 2000, has a transportation capacity of 5,468 TEU (including the possibility for 500 refrigerated containers) and a gross tonnage of 66,526 to.
The Danish naval ship, HMS Absalon, is facing an unusual dilemma with the five Somali pirates it pulled out of the Gulf of Aden on 2 January. The pirates’ ship was reportedly sunk by the very cargo vessel they were trying to attack when an emergency flare landed on the pirates’ boat and sank it. The HMS Absalon rescued the five Somalis, but because they were caught in international waters no one is quite sure what to do with them, according to the Copenhagen Post. The United Nations has given patrols the authority to pursue, and even sink, pirate ships caught pirating. But criminal prosecution is turning out to be a major headache because of the questions over jurisdiction. A previous incident in September 2008 involved 10 Somali pirates who were captured by the Danish navy in the Gulf of Aden. The navy was eventually forced to release the pirates because they felt they could not be legally prosecuted in Denmark, and were concerned Somali authorities would execute them, the Iceland News report. While the piracy issue is growing by the week, governments across the globe are struggling to find a solution to the situation that has disrupted international shipping as well as the cruise line industry. As for the five pirates currently held aboard the HMS Absalon; their fate has yet to be determined.
Denmark's decision not to participate in the EU's common defence policy will prevent it from taking part in a union naval force actively pursuing pirates in the Arabian Sea. Nine EU countries have agreed to join forces in an effort to stamp out piracy in the area, particularly in the Gulf of Aden. Ships from Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, the UK and the Netherlands are currently making their way to the Arabian Sea, where Danish warship HMS Absalon serves as flagship for the international Task Force 150. Since its arrival in August the Absalon has had several run-ins with pirates and currently holds five Somalis suspected of trying to capture a Netherlands flagged ship last week.
Judicial uncertainties, however, could lead to their release. Absalon freed 10 pirates late last year for the same reason. It is not yet known how the new EU force will deal with pirates it captures, the Copenhagen Post reports. The United Nations Security Council will take up the issue later this month to determine whether an international court should be established specifically to prosecute piracy. Common defence was one of four opt-out areas Denmark was grated after voters in 1992 rejected the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union.
The Sirius Star, Saudi Aramco’s very large crude carrier, is now en route to a safe point after its release by Somali pirates, a company spokesman said. He did not confirm whether the oil supertanker will berth in Dubai, where the base operation of Vela International Marine Ltd., owner of the ship and a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, is headquartered. "The ship is now heading to a safe point, but we cannot confirm as of now where it will dock", the spokesman said. The Sirius Star, which made its maiden voyage last March 2008 after its launching from the Daewoo Shipyard in Koje City, South Korea, was released after the pirates received $3 million in ransom. It was seized by Somali pirates approximately 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia on Nov. 16, 2008. Saleh K’aki, president and CEO of Vela International, earlier announced from Dubai the release of the oil supertanker and that its crew members are in good health. Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Antonio Villamor, has been monitoring the movement of the ship, which included 19 Filipino seamen among its 25 crew members, since its release by the Somali pirates. "We want to talk and meet the Filipino seamen, and we are coordinating with our consulate in Dubai, in case the ship will dock in Dubai, and with our mobile labor team in Eastern Province, in case the ship will arrive in Jubail", he said. The release of the 19 Filipino seamen along with other crew members aboard the Sirius Star after 50 days in captivity was received with relief by their families.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 13 foreign vessels with a total of 243 crew members accounted for (of which 44 are 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 (incl. the presently held) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by naval forces. For 2009 the account stands at 11 abandoned attacks and 2 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 related news
Puntland's newly-elected president said on Wednesday his semi-autonomous region of Somalia would actively combat piracy but it needed international support to provide its youth with alternative jobs. "My government will fight piracy to the best of its ability. We need to attain credibility as a hub of peace in Somalia", Abdurahman Mohamed Farole said in a telephone interview. "I am calling on the world to support us through development programmes that could minimise unemployment in Puntland, so that young boys will not fall into the hands of pirates", he said. Somali pirates raked in an estimated $150-million in ransom money in 2008, attacking more than 130 ships and turning one of the planet's busiest maritime routes into its most dangerous waters. The income generated by piracy surpasses the budget of Puntland, off the coastline of which most attacks have occurred. Out of the 15 ships currently held by pirates in the region, 13 were attacked by sea-borne gangs operating from Puntland. "Somalia should not only been seen in the context of piracy by the international community, but should be addressed as a forgotten failed nation which needs help", Farole said.
Farole last week comfortably won a presidential vote, which saw the ouster of incumbent Adde Musa Hirsi, whose administration was widely perceived as corrupt and an obstacle to effective anti-piracy efforts. Puntland's security apparatus was depleted by the Ethiopia-backed war effort led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed against radical Islamists in central and southern Somalia and security forces remained unpaid for several months. Yusuf was Puntland's founding president in 1998 and later became Somalia's president, until his resignation late last month. "Piracy has hiked (shipping) insurance premiums at a time when food prices are sky-rocketing. That is regrettable so we want to do all we can to stop piracy", Farole said. The new president said he needed help to ensure that his people did not risk their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden illegally to look for a better future in the Gulf or join pirate groups. "Human trafficking is also the result of a desperate quest for a better life following the collapse of our national institutions. Improving the lives of young people here will challenge that phenomenon", he said. Farole said foreign fishing fleets were also to be blamed for the surge in piracy. "After the fishing community lost jobs they opted to fight against foreign vessels that pillaged Somali marine products. Later the job was taken over by criminals backed by ransom-hunting warlords", he explained. "Empowering the Somali leadership will help to fully eradicate piracy", said Farole, a former finance minister under Yusuf.
The Alliance of Re-liberation of Somali (ARS), a Somali opposition group based in Djibouti, is now ready to listen to the international community and unite with the backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG). "We are ready to fulfill the Djibouti agreement … we don’t see any reason to postpone or further delay to establish the long awaited unity government", Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, ARS central committee chair told Mshale when he visited Minnesota in December. On June 9, 2008, representatives of the ARS-Djibouti faction and Somalia's TFG signed a peace accord under the auspices of the United Nations where they agreed on a ceasefire and establishing a unity government. "The majority of Somalis view the Djibouti agreement as an opportunity but incomplete and are willing to give a chance with the exception of few individual with personal interest", says Sharif Hassan. "Anyone that opposes these efforts is obviously not interested in giving Somalia and Somalis a chance and don’t want to see a stable, peaceful and prosperous Somalia … I am confident that Somalis will reject them", Sharif Hassan said.
The ARS was found September 2007 in Asmara, Eritrea in opposition to the Ethiopian occupation. The following year the Alliance split into two factions: one continues to reside in Asmara where the other is now based in Djibouti. ARS is made up of the Diaspora Somalis, former MPs who left the parliament in protest after Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia, civil society and members of the Union Islamic Courts. Somalis are skeptical of Ethiopia’s promise to withdraw its troops from Somalia. Ahmed Farah, a Somali living in Minnesota is one of these skeptics: "[Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles] Zenawi is buying time and wants to further manipulate the situation … contrary to his announcement, his troops are taking over more cities and killing more Somalis". However, Sharif Hassan is positive that Ethiopian troops will withdraw from Somalia sooner, rather than later, "Of course, I understand the frustrations. After number of deadlines for their withdrawals, we are all skeptical but we must be hopeful to stay on the course… the international community is now asking Ethiopia to withdraw its troops … we know if they leave, Somalis will come together and easily solve their problem". Sharif Hassan stressed the importance of the unity government, "For all that care, Somalis and the international community, this is an invaluable opportunity … should this pass, I am afraid that we will never see stability in Somalia".
Top officials from 24 countries descend on the U.N. headquarters to discuss countering the growing threat of piracy off the Somali coast. The Contact Group on Somali Piracy (CGSP) held its inaugural meeting at the United Nations Headquarters Building in New York City on January 14, 2009. This meeting was pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1851 adopted unanimously on December 16, 2008. A total of 24 countries and five multilateral organizations participated in the inaugural meeting, chaired by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Mark T. Kimmitt.
Ongoing government instability in Somalia has prompted an increase in the number of pirate attacks off the country's coast in the Gulf of Aden. Somali pirates hijacked more than 100 vessels in 2008, including a Saudi supertanker carrying 2 million gallons of oil. The escalating violence off the Somali coast has threatened ships carrying humanitarian aid to the country and disrupted international shipping lanes. In December the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1851 to counter piracy threats and establish the Contact Group on Somali Piracy who will meet for the first time in New York today.
The CGSP was supposed to focus on coordinating activities between states and organizations to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia and ir was anticipated that discussions would address:
- Improving operational and intelligence support to counter-piracy operations,
- Establishing a counter-piracy coordination mechanism,
- Strengthening judicial frameworks for the arrest, prosecution and detention of pirates,
- Strengthening commercial shipping self-awareness and other capabilities,
- Pursuing improving diplomatic and public information efforts, and
- Disrupting pirate financial operations.
But though twenty-four nations pledged Wednesday at the U.S.-led meeting to better coordinate their efforts against Somali piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, little has transpired what proactive steps can be taken. Diplomats met privately at U.N. headquarters to focus on methods of fighting the rise of piracy off Somalia's lawless coastline, where 11 vessels with 210 crew members are now in pirate hands. "So much of this is synchronization and adding on to the great work that our sailors from, at this point, 16 different nations on the water are conducting", the group's chairman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt, told reporters after the nearly day-long meeting. "We believe that 2009 will be a year where we can turn this problem around if we come together as a group of nations, working not simply the military aspect, but the judicial aspect, the financial aspect, the industry aspect", he said. The U.S. Navy last week announced a new international naval task force under American command to confront the escalating attacks. However, the force will carry no wider authority than warships currently have to strike at pirate vessels at sea or specific mandates to move against havens on shore. Kimmitt, who deals with political-military affairs, said during the meeting that there is a "sense" among U.S. counter-piracy officials that there should be more focus on where the money is coming from to finance the pirates' operations. He suggested that pirates might be receiving financing by "external" or some other "private groups". The meeting was presided over by representatives of Yemen, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Spain and Somalia.
The diplomats discussed forming a "working group" but several said it would need a mandate first to determine whether sensitive information, such as currency serial numbers and bank transactions, would be swapped. Kimmitt told reporters that the so-called "Contact Group on Somali Piracy" was formed "because we believe not only as individual nations, but as a collective body that we can do more to interrupt, interdict, disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden". In a statement, the group promised to report regularly to the Security Council and to consider the creation of a regional anti-piracy information center. Yesterday’s meeting set up teams to organize better operational and information support for counter-piracy operations, stronger laws to arrest, prosecute and detain pirates and to track financial flows related to piracy. The group, in its statement, noted "the primary role of Somalia itself in rooting out piracy and armed robbery at sea and the importance of assisting Somalia in strengthening its own operational capacity to fight piracy".
Yemen and France discussed on Tuesday in Yemen the necessary mechanisms to raise coordination level among the states combating piracy in the region. Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakr al-Qirbi held talks with the French ambassador to Yemen Gilles Gauthier on the steps taken to facilitate the arrest, extradition and prosecution of pirates. The Minister al-Qirbi affirmed the importance of coordinating efforts and exchanging information among the states deployed warships in the Indian Ocean and the Arab Sea, emphasizing the significance of not to prejudice the sovereignty of any state on its territorial waters. Al-Qirbi highlighted the importance of an international support to realize security and stability in Somalia.
Japan will send a warship to the waters off Somalia as early as April, a newspaper said on Thursday, as shipping industry leaders pressed the government to take immediate action. Prime Minister Taro Aso will authorise a plan within the month for a destroyer to head to the waters off the lawless African nation, the Nikkei business daily said, citing unnamed sources. Mr Aso last month ordered his cabinet to study drafting a law for a Somalia mission. A defence ministry spokesman, asked about the report, said no timeline had been decided. But Japan, officially pacifist since World War II, can legally only use its navy to protect Japanese vessels and citizens. The Nikkei said Mr Aso would define the Somalia mission as defending Japanese ships, with the destroyer's use of force limited to self-defence and emergency evacuations. The Japanese Shipowners' Association called on Thursday for the government to send a ship as soon as possible. 'Right at this moment ships and their crew members are being threatened by pirates', it said in a statement. 'Even if the dispatch will be limited to escorting (ships), we can expect an effect in stopping piracy activities and give a sense of security to crew members', wrote chairman Hiroyuki Maekawa. The United States has encouraged Japan to join anti-piracy operations, according to AFP. China, Japan's neighbour and sometime rival, in December sent three vessels, marking the first time in recent history that the communist giant has sent ships far from its territory for a potential combat mission.
The docking of the nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy in Cape Town marks the first time a Russian naval vessel has berthed in a South African port in more than 200 years. Less than 20 years ago, the two countries were Cold War enemies, but it was all bonhomie and mutual compliments at the press conference on board the ship on Wednesday, notes the South Adrican Cape Times. Admiral Rusty Hicks, from the South African Navy, and Rear Admiral Vladimir Kazatonov, from the Russian Federation Navy, almost outdid each other in saying how they admired each other's navy and looked forward to increased co-operation. The ship, named after Peter the Great, is on its way from Venezuela, where it took part in exercises with the Venezuelan Navy, to the Indian Ocean to "perform some responsibilities", Kazatonov said. These include helping to fight piracy off Somalia and offer protection to the merchant navy. "The national forces are not capable of defeating piracy - I'm sure we can be part of the international effort to fight piracy", Kazatonov said. He said the ship did not have nuclear weapons on board, in keeping with the agreement with the United States. The deeply tanned captain, Felix Men'kov - the only person allowed to smoke anywhere on the ship, we learnt - took reporters and photographers on a tour of the vessel, rattling off the nature and number of an astonishing array of weapons. The ship has a maximum speed of 30 knots, has two helicopters on board and, because it is nuclear-powered, can sail around the globe 50 times without refueling. "It is the biggest and most powerful ship of its type in the world", the captain said. Commissioned in St Petersburg in 1995, the primary purpose of the 250-metre ship was to destroy cruise missiles and air and shore targets, and to accompany convoys at sea, Men'kov said. The ship has torpedo tubes and can destroy a submarine at 40km. It has 20 attack missiles that can destroy a ship or land target up to 550km away. Sailors in camouflage stood at mounted machine guns that fire 3 000 rounds a minute and are used to destroy any vessel that comes within the 200m exclusion zone around the ship. "First we radio the vessel. If there is no answer, we will fire a warning shot. If they do not change course or reduce speed, we shoot to destroy". There had been no need yet to do this. The 12-deck warship is air-conditioned and has a library, sauna and small swimming pool for the crew of 980. Crew who had shore leave were hurrying up the gangplank with shopping bags brimming with goods, from Coke to Weetbix.
The Indian Navy is getting ready to scale down operations in the Gulf of Aden, where it has been facing action for over two months, due to operational deployments and exercises back home. The navy will be sending a smaller missile-guided frigate to replace the Delhi-class missile-guided destroyer INS Mysore, which repulsed pirate attacks on two occasions and led to the arrest of 23 pirates. "INS Mysore, which is currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden, will be replaced soon. And a Brahmaputra-class guided-missile frigate is most likely to be the replacement. It is a faster vessel", a senior navy official said on condition of anonymity. The Indian Navy had sent the INS Mysore, one of the largest and powerful vessels in its fleet, to replace its front-line warship INS Tabar, reasoning that it would not need to make frequent visits to the port for replenishments during the prolonged deployment. The decision to send a smaller platform in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest and most piracy infested sea lanes in the world, follows an operational alert post the Nov 26-29 Mumbai terror attack and a major Indo-Russian naval exercise scheduled later this month. The Indian Navy has just concluded an amphibious exercise with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the Arabian Sea. The next in line is the Indo-Russian drill from Jan 25-31, in which the navy will field a destroyer and two frigates apart from a kilo-class submarine. "The missile frigate is faster, but still a smaller ship and is not capable of lengthy deployments like INS Mysore", another official said explaining the capabilities of the two vessels. The scaling down of the navy’s commitment in anti-piracy operations is also influenced by the absence of any global coalition to combat piracy in the region. The deployment of Indian Navy ships in the Gulf of Aden last year came as piracy off Somalia surged in recent months with the Horn of Africa nation descending further into chaos.
China called for the United Nations to take a peacekeeping role in Somalia as Ethiopian forces withdraw from the Horn of Africa nation, which is facing a humanitarian crisis. "The international community has to pay more attention to the peace process in Somalia", Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said during a two-day visit to Uganda, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. "There should be more inputs from the UN". China and Uganda plan to press the UN Security Council to help stabilize Somalia, Yang said. An African Union force of 3,400 soldiers -- from Uganda and Burundi -- has proven too small to bring peace to the country. The U.S. is asking the UN Security Council to establish a peacekeeping mission in Somalia by June 1. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month rejected the American push for such a mission, saying there weren’t enough troops available to deploy. Under the American proposal, the force would help provide humanitarian aid, assist in peace talks between the country’s provisional government and rebel groups, and train the national army and police force, according to a draft resolution.
Charterers are beginning to coerce ship-owners into adverse contracts terms that increase their exposure to piracy risks, according to marine mutual the London Club, the UK-based protection and indemnity insurer has warned. Ship-owners already struggling to cope with collapsed freight markets and a scarcity of fixtures are now encountering ‘Gulf of Aden’ clauses, wines Lloyds List. As well as requiring hard-pressed owners to commit to sail through the pirate-menaced sea lanes off the Horn of Africa, charterers are also looking to offload liability costs if the vessel is seized. Stephen Roberts, a claims director at the London Club, warned ship-owners to steer clear of these terms but conceded that some have little choice if they want to win work. "We expect to see a lot more of these type of clauses, and there are wider ramifications for ship-owners that agree to these", warned Mr. Roberts. One unnamed dry bulk specialist with half of his fleet inactive is known to have agreed to ‘Gulf of Aden’ clauses in order to beat 20 contenders to secure an eastbound contract from Jordan to India. Some owners and operators have reacted to the piracy risk off Somalia by re-routing their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, despite the extra fuel costs and time involved. Now, charterers are using their clout in the depressed market to close down this option and dictate other terms to owners. The London Club in its recent newsletter warned: "Given the prevailing market conditions, it might be expected that charterers will seek to impose onerous terms on owners, which may serve to encourage masters to expose their ships to the risk of piracy". As well as exposing owners to claims for delay and loss of hire due to a piracy attack, these terms were also restricting the ship master’s flexibility to respond to these incidents. However, the club noted: "Masters who wish to deviate from their customary route in order to avoid the risk of piracy should do so, wherever possible, in co-operation with charterers and cargo owners". The P&I club also urged its members to look carefully at the contractual terms of any agreement concluded with the providers of armed or unarmed guards.
A Chicago company is now offering insurance for piracy. Pirates have become a growing problem on the high seas, especially off the coast of Somalia where oil tankers and cruise ships have been seized by pirates in speed boats armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers. So AON insurance will offer insurance for ship owners and cargo owners to cover losses from ships taken by pirates.
China’s economy overtook Germany’s in 2007 to become the world’s third largest, underscoring the nation’s increasing economic and political clout. German economic growth slumped last year, according to numbers released by the Federal Statistics Office in Frankfurt today. Gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent, down from 2.5 percent in 2007. China’s economy may now be as much as 15 percent larger than Germany’s, Louis Kuijs, a senior economist at the World Bank in Beijing, estimated. He confirmed the calculation that it overtook Germany in 2007. The U.S. economy is the world’s biggest, followed by Japan’s. Global interests spanning African oilfields and South American mines are encouraging China to add to its military might. The nation sent ships to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia last month and will "seriously consider" building aircraft carriers, the Ministry of National Defence said.
The road to rehabilitation in Somalia: Banana production is concentrated in the south of Somalia, where an ingenious system of barrages and dams provides over 130,000 ha with access to 'gravity irrigation' from river water from the Ethiopian highlands. Unlike bananas grown elsewhere in East Africa, Somali bananas suffer from no major pests or diseases and the riparian soil is rich in nutrients. Around 3,000 ha are currently under banana cultivation providing a year-round local supply, but Mehrdad believes that with increased support, greater production would be possible. "Farmers need a market to sustain and improve their production and increase their incomes", he stresses. Much needs to be done to provide the necessary inputs and infrastructure for a sustained revival. Farmers need not only fuel, fertilisers and nematode control but also help to rehabilitate irrigation canals and stand-by pumps to supplement gravity irrigation. Feeder roads are also in need of repair, although these should be renewed under ongoing development projects in the region. "There is undoubtedly significant interest in re-establishing banana exports in Somalia", says Edward Baars, CEFA project manager. "But we need to find the best way forward". The first step in providing more support to farmers is just one shipment away. A cargo ship loaded with fertilisers, packaging cartons and tools destined for Mogadishu is, at the time of writing, docked in the Middle East. Whilst the ship has been delayed due to fears of running the gauntlet with Somali pirates, in the meantime, farmers are being made aware of the impending arrival of inputs and tools. Once the ship has unloaded in Mogadishu, it will continue to sail between Mombassa in neighbouring Kenya, and Mogadishu, ferrying food aid, and commodities such as sesame and fish, until the first bananas are ready for export to the Middle East later in 2009. Sailing through Somali waters is currently unpredictable and it is difficult to foresee how smooth the passage for banana production and exports will be. But CEFA is hopeful of success as a similar project with sesame has recently reaped rewards and has successfully demonstrated how a development project can collaborate with the private sector in improving an important cash crop for Somalia. And the Somali "Banana-Wars" including support for war-lords and earlier false declaration of South-American bananas to gain entry into the EU market together with its corruption and mafia-style dealings must not be forgotten in order to be prevented in future.
Feature -------
German navy in operations off Somalia
By Marius Heuser
www.wsws.org
14 January 2009
For more than two weeks, Germany has been conducting naval operations in the Gulf of Aden, in order to secure the international sea routes.
According to Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), this is "the most robust mandate" in Germany's post-war history. Jung had flown to Djibouti to see off the frigate Karlsruhe. No longer was it a matter of providing "aid, protection and mediation", as in earlier operations, Jung stressed, but the forces could expressly engage in combat. The mandate, passed by the Bundestag (federal parliament) in December by a large majority, sanctions German military personnel not only to attack hostile ships but also to sink them.
The dispatch of the frigate Karlsruhe is only the beginning. When required, the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern can also be used directly for support. This ship is presently working in the region with a clearly weaker mandate within the framework of Operation Enduring Freedom under US leadership. Under the new mandate, up to 1,400 German military personnel can now be deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
The deployment is part of the European Union operation Atlanta, which was passed on November 10, 2008 by the EU Council as an anti-piracy measure. Five to ten countries are participating in the operation, including France and Britain. Operational headquarters are in London, with a mobile command post alternating between Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.
In addition to the European armed forces, ships from Russia, the US, China and Iran are also deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
This massive concentration of foreign military in the region was made possible by UN resolution 1816, passed on June 2, 2008. This lifted Somali sovereignty over the country's own coastal waters and permits any military power in the world to deploy a mission against the alleged pirates, even inside the 12-mile area directly off the Somali coast. This also covers air space.
The number of pirates operating off the Somalia coast has increased considerably in recent years, after the US-supported invasion of the country by Ethiopian troops. Various sources put the figures between 100 and 300 pirate attacks, with 39 to 200 ships being captured, out of an estimated 16,000-30,000 ships passing through the region annually. Altogether about $50 million in ransom has been obtained by hijacking ships.
The enormous military operation, however, cannot be explained simply by the fight against piracy. In times of economic crisis, none of the world's great powers want to cede control of this important maritime route to their competitors, and through which the majority of the Asia-Europe trade runs. The geo-strategic significance of such commercial sea routes is comparable with aggressively contested oil and gas pipelines. Germany alone imports 56 percent of its crude oil by sea and a high percentage of Germany's foreign trade is also transported by sea.
Under the banner of the fight against piracy, international disputes are beginning over commercial routes and sea lanes that can result in violent military conflicts.
Already in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the "war on terror" has been used to justify imperialist politics. The German government is now fashioning a close link between the fight against "terrorism" and its anti-piracy operation.
The Atlanta deployment and the US' Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan are closely linked, as shown by the example of the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern. According to a security strategy paper of the Christian Democrats' parliamentary group from May 6 last year: "The spread of organized crime in weak states makes the threat of terrorism even more serious. War, extremism and terrorism are being financed out of the proceeds of criminal activities, particularly from the drugs trade, but also from the illegal trade in arms, human trafficking, money laundering or piracy".
Birgit Homburger of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) expressed this link even more clearly when she told the Bundestag: "Cross-border international terrorism can no longer be differentiated from piracy and organized crime". She demanded that operations Atlanta and Enduring Freedom be combined.
The economic interests that lie behind the deployment of the German navy were also openly enunciated in the Bundestag. Whereas humanitarian or at least security policy arguments were stressed during earlier debates about the deployment of Germany's armed forces, the emphasis in the current debate was about respecting "German interests".
For example, on December17, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) said, "Operation Atlanta should also improve the security of civilian navigation in the region, something in which we Germans also have an interest. The Gulf of Aden is the backbone for the flow of trade between Europe and Asia; 20,000 ships a year. Many of these belong to German shipping companies that transport goods to or from Germany".
Defence Minister Jung also invoked German interests when he implored the deputies to make "a contribution to restoring security on the seas and to guarantee free maritime trade", since "we are export world champions".
His party colleague Dorothee Bär concretized this point: "It is not only the Gulf of Aden that is threatened; the liberty of world trade is also threatened. The most important trade routes between Europe, the Arab peninsula and Asia pass through the sea lanes off Somalia. Numerous German export goods reach their destinations on ships passing through the waters round the Horn of Africa. As an export nation, we have a vital interest in preventing or limiting attacks on civilian shipping. That applies to us in Germany, but it also applies to all of Europe".
The FDP accused the government of inactivity. Piracy should have been opposed much sooner, Birgit Homburger insisted: "This behaviour has disgraced the German navy". She also advocated taking harsher action against the pirates. "It is not only necessary to chase away the pirates but also to hunt down the pirates", she said.
This militaristic language, and the openness with which the various parties have endorsed a substantial military mission in the interests of German big business, shows the advanced extent of the imperialist ambitions of Germany's ruling elite. It is no longer prepared to factor in the widespread opposition in Germany to militarism and war in the implementation of its interests.
The fact that the parties in the Bundestag can behave so shamelessly is also linked to the fact that none of them advocates a principled opposition to military combat missions. While the Left Party was the only parliamentary group to vote against the government motion, the party expressly endorses the use of force against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Left Party deputy Norman Paech made this clear at the beginning of his speech. "In order to preclude any misunderstanding: The Left Party is for the security of the sea and trade routes and considers protection from piracy to be absolutely necessary and indispensable". Paech simply believes that a naval mission is the wrong way to proceed. He wants to send the Bundespolizei (German federal police) to Somalia.
This was also confirmed by his parliamentary colleague Paul Schäfer: "The Left Party endorses the rapid construction of an international coast guard under the leadership of the UN in close coordination with the African Union. Germany should participate by means of the Bundespolizei and render financial support".
While the Left Party proposes "better ways" to protect international sea and trade routes, the government is converting the armed forces into an international intervention army with ability to implement Germany's geo-strategic interests everywhere in the world against its rivals.
Among the official tasks of Germany's armed forces, the government's 1992 defence policy guidelines included the "Promotion and security of worldwide political, economic, military and ecological stability", as well as the "maintenance of free world trade and access to strategic raw materials".
The SPD-Green Party government then intensified this course and sent the armed forces on numerous military missions. This was then laid down in 2003 in a new version of the defence policy guidelines, which extended the potential operational area for Germany's armed forces to the entire globe and adopted the military doctrine of intimidation and preventive war developed by the US government as the guide for German defence policy.
In restructuring the German military into an aggressive intervention force, the development of the navy is a crucial factor. Ever since German reunification in 1990, the size of the navy has been systematically increased. Whereas in 1990 it represented 7.5 percent of the overall armed forces, it is now closer to 10 percent. In terms of defence expenditure, the proportion spent on the navy is rising even more rapidly.
In 1898, when the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm began to develop its own deep-sea fleet, this German-English arms race led directly to the First World War. The building of the first armoured ships in 1928 under SPD Chancellor Hermann Müller, finally heralded German rearmament and the rejection of the restrictions on the size of Germany's fleet contained in the Treaty of Versailles. The global military ambitions of a great power require a well-equipped navy.
End of the 111th Ecoterra Press Release Update
111th Update 2009-01-15 13h46:38 UTC
Ecoterra Intl. - Stay Calm & Solve it Peaceful & Fast !
Ecoterra International – Update & Media Release on the stand-off concerning the Ukrainian weapons-ship hi-jacked by Somali pirates and related news.
We also can make sea-piracy in Somalia an issue of the past - with empathy and strength and through coastal and marine development as well as protection!
New EA Seafarers Assistance Programme Emergency Helpline: +254-738-497979
East African Seafarers Assistance Programme - Media Officer: +254-733-385868
Day 113 - 2687 hours into the MV FAINA Crisis - Update Summary
Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now nearly four months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved, though contacts and some form of negotiations are said to have continued.
Pirates holding a Ukrainian cargo ship loaded with tanks have sacked Somali middlemen trying to secure its release and are negotiating directly with the owners, an associate of the gang said on Thursday to REUTERS. The MV FAINA was carrying 33 Soviet-era T-72 tanks and other weapons when it was seized in September. The pirates initially demanded a $20 million ransom, lowered to $5 million. Osman Farah, an onshore associate of the gang on the FAINA, said his colleagues now expected more than $5 million after they sacked the middlemen negotiating on their behalf. "Somali brokers had been delaying the process by reporting only half, or less, of the ransom being offered", Farah told Reuters by telephone from the coastal town of Harardheere. "So the pirates are now directly negotiating with the Ukrainians and we hope things will be better now ... they are expecting more then $5 million and the ship will be freed soon". Meanwhile the captors of MV FAINA have asked for medical and other humanitarian assistance to the crew.
The Ukraine-induced and Russia-fostered gas-supply crisis in Europe is far from over. Insiders maintain it is all about the blackmail to reinstitute original fund-values of Russian as well as Ukrainian investments in and through banks, whose assets have crumbled during the ongoing crunch of the world-economy.
Mr. Vadim Alperin (alias Vadim Oltrena Alperin, alias Vadim Galperin) was named in the Ukrainian parliament as the real owner of the vessel, while Mr. V. Murenko is believed to act as the managing proprietor with Mrs. E. Kopitsyna as executive director.
Ecoterra Intl. demands immediate humanitarian assistance to be allowed, facilitated and dispatched to the vessel, and calls for human rights protection to be provided for all crew members, their families in Russia and Ukraine as well as for all well-meaning people assisting in solving the case, which have been subjected already to serious threats, acts of intimidation and persecution.
Ecoterra Intl. repeats its call to solve the FAINA case now with absolute top priority and peaceful in order to avert a human and environmental disasters at the Somali coast. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed by the captors and facilitated by the owners. Anybody encouraging hot-headed and concerning such difficult situations inexperienced and untrained gunmen or those, who believe they would be capable to try an attempt of a military solution, must be held fully responsible for the surely resulting disaster. The saga and secrecy surrounding MV FAINA must not - like in the MS ESTONIA case, which is the worst naval disaster in Europe since WWII - become the shroud for its 20 seafarers.
Clearing-house:
News from other abducted or newly attacked ships
Games Crazy People Play: Kidnapping, Pirating, and War - Naval War-games to protect Fish-piracy and to cover the real agenda !
The Russian large Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyer "Admiral Vinogradov" has defended on Tuesday at 08h20 GMT a 278m long UK-owned and Dutch-managed container ship MV NEDLLOYD BARENTSZ from a Somali pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. The captain of the Dutch vessel under Netherlands-flag sent a distress signal to the Russian ship saying that pirate boats were approaching his ship and shooting at it, Russian Navy spokesman from the Information Service of the RF Navy Department Captain I. Rank Igor Dygalo informed. There was battle alarm on the "Admiral Vinogradov" and Ка-27 helicopter took off. The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes. The vessel was recommended to rise speed and change course abruptly. The pirates made an attempt to board the Dutch ship, but the Russian crew fired warning shots from the helicopter, forcing the pirates to halt. One of the three boats was stopped and two others were seized by the crew of the Admiral Vinogradov. The one skiff was halted and believed sunk near Yemeni waters and Russian teams boarded the other two, finding ropes with grappling hooks and gas canisters, but no fishing equipment. The ship’s doctor gave the necessary medical assistance to three pirates who were wounded by ricochet fire. "The pirates didn’t seem to feel the pain from the wounds, which can be a result of the fact that they were under the influence of drugs", Igor Dygalo said. The boats manned by the pirates were handed over to Yemeni coast guards. The Admiral Vinogradov is patrolling Somali waters to help maintain security in the area that is threatened with frequent raids by the pirates. MV Nedlloyd Barentsz is registered in the Netherlands MAERSK Ship Management BV as manager of the A.P. Moller-Maersk group, but has as registered owner UK-based Scotland Structured Asset. The container ship, built in 2000, has a transportation capacity of 5,468 TEU (including the possibility for 500 refrigerated containers) and a gross tonnage of 66,526 to.
The Danish naval ship, HMS Absalon, is facing an unusual dilemma with the five Somali pirates it pulled out of the Gulf of Aden on 2 January. The pirates’ ship was reportedly sunk by the very cargo vessel they were trying to attack when an emergency flare landed on the pirates’ boat and sank it. The HMS Absalon rescued the five Somalis, but because they were caught in international waters no one is quite sure what to do with them, according to the Copenhagen Post. The United Nations has given patrols the authority to pursue, and even sink, pirate ships caught pirating. But criminal prosecution is turning out to be a major headache because of the questions over jurisdiction. A previous incident in September 2008 involved 10 Somali pirates who were captured by the Danish navy in the Gulf of Aden. The navy was eventually forced to release the pirates because they felt they could not be legally prosecuted in Denmark, and were concerned Somali authorities would execute them, the Iceland News report. While the piracy issue is growing by the week, governments across the globe are struggling to find a solution to the situation that has disrupted international shipping as well as the cruise line industry. As for the five pirates currently held aboard the HMS Absalon; their fate has yet to be determined.
Denmark's decision not to participate in the EU's common defence policy will prevent it from taking part in a union naval force actively pursuing pirates in the Arabian Sea. Nine EU countries have agreed to join forces in an effort to stamp out piracy in the area, particularly in the Gulf of Aden. Ships from Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, the UK and the Netherlands are currently making their way to the Arabian Sea, where Danish warship HMS Absalon serves as flagship for the international Task Force 150. Since its arrival in August the Absalon has had several run-ins with pirates and currently holds five Somalis suspected of trying to capture a Netherlands flagged ship last week.
Judicial uncertainties, however, could lead to their release. Absalon freed 10 pirates late last year for the same reason. It is not yet known how the new EU force will deal with pirates it captures, the Copenhagen Post reports. The United Nations Security Council will take up the issue later this month to determine whether an international court should be established specifically to prosecute piracy. Common defence was one of four opt-out areas Denmark was grated after voters in 1992 rejected the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union.
The Sirius Star, Saudi Aramco’s very large crude carrier, is now en route to a safe point after its release by Somali pirates, a company spokesman said. He did not confirm whether the oil supertanker will berth in Dubai, where the base operation of Vela International Marine Ltd., owner of the ship and a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, is headquartered. "The ship is now heading to a safe point, but we cannot confirm as of now where it will dock", the spokesman said. The Sirius Star, which made its maiden voyage last March 2008 after its launching from the Daewoo Shipyard in Koje City, South Korea, was released after the pirates received $3 million in ransom. It was seized by Somali pirates approximately 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia on Nov. 16, 2008. Saleh K’aki, president and CEO of Vela International, earlier announced from Dubai the release of the oil supertanker and that its crew members are in good health. Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Antonio Villamor, has been monitoring the movement of the ship, which included 19 Filipino seamen among its 25 crew members, since its release by the Somali pirates. "We want to talk and meet the Filipino seamen, and we are coordinating with our consulate in Dubai, in case the ship will dock in Dubai, and with our mobile labor team in Eastern Province, in case the ship will arrive in Jubail", he said. The release of the 19 Filipino seamen along with other crew members aboard the Sirius Star after 50 days in captivity was received with relief by their families.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 13 foreign vessels with a total of 243 crew members accounted for (of which 44 are 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 (incl. the presently held) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by naval forces. For 2009 the account stands at 11 abandoned attacks and 2 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 related news
Puntland's newly-elected president said on Wednesday his semi-autonomous region of Somalia would actively combat piracy but it needed international support to provide its youth with alternative jobs. "My government will fight piracy to the best of its ability. We need to attain credibility as a hub of peace in Somalia", Abdurahman Mohamed Farole said in a telephone interview. "I am calling on the world to support us through development programmes that could minimise unemployment in Puntland, so that young boys will not fall into the hands of pirates", he said. Somali pirates raked in an estimated $150-million in ransom money in 2008, attacking more than 130 ships and turning one of the planet's busiest maritime routes into its most dangerous waters. The income generated by piracy surpasses the budget of Puntland, off the coastline of which most attacks have occurred. Out of the 15 ships currently held by pirates in the region, 13 were attacked by sea-borne gangs operating from Puntland. "Somalia should not only been seen in the context of piracy by the international community, but should be addressed as a forgotten failed nation which needs help", Farole said.
Farole last week comfortably won a presidential vote, which saw the ouster of incumbent Adde Musa Hirsi, whose administration was widely perceived as corrupt and an obstacle to effective anti-piracy efforts. Puntland's security apparatus was depleted by the Ethiopia-backed war effort led by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed against radical Islamists in central and southern Somalia and security forces remained unpaid for several months. Yusuf was Puntland's founding president in 1998 and later became Somalia's president, until his resignation late last month. "Piracy has hiked (shipping) insurance premiums at a time when food prices are sky-rocketing. That is regrettable so we want to do all we can to stop piracy", Farole said. The new president said he needed help to ensure that his people did not risk their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden illegally to look for a better future in the Gulf or join pirate groups. "Human trafficking is also the result of a desperate quest for a better life following the collapse of our national institutions. Improving the lives of young people here will challenge that phenomenon", he said. Farole said foreign fishing fleets were also to be blamed for the surge in piracy. "After the fishing community lost jobs they opted to fight against foreign vessels that pillaged Somali marine products. Later the job was taken over by criminals backed by ransom-hunting warlords", he explained. "Empowering the Somali leadership will help to fully eradicate piracy", said Farole, a former finance minister under Yusuf.
The Alliance of Re-liberation of Somali (ARS), a Somali opposition group based in Djibouti, is now ready to listen to the international community and unite with the backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG). "We are ready to fulfill the Djibouti agreement … we don’t see any reason to postpone or further delay to establish the long awaited unity government", Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, ARS central committee chair told Mshale when he visited Minnesota in December. On June 9, 2008, representatives of the ARS-Djibouti faction and Somalia's TFG signed a peace accord under the auspices of the United Nations where they agreed on a ceasefire and establishing a unity government. "The majority of Somalis view the Djibouti agreement as an opportunity but incomplete and are willing to give a chance with the exception of few individual with personal interest", says Sharif Hassan. "Anyone that opposes these efforts is obviously not interested in giving Somalia and Somalis a chance and don’t want to see a stable, peaceful and prosperous Somalia … I am confident that Somalis will reject them", Sharif Hassan said.
The ARS was found September 2007 in Asmara, Eritrea in opposition to the Ethiopian occupation. The following year the Alliance split into two factions: one continues to reside in Asmara where the other is now based in Djibouti. ARS is made up of the Diaspora Somalis, former MPs who left the parliament in protest after Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia, civil society and members of the Union Islamic Courts. Somalis are skeptical of Ethiopia’s promise to withdraw its troops from Somalia. Ahmed Farah, a Somali living in Minnesota is one of these skeptics: "[Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles] Zenawi is buying time and wants to further manipulate the situation … contrary to his announcement, his troops are taking over more cities and killing more Somalis". However, Sharif Hassan is positive that Ethiopian troops will withdraw from Somalia sooner, rather than later, "Of course, I understand the frustrations. After number of deadlines for their withdrawals, we are all skeptical but we must be hopeful to stay on the course… the international community is now asking Ethiopia to withdraw its troops … we know if they leave, Somalis will come together and easily solve their problem". Sharif Hassan stressed the importance of the unity government, "For all that care, Somalis and the international community, this is an invaluable opportunity … should this pass, I am afraid that we will never see stability in Somalia".
Top officials from 24 countries descend on the U.N. headquarters to discuss countering the growing threat of piracy off the Somali coast. The Contact Group on Somali Piracy (CGSP) held its inaugural meeting at the United Nations Headquarters Building in New York City on January 14, 2009. This meeting was pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1851 adopted unanimously on December 16, 2008. A total of 24 countries and five multilateral organizations participated in the inaugural meeting, chaired by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Mark T. Kimmitt.
Ongoing government instability in Somalia has prompted an increase in the number of pirate attacks off the country's coast in the Gulf of Aden. Somali pirates hijacked more than 100 vessels in 2008, including a Saudi supertanker carrying 2 million gallons of oil. The escalating violence off the Somali coast has threatened ships carrying humanitarian aid to the country and disrupted international shipping lanes. In December the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1851 to counter piracy threats and establish the Contact Group on Somali Piracy who will meet for the first time in New York today.
The CGSP was supposed to focus on coordinating activities between states and organizations to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia and ir was anticipated that discussions would address:
- Improving operational and intelligence support to counter-piracy operations,
- Establishing a counter-piracy coordination mechanism,
- Strengthening judicial frameworks for the arrest, prosecution and detention of pirates,
- Strengthening commercial shipping self-awareness and other capabilities,
- Pursuing improving diplomatic and public information efforts, and
- Disrupting pirate financial operations.
But though twenty-four nations pledged Wednesday at the U.S.-led meeting to better coordinate their efforts against Somali piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, little has transpired what proactive steps can be taken. Diplomats met privately at U.N. headquarters to focus on methods of fighting the rise of piracy off Somalia's lawless coastline, where 11 vessels with 210 crew members are now in pirate hands. "So much of this is synchronization and adding on to the great work that our sailors from, at this point, 16 different nations on the water are conducting", the group's chairman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt, told reporters after the nearly day-long meeting. "We believe that 2009 will be a year where we can turn this problem around if we come together as a group of nations, working not simply the military aspect, but the judicial aspect, the financial aspect, the industry aspect", he said. The U.S. Navy last week announced a new international naval task force under American command to confront the escalating attacks. However, the force will carry no wider authority than warships currently have to strike at pirate vessels at sea or specific mandates to move against havens on shore. Kimmitt, who deals with political-military affairs, said during the meeting that there is a "sense" among U.S. counter-piracy officials that there should be more focus on where the money is coming from to finance the pirates' operations. He suggested that pirates might be receiving financing by "external" or some other "private groups". The meeting was presided over by representatives of Yemen, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Spain and Somalia.
The diplomats discussed forming a "working group" but several said it would need a mandate first to determine whether sensitive information, such as currency serial numbers and bank transactions, would be swapped. Kimmitt told reporters that the so-called "Contact Group on Somali Piracy" was formed "because we believe not only as individual nations, but as a collective body that we can do more to interrupt, interdict, disrupt piracy in the Gulf of Aden". In a statement, the group promised to report regularly to the Security Council and to consider the creation of a regional anti-piracy information center. Yesterday’s meeting set up teams to organize better operational and information support for counter-piracy operations, stronger laws to arrest, prosecute and detain pirates and to track financial flows related to piracy. The group, in its statement, noted "the primary role of Somalia itself in rooting out piracy and armed robbery at sea and the importance of assisting Somalia in strengthening its own operational capacity to fight piracy".
Yemen and France discussed on Tuesday in Yemen the necessary mechanisms to raise coordination level among the states combating piracy in the region. Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakr al-Qirbi held talks with the French ambassador to Yemen Gilles Gauthier on the steps taken to facilitate the arrest, extradition and prosecution of pirates. The Minister al-Qirbi affirmed the importance of coordinating efforts and exchanging information among the states deployed warships in the Indian Ocean and the Arab Sea, emphasizing the significance of not to prejudice the sovereignty of any state on its territorial waters. Al-Qirbi highlighted the importance of an international support to realize security and stability in Somalia.
Japan will send a warship to the waters off Somalia as early as April, a newspaper said on Thursday, as shipping industry leaders pressed the government to take immediate action. Prime Minister Taro Aso will authorise a plan within the month for a destroyer to head to the waters off the lawless African nation, the Nikkei business daily said, citing unnamed sources. Mr Aso last month ordered his cabinet to study drafting a law for a Somalia mission. A defence ministry spokesman, asked about the report, said no timeline had been decided. But Japan, officially pacifist since World War II, can legally only use its navy to protect Japanese vessels and citizens. The Nikkei said Mr Aso would define the Somalia mission as defending Japanese ships, with the destroyer's use of force limited to self-defence and emergency evacuations. The Japanese Shipowners' Association called on Thursday for the government to send a ship as soon as possible. 'Right at this moment ships and their crew members are being threatened by pirates', it said in a statement. 'Even if the dispatch will be limited to escorting (ships), we can expect an effect in stopping piracy activities and give a sense of security to crew members', wrote chairman Hiroyuki Maekawa. The United States has encouraged Japan to join anti-piracy operations, according to AFP. China, Japan's neighbour and sometime rival, in December sent three vessels, marking the first time in recent history that the communist giant has sent ships far from its territory for a potential combat mission.
The docking of the nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy in Cape Town marks the first time a Russian naval vessel has berthed in a South African port in more than 200 years. Less than 20 years ago, the two countries were Cold War enemies, but it was all bonhomie and mutual compliments at the press conference on board the ship on Wednesday, notes the South Adrican Cape Times. Admiral Rusty Hicks, from the South African Navy, and Rear Admiral Vladimir Kazatonov, from the Russian Federation Navy, almost outdid each other in saying how they admired each other's navy and looked forward to increased co-operation. The ship, named after Peter the Great, is on its way from Venezuela, where it took part in exercises with the Venezuelan Navy, to the Indian Ocean to "perform some responsibilities", Kazatonov said. These include helping to fight piracy off Somalia and offer protection to the merchant navy. "The national forces are not capable of defeating piracy - I'm sure we can be part of the international effort to fight piracy", Kazatonov said. He said the ship did not have nuclear weapons on board, in keeping with the agreement with the United States. The deeply tanned captain, Felix Men'kov - the only person allowed to smoke anywhere on the ship, we learnt - took reporters and photographers on a tour of the vessel, rattling off the nature and number of an astonishing array of weapons. The ship has a maximum speed of 30 knots, has two helicopters on board and, because it is nuclear-powered, can sail around the globe 50 times without refueling. "It is the biggest and most powerful ship of its type in the world", the captain said. Commissioned in St Petersburg in 1995, the primary purpose of the 250-metre ship was to destroy cruise missiles and air and shore targets, and to accompany convoys at sea, Men'kov said. The ship has torpedo tubes and can destroy a submarine at 40km. It has 20 attack missiles that can destroy a ship or land target up to 550km away. Sailors in camouflage stood at mounted machine guns that fire 3 000 rounds a minute and are used to destroy any vessel that comes within the 200m exclusion zone around the ship. "First we radio the vessel. If there is no answer, we will fire a warning shot. If they do not change course or reduce speed, we shoot to destroy". There had been no need yet to do this. The 12-deck warship is air-conditioned and has a library, sauna and small swimming pool for the crew of 980. Crew who had shore leave were hurrying up the gangplank with shopping bags brimming with goods, from Coke to Weetbix.
The Indian Navy is getting ready to scale down operations in the Gulf of Aden, where it has been facing action for over two months, due to operational deployments and exercises back home. The navy will be sending a smaller missile-guided frigate to replace the Delhi-class missile-guided destroyer INS Mysore, which repulsed pirate attacks on two occasions and led to the arrest of 23 pirates. "INS Mysore, which is currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden, will be replaced soon. And a Brahmaputra-class guided-missile frigate is most likely to be the replacement. It is a faster vessel", a senior navy official said on condition of anonymity. The Indian Navy had sent the INS Mysore, one of the largest and powerful vessels in its fleet, to replace its front-line warship INS Tabar, reasoning that it would not need to make frequent visits to the port for replenishments during the prolonged deployment. The decision to send a smaller platform in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest and most piracy infested sea lanes in the world, follows an operational alert post the Nov 26-29 Mumbai terror attack and a major Indo-Russian naval exercise scheduled later this month. The Indian Navy has just concluded an amphibious exercise with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the Arabian Sea. The next in line is the Indo-Russian drill from Jan 25-31, in which the navy will field a destroyer and two frigates apart from a kilo-class submarine. "The missile frigate is faster, but still a smaller ship and is not capable of lengthy deployments like INS Mysore", another official said explaining the capabilities of the two vessels. The scaling down of the navy’s commitment in anti-piracy operations is also influenced by the absence of any global coalition to combat piracy in the region. The deployment of Indian Navy ships in the Gulf of Aden last year came as piracy off Somalia surged in recent months with the Horn of Africa nation descending further into chaos.
China called for the United Nations to take a peacekeeping role in Somalia as Ethiopian forces withdraw from the Horn of Africa nation, which is facing a humanitarian crisis. "The international community has to pay more attention to the peace process in Somalia", Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said during a two-day visit to Uganda, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. "There should be more inputs from the UN". China and Uganda plan to press the UN Security Council to help stabilize Somalia, Yang said. An African Union force of 3,400 soldiers -- from Uganda and Burundi -- has proven too small to bring peace to the country. The U.S. is asking the UN Security Council to establish a peacekeeping mission in Somalia by June 1. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month rejected the American push for such a mission, saying there weren’t enough troops available to deploy. Under the American proposal, the force would help provide humanitarian aid, assist in peace talks between the country’s provisional government and rebel groups, and train the national army and police force, according to a draft resolution.
Charterers are beginning to coerce ship-owners into adverse contracts terms that increase their exposure to piracy risks, according to marine mutual the London Club, the UK-based protection and indemnity insurer has warned. Ship-owners already struggling to cope with collapsed freight markets and a scarcity of fixtures are now encountering ‘Gulf of Aden’ clauses, wines Lloyds List. As well as requiring hard-pressed owners to commit to sail through the pirate-menaced sea lanes off the Horn of Africa, charterers are also looking to offload liability costs if the vessel is seized. Stephen Roberts, a claims director at the London Club, warned ship-owners to steer clear of these terms but conceded that some have little choice if they want to win work. "We expect to see a lot more of these type of clauses, and there are wider ramifications for ship-owners that agree to these", warned Mr. Roberts. One unnamed dry bulk specialist with half of his fleet inactive is known to have agreed to ‘Gulf of Aden’ clauses in order to beat 20 contenders to secure an eastbound contract from Jordan to India. Some owners and operators have reacted to the piracy risk off Somalia by re-routing their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, despite the extra fuel costs and time involved. Now, charterers are using their clout in the depressed market to close down this option and dictate other terms to owners. The London Club in its recent newsletter warned: "Given the prevailing market conditions, it might be expected that charterers will seek to impose onerous terms on owners, which may serve to encourage masters to expose their ships to the risk of piracy". As well as exposing owners to claims for delay and loss of hire due to a piracy attack, these terms were also restricting the ship master’s flexibility to respond to these incidents. However, the club noted: "Masters who wish to deviate from their customary route in order to avoid the risk of piracy should do so, wherever possible, in co-operation with charterers and cargo owners". The P&I club also urged its members to look carefully at the contractual terms of any agreement concluded with the providers of armed or unarmed guards.
A Chicago company is now offering insurance for piracy. Pirates have become a growing problem on the high seas, especially off the coast of Somalia where oil tankers and cruise ships have been seized by pirates in speed boats armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers. So AON insurance will offer insurance for ship owners and cargo owners to cover losses from ships taken by pirates.
China’s economy overtook Germany’s in 2007 to become the world’s third largest, underscoring the nation’s increasing economic and political clout. German economic growth slumped last year, according to numbers released by the Federal Statistics Office in Frankfurt today. Gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent, down from 2.5 percent in 2007. China’s economy may now be as much as 15 percent larger than Germany’s, Louis Kuijs, a senior economist at the World Bank in Beijing, estimated. He confirmed the calculation that it overtook Germany in 2007. The U.S. economy is the world’s biggest, followed by Japan’s. Global interests spanning African oilfields and South American mines are encouraging China to add to its military might. The nation sent ships to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia last month and will "seriously consider" building aircraft carriers, the Ministry of National Defence said.
The road to rehabilitation in Somalia: Banana production is concentrated in the south of Somalia, where an ingenious system of barrages and dams provides over 130,000 ha with access to 'gravity irrigation' from river water from the Ethiopian highlands. Unlike bananas grown elsewhere in East Africa, Somali bananas suffer from no major pests or diseases and the riparian soil is rich in nutrients. Around 3,000 ha are currently under banana cultivation providing a year-round local supply, but Mehrdad believes that with increased support, greater production would be possible. "Farmers need a market to sustain and improve their production and increase their incomes", he stresses. Much needs to be done to provide the necessary inputs and infrastructure for a sustained revival. Farmers need not only fuel, fertilisers and nematode control but also help to rehabilitate irrigation canals and stand-by pumps to supplement gravity irrigation. Feeder roads are also in need of repair, although these should be renewed under ongoing development projects in the region. "There is undoubtedly significant interest in re-establishing banana exports in Somalia", says Edward Baars, CEFA project manager. "But we need to find the best way forward". The first step in providing more support to farmers is just one shipment away. A cargo ship loaded with fertilisers, packaging cartons and tools destined for Mogadishu is, at the time of writing, docked in the Middle East. Whilst the ship has been delayed due to fears of running the gauntlet with Somali pirates, in the meantime, farmers are being made aware of the impending arrival of inputs and tools. Once the ship has unloaded in Mogadishu, it will continue to sail between Mombassa in neighbouring Kenya, and Mogadishu, ferrying food aid, and commodities such as sesame and fish, until the first bananas are ready for export to the Middle East later in 2009. Sailing through Somali waters is currently unpredictable and it is difficult to foresee how smooth the passage for banana production and exports will be. But CEFA is hopeful of success as a similar project with sesame has recently reaped rewards and has successfully demonstrated how a development project can collaborate with the private sector in improving an important cash crop for Somalia. And the Somali "Banana-Wars" including support for war-lords and earlier false declaration of South-American bananas to gain entry into the EU market together with its corruption and mafia-style dealings must not be forgotten in order to be prevented in future.
Feature -------
German navy in operations off Somalia
By Marius Heuser
www.wsws.org
14 January 2009
For more than two weeks, Germany has been conducting naval operations in the Gulf of Aden, in order to secure the international sea routes.
According to Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), this is "the most robust mandate" in Germany's post-war history. Jung had flown to Djibouti to see off the frigate Karlsruhe. No longer was it a matter of providing "aid, protection and mediation", as in earlier operations, Jung stressed, but the forces could expressly engage in combat. The mandate, passed by the Bundestag (federal parliament) in December by a large majority, sanctions German military personnel not only to attack hostile ships but also to sink them.
The dispatch of the frigate Karlsruhe is only the beginning. When required, the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern can also be used directly for support. This ship is presently working in the region with a clearly weaker mandate within the framework of Operation Enduring Freedom under US leadership. Under the new mandate, up to 1,400 German military personnel can now be deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
The deployment is part of the European Union operation Atlanta, which was passed on November 10, 2008 by the EU Council as an anti-piracy measure. Five to ten countries are participating in the operation, including France and Britain. Operational headquarters are in London, with a mobile command post alternating between Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.
In addition to the European armed forces, ships from Russia, the US, China and Iran are also deployed in the Gulf of Aden.
This massive concentration of foreign military in the region was made possible by UN resolution 1816, passed on June 2, 2008. This lifted Somali sovereignty over the country's own coastal waters and permits any military power in the world to deploy a mission against the alleged pirates, even inside the 12-mile area directly off the Somali coast. This also covers air space.
The number of pirates operating off the Somalia coast has increased considerably in recent years, after the US-supported invasion of the country by Ethiopian troops. Various sources put the figures between 100 and 300 pirate attacks, with 39 to 200 ships being captured, out of an estimated 16,000-30,000 ships passing through the region annually. Altogether about $50 million in ransom has been obtained by hijacking ships.
The enormous military operation, however, cannot be explained simply by the fight against piracy. In times of economic crisis, none of the world's great powers want to cede control of this important maritime route to their competitors, and through which the majority of the Asia-Europe trade runs. The geo-strategic significance of such commercial sea routes is comparable with aggressively contested oil and gas pipelines. Germany alone imports 56 percent of its crude oil by sea and a high percentage of Germany's foreign trade is also transported by sea.
Under the banner of the fight against piracy, international disputes are beginning over commercial routes and sea lanes that can result in violent military conflicts.
Already in the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the "war on terror" has been used to justify imperialist politics. The German government is now fashioning a close link between the fight against "terrorism" and its anti-piracy operation.
The Atlanta deployment and the US' Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan are closely linked, as shown by the example of the frigate Mecklenburg Vorpommern. According to a security strategy paper of the Christian Democrats' parliamentary group from May 6 last year: "The spread of organized crime in weak states makes the threat of terrorism even more serious. War, extremism and terrorism are being financed out of the proceeds of criminal activities, particularly from the drugs trade, but also from the illegal trade in arms, human trafficking, money laundering or piracy".
Birgit Homburger of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) expressed this link even more clearly when she told the Bundestag: "Cross-border international terrorism can no longer be differentiated from piracy and organized crime". She demanded that operations Atlanta and Enduring Freedom be combined.
The economic interests that lie behind the deployment of the German navy were also openly enunciated in the Bundestag. Whereas humanitarian or at least security policy arguments were stressed during earlier debates about the deployment of Germany's armed forces, the emphasis in the current debate was about respecting "German interests".
For example, on December17, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) said, "Operation Atlanta should also improve the security of civilian navigation in the region, something in which we Germans also have an interest. The Gulf of Aden is the backbone for the flow of trade between Europe and Asia; 20,000 ships a year. Many of these belong to German shipping companies that transport goods to or from Germany".
Defence Minister Jung also invoked German interests when he implored the deputies to make "a contribution to restoring security on the seas and to guarantee free maritime trade", since "we are export world champions".
His party colleague Dorothee Bär concretized this point: "It is not only the Gulf of Aden that is threatened; the liberty of world trade is also threatened. The most important trade routes between Europe, the Arab peninsula and Asia pass through the sea lanes off Somalia. Numerous German export goods reach their destinations on ships passing through the waters round the Horn of Africa. As an export nation, we have a vital interest in preventing or limiting attacks on civilian shipping. That applies to us in Germany, but it also applies to all of Europe".
The FDP accused the government of inactivity. Piracy should have been opposed much sooner, Birgit Homburger insisted: "This behaviour has disgraced the German navy". She also advocated taking harsher action against the pirates. "It is not only necessary to chase away the pirates but also to hunt down the pirates", she said.
This militaristic language, and the openness with which the various parties have endorsed a substantial military mission in the interests of German big business, shows the advanced extent of the imperialist ambitions of Germany's ruling elite. It is no longer prepared to factor in the widespread opposition in Germany to militarism and war in the implementation of its interests.
The fact that the parties in the Bundestag can behave so shamelessly is also linked to the fact that none of them advocates a principled opposition to military combat missions. While the Left Party was the only parliamentary group to vote against the government motion, the party expressly endorses the use of force against piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Left Party deputy Norman Paech made this clear at the beginning of his speech. "In order to preclude any misunderstanding: The Left Party is for the security of the sea and trade routes and considers protection from piracy to be absolutely necessary and indispensable". Paech simply believes that a naval mission is the wrong way to proceed. He wants to send the Bundespolizei (German federal police) to Somalia.
This was also confirmed by his parliamentary colleague Paul Schäfer: "The Left Party endorses the rapid construction of an international coast guard under the leadership of the UN in close coordination with the African Union. Germany should participate by means of the Bundespolizei and render financial support".
While the Left Party proposes "better ways" to protect international sea and trade routes, the government is converting the armed forces into an international intervention army with ability to implement Germany's geo-strategic interests everywhere in the world against its rivals.
Among the official tasks of Germany's armed forces, the government's 1992 defence policy guidelines included the "Promotion and security of worldwide political, economic, military and ecological stability", as well as the "maintenance of free world trade and access to strategic raw materials".
The SPD-Green Party government then intensified this course and sent the armed forces on numerous military missions. This was then laid down in 2003 in a new version of the defence policy guidelines, which extended the potential operational area for Germany's armed forces to the entire globe and adopted the military doctrine of intimidation and preventive war developed by the US government as the guide for German defence policy.
In restructuring the German military into an aggressive intervention force, the development of the navy is a crucial factor. Ever since German reunification in 1990, the size of the navy has been systematically increased. Whereas in 1990 it represented 7.5 percent of the overall armed forces, it is now closer to 10 percent. In terms of defence expenditure, the proportion spent on the navy is rising even more rapidly.
In 1898, when the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm began to develop its own deep-sea fleet, this German-English arms race led directly to the First World War. The building of the first armoured ships in 1928 under SPD Chancellor Hermann Müller, finally heralded German rearmament and the rejection of the restrictions on the size of Germany's fleet contained in the Treaty of Versailles. The global military ambitions of a great power require a well-equipped navy.
End of the 111th Ecoterra Press Release Update
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- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 1
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 6
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 7
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 5
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 4
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 3
- Around the Year Change 2008 – 2009 in Somalia - Horn of Africa Piracy Annals Part 2
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- Open Letter to Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Chairman of OIC, on Somalia
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- Key to Pacification of Somalia: Dissolution of the ‘Ethiopian’ Tyranny
- HRW Report on Somalia: Unfair for the Shebab and the ARS Liberation Forces
- Pathetic Spokesman McCormack Dares Question the Veracity of the HRW Report on Somalia
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