January 2009 – The Somali Piracy Records. IV

The regional developments in the wider Red Sea and Horn of Africa region are plainly recorded in the Ecoterra 113th Press Release Update; attacks on fishing boats seem to expand in the Sudanese and Eritrean coastland, whereas stories of capsized ferries transporting members of Abyssinia’s tyrannized ethnic groups and nations and Somalis to Yemen have by now become customary events.

With the Yemenite dictator Ali Abdallah Saleh describing the Somali piracy phenomenon as due to the American interference in Somalia, and with the Sudanese opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi demanding that the Sudanese dictator Al Bashir hands himself in to face the ICC charges, the overall situation in the Horn of Africa region seems about to explode. I herewith publish the update integrally.

113th Update 2009-01-18 20h31:19 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 116 - 2766 long 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.

"Seven of the MV FAINA's crew have become sick and we are planning to take Somali doctors to treat these crew on the ship", businessman Osman Farah, who has dealings with the pirates, told Reuters on Saturday. "Rashes have appeared on their bodies, and they are suffering diarrhoea. Some have high blood pressure. We do not exactly know the disease, but we think the chemicals of the weapons on the ship have affected them", he said.

Counter-checked, reliable reports from the acting captain of MV FAINA, from the captors as well as from sources on land confirmed the ailments of the seamen and that the food supplies for the crew are not only extremely low - they have allegedly run out altogether now. Ukrainian officials, though, state that "according to our information there is enough fuel and food on board" and that such information would be a tool used by the pirates to increase pressure.

A closer look, however, revealed that the Ukrainian owner through middlemen paid since the abduction of the vessel nearly four month ago just four instalments (2, 3, 4, 4) with a total of only 13,000.- USD for the upkeep of the crew incl. the fuel for the electricity generator, which all together amounts to an allocation of around 5 Dollar per crew member per day, an amount which hardly buys a cup of coffee anywhere in the world. The intention - as believed by the Somalis - is thereby clear: Starve the crew and their captors on the vessel to death ! This echoes a statement from the Kenyan Government, whose Foreign Minister - after first having opted for an attack and a military solution - later was quoted as saying: "...those guys can keep those tanks and weapons on that ship as long as they wish. We will not pay ransom, we will eventually get them".

What those deciding on the application of such ill-advised policies in a hostage-crisis situation are obviously not taking into consideration is the fact that Somalis will always find some meagre resources from "new investors" to keep the captors going and the crew from dying of starvation, while the negotiations for the release will get more and more complicated with new share-holders - and therefore then new stake- and stick-holders providing for such funds and thereby getting involved and having a say in the negotiations and final agreements. Such policies only create human suffering, further confusion and a continuation of the stalemate not allowing for a peaceful release - or they could trigger over-reactions with serious implications. Shall such provocation-response scenario be created now?

There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help - if one doesn't mind who gets the credit!

Though the world attention is focused on Israel and the genocide in Gaza as well as on the Obama inauguration, avoidable human suffering elsewhere can and must not be neglected. Though the so called international community has - at least in terms of people with official functions - developed over the years into a mostly help- and hopeless bunch of hypocrites, the international humanitarian community must step in here and provide for an independent and unbiased, selfless force to solve the stale-mate and end the human suffering on MV FAINA. The Somali as well as the Ukrainian/Russian/Israeli sides must come to terms now and set the innocent seafarers free with first priority ! And in order to avoid the destruction of the vessel and its cargo by anybody as well as the subsequent humanitarian, health and environmental horror-scenario, such can only be achieved together with the release of the ship, where also the body of deceased Cpt. Vladimir Kolobkov is still kept.

The MV FAINA is one of at least 49 ships that pirates seized last year off the Horn of Africa during a surge in piracy driven in part by Somalia's growing poverty and instability. The multimillion dollar ransoms are believed by many to be one of the only ways to "make money" in the impoverished nation. But while the many cases of sea-jacked merchant vessels on innocent passage (sailing even outside the EEZ e.g. in the Indian Ocean) constitutes clear piracy, Somali actions against illegal fishing or against any transport of illegitimate or clandestine goods has a legal standing. Ecoterra advocates to end all destructive, detrimental, criminal and illegal activities in Somali waters.

Mr. Vadim Alperin (alias Vadim Oltrena Alperin, aka Vadim Galperin), a businessman from Odessa with an Israeli passport, was named in the Ukrainian parliament as the real owner of the vessel, while Mr. Viktor Murenko is believed to act as the managing proprietor of TOMEX and operator of the vessel from Odessa / Ukraine 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

Marine observers last night reported a fully illuminated large vessel passing 8 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia at Baargaal. It is not yet clear if that is another sea-jacked ship going towards Eyl, since no attack has been reported publicly, or if that is one of the large fish-factory-vessels regularly entering Somali waters to rip off the last wealth from the impoverished country. The sources ruled out that it would have been the sighting of a naval vessel with switched-on party lights.

MASINDRA 7, the Malaysian tugboat captured on 16th December, together with its attached Indonesian barge ADM 1, has moved its position at the very tip of the Horn of Africa. The crew of 11 Indonesians is frustrated because the authorities of neither Malaysia nor Indonesia could achieve that the owner of the tug works towards a solution. The tug was previously anchored close to a Nigerian Tug, which is held since 4th August, and whose crew has been totally abandoned by Nigerian authorities and the owner of their tug, the YENEGOA OCEAN. That vessel actually had been misused by the pirates already once to serve as mother-ship for pirate attacks and the crew of MASINDRA 7 now fear that they will have to suffer the same fate, if the governments involved are not coming to their rescue.

The three seafarers of Indian nationality abducted from a Kenyan vessel belonging to Southern Engineering Ltd., Mombassa, are said to be held hostage at an undisclosed location on the Somali mainland near the Southern-Somali island of Koyama. A huge amount of ransom has apparently been demanded for their release.

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.

At least 25 people were injured when about five fishing boats were attacked by unknown assailants in the Red Sea off Sudan on Friday, a Sudanese security official said. The fishing craft came under attack in Sudanese waters in the Red Sea from assailants whose identity and method of operation have yet to be established, the official told AFP. The attack took place around 150 km south of Port Sudan, the main coastal town. The injured people were taken to hospital in Port Sudan. Ten of the fishermen were seriously wounded, an official at a local hospital said, noting that six of the injured people are Eritreans. So far unconfirmed reports speak also of the occurrence of an attack from the air concerning this incident.

Directly related news ------

Alert: A ferry with about 300 fleeing Somalis and Ethiopians on board has capsized in the Bab El-Mandab strait which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the Yemeni Interior Ministry has said. The security information centre cited coastguards in Aden province as saying a number of those who were aboard the ship swam to the coast of al-Makha but many are still missing. Rescue operations have started in search for survivors, coastguards said, with many being feared dead. None of the international naval forces have assisted so far. In another incident Yemeni security forces in the coastal area of Thubab in the province of al-Makhasaid have found 32 Ethiopians, half of whom were women, along with 9 Somali immigrants as an unidentified ship discharged them at the coast. One of the immigrants died. Furthermore, six Ethiopians were held at the Nasrin area in the northern province of Saada while they were trying to illegally enter Saudi territories. They are being investigated. Two boats carrying some 300 migrants capsized in the Red Sea and only some 30 people have been rescued, said Laila Nassif, head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Yemen. In another incident, a boat carrying 120 migrants capsized in the Arabian Sea and 80 people have been rescued, he said. All of the three boats were set off from Somalia. The bad weather hampered the rescue efforts and the missing are feared dead, he added. Many Somali arrive in Yemen, almost in daily numbers, fleeing deteriorating conditions in their country. Last figures suggest the number of Somali refugees who have arrived in Yemen since 1991 has reached 800.000. During the first half of January 2009, almost 1130 Somali refugees including 260 women and 24 children have fled to Yemen. They arrived in the coasts of Shabwa, Hadramout and Taiz.

Yemen says USA behind Somalia piracy. The Yemeni government has accused the USA of being behind the Somali pirates operating along the Gulf of Aden, according to mareeg.com. A senior Yemeni official said the US government was behind the piracy which threatens the world. The adviser of the Yemen prime minister, Salim Muhammad Hussein, said that the US formed the Somali pirates to conceal its failure since 2006, especially in countries where there is fighting, including Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. He said the reason why the USA formed the pirates, came after it failed to take over control of Somalia. The statement made by the adviser comes at a time when foreign warships are patrolling the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden to prevent pirates from hijacking vessels using the route.

Thousands gather in Somali capital to celebrate withdrawal of Ethiopians. The rally was attended by close to 10,000 people who came from different parts of the city and its surroundings and was meant to show support for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Mogadishu where they have been for the last two years. Religious leaders who volunteered to address the conflict between insurgent groups in Somalia and officials of Islamic courts addressed the rally. The Chairman of the Committee of religious leaders who have volunteered to reconcile insurgent groups, Sheikh Bashir Ahmad Salad cautioned against giving the enemy of the Somali people another justification for them to return to Mogadishu.

He also cautioned insurgent groups against fighting amongst themselves. Sheikh Nur Barod Gurhan who is the spokesman for Religious leaders who have volunteered to resolve the conflict among insurgents said Somali civilians need an Islamic Administration that will last and that they will all unite against any group that starts fighting in Mogadishu. Sheikh Abdiqadir Ali Umar who is also in charge of internal affairs of the committee of Religious leaders resolving the conflict among insurgents said Somali's should rule out any possibility of insurgent groups fighting each other, as they will adhere to the decisions made by the religious leaders. The gathering was also addressed by the Chairman of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council, Muhammad Hasan Haad and others including the poet, Abshir Nur Farah alias Ba’adle and Abdullahi Gure all of whom cautioned about renewed fighting in the capital. The Atmosphere at the Mogadishu stadium was different from what it has been in the last two years. This is the first rally to be held at the Mogadishu stadium since the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from the capital, reports mareeg.com.

The French ministry of Foreign Affairs statement concerning the first meeting of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia said: Characterized by a constructive consensus atmosphere, the meeting demonstrated yet again the international community’s determination to step up the fight against piracy off the Somali coast. The establishment of this contact group is in keeping with our wish to mobilize new forces to join those already deployed, notably the EU’s Operation Atalanta, which is also open to the participation and/or association of third countries. In addition, it will help us find operational solutions to coordinate the increasingly numerous naval forces in the area, such as those of India, China and Russia, while respecting their autonomy. In line with France’s commitment against maritime piracy, we welcome the Contact Group’s consensus on establishing a coordination centre on the ground. Djibouti, which has applied to house this structure, seems an excellent choice.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution agreeing in principle to a peacekeeping force in Somalia. It also renewed the mandate of the current African Union force but delayed a decision about a UN force until June. The US and AU have been pushing for a UN presence but finding troops to participate has been difficult because of the dangers in Somalia.

New U.S.-American Guantanamo Bay? U.S. Navy Vice Adm. William Gortney, commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, said the United States is nearing a deal with an unidentified country that would agree to take the pirates into custody once captured by U.S. forces in Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden waters off the Horn of Africa. Up to now, U.S. forces in the region have limited their operations to deterrence and disruption because no country, including the United States, has been willing to hold the pirates. This development comes on the heels of a new United Nations Security Council resolution passed in December, which allows nations to fight Somali pirates on land or at sea with the Somali interim government's approval. The ability to prosecute and jail pirates, the Navy hopes, would provide a deterrence to piracy and get Somalis back to their traditional livelihood: fishing.

The U.S.-American Office of Naval Intelligence, which studied the recent rash of piracy, has three recommendations for ships to avoid pirates in the Gulf of Aden: avoid pirate infested waters, go faster, and travel at night: "All vessels are advised to proceed through the entire Gulf of Aden at maximum possible speed. Vessels with characteristics that put them at higher risk, like maximum speeds of 15 knots or less, as well as those with low freeboard, are advised to minimize risk by transiting as much as possible of the eastern Gulf of Aden in hours of darkness".

The Taiwanese Minister of National Defence Chen Chao-min said Saturday that it will be rather difficult to dispatch naval vessels to the Gulf of Aden to protect Taiwanese ships from Somali pirates operating there. He noted that there are now more than 40 military ships deployed by various countries in the Gulf of Aden, and the ships have stated that they would provide support and protection for vessels passing through the waterway if needed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also made coordinated efforts on the matter through various channels, Chen said. An obstacle, he said, was that Taiwan's military support vessels that transport fuel and ammunition are currently being maintained or repaired. Taiwan's lack of diplomatic allies could also present a problem, he suggested. If we send the ships, the logistics would pose a great challenge, especially because we have no diplomatic allies along the navigation route and will have problems refuelling and getting fresh water", Chen said. The MAC had previously said it would not request or accept assistance for Taiwanese ships from the Chinese naval fleet.

As the international community continues working on plans to fight piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast, the Yemeni Navy is reported to have decided to build bases on the Gulf of Aden and near Bab Al-Mandab. Some friendly countries to Yemen are expected to take charge of building these bases.

Doubt had already been expressed in Tanzania on the shortage that many think was faked by unscrupulous oil traders, especially after the issuance of a new fuel price directive by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA). The traders had attributed the shortage to the fear of loss if they would continue to import in the light of the price decline in the world market, delay in the offloading of tankers at the Mombasa port in December last year and the constant threat posed by the Somali pirates. They gave other reasons as fear of importing large quantities in the light of the possibility of lowering prices by EWURA and the decline in shilling value, according to the Daily News. But there are reasons to believe that the recent shortage of fuel products has been caused by either a go-slow or creation of artificial shortage on the part of oil dealers to justify a price increase. It would seem that this is a conspiracy against EWURA by oil dealers who were not pleased by the authority’s directive on prices that gave consumers a big relief and dashed their over-profiteering motives. The oil dealers’ action is economic sabotage at work. It should not in any way be tolerated. Now that EWURA have been given teeth, stern measures should be taken against all dealers who will be proved to have taken part in the conspiracy including confiscation of their licences. There is reason to believe that there is massive cheating at the petrol stations, including the setting of pumps and tanks (calibration).

Impacting news from the global village -------

Israel's military carried out more than 50 air strikes in Gaza during the night before its cabinet voted on a proposal for a unilateral ceasefire. The unilateral Israeli ceasefire taking effect in Gaza at 24h00 UTC last night did not hold anything, since a fresh volley of rockets fired by militants triggered an Israeli air strike. Hamas had said earlier it could not give in to any truce until the Israeli troops are withdrawn from Gaza. However, Hamas declared on Sunday a one-week ceasefire from their side. The group said it would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. The lifeline-tunnels towards Egypt have been bombed and are mostly destroyed. Palestinians say a tank shell hit a UN school in northern Gaza, killing at least two people sheltering there. Israel says it is checking the report. The UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) said Israel's actions in Gaza should be investigated as possible war crimes. Israel's security cabinet will vote on Saturday evening on whether to declare a ceasefire, after its government said it thought "significant progress" had been made at talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo. Under the Egyptian proposal, fighting would stop immediately for 10 days and Israeli forces would remain in Gaza while the border crossings into the territory would remain closed. Still Israel does not allow any independent human rights monitors or media into Gaza. But the BBC's Christian Fraser was now the first British journalist to enter Gaza independently since the Israeli offensive began. He entered from Egypt and could witness already the massive human suffering of the civilian population and the destruction in Rafah. Human Rights Watch investigated the use of shells with white phosphorous further and found massive violation of the Geneva Convention in the way the shells were used by the Israeli forces in areas densely populated by civilians.

Meanwhile, heads of state from across Europe are in Egypt for a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and UN chief Ban Ki-moon to try to shore up the ceasefire. But it seems that the leaders there only used the opportunity to escape from their cold-winter countries and to have some holidays at the beach resort in Sharm El Sheikh, and to outline, who gets which stakes and shares in the anticipated re-building process of Gaza, which has been bombed to rubble. With neither Israel or Hamas attending, there are questions about how much can be achieved to guarantee peace and whether this will amount to more than a gigantic photo opportunity by those who want to help resolve the conflict.

Amnesty International condemns the human rights record of Saudi-Arabia and urged British premier Gordon Brown to raise human rights issues with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia when he visits London this week.

Two Sudanese groups have formally requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to issue an arrest for President Omar al-Bashir. He is accused of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Darfur. Experts warn that the motion filed could lead to a delay in the judges' decision on whether to issue a warrant. The BBC says tension is mounting in Sudan ahead of the ruling, expected in a few weeks. The Sudanese government has always refused to deal with the ICC. But some see the two groups - the Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation and the recently-formed Sudan International Defence Group - as government proxies. On Wednesday, veteran Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi was arrested after saying President Bashir should hand himself in to face the ICC charges. His family say he is being held in solitary confinement and they fear for his safety. Last weekend, the head of Sudan's intelligence agency warned that foreigners in Sudan could be attacked if the arrest warrant was issued.

End of the Ecoterra 113th Press Release Update