Listen to the Desperate Voice of the MV FAINA Crew Members! End the 110 Days Long Drama!

With a letter written by the MV FAINA crew members (that I slightly edited for clarity) Ecoterra 107th Press Release Update sheds more light onto the human condition and the terrible drama lived for 110 consecutive days. Through their text in broken English, one can comprehend the total indifference displayed for the crew, realize the complicity of the corrupt Ukrainian government, and grasp the extent of the conspiracy. I herewith publish the update.

107th Update 2009-01-12 11h18:43 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!

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Day 110 - 2613 hours into the MV FAINA Crisis - Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now over three and a half months long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is not yet solved finally, though negotiations through middlemen are said to have continued.

Captain of hijacked Ukrainian tanker in appeal for help

Nairobi (AFP) — The captain of an arms-laden Ukrainian cargo hijacked by Somali pirates appealed in an interview to AFP for the ship's owner to engage in direct talks with the pirates and end the crew's 15-week ordeal.

Speaking on a satellite phone from the MV FAINA over the weekend, Vladimir Nikolsky complained that no direct contact had been made by the ship's Israeli owner with the pirates' leader since the vessel was seized on September 25.

"I think Vadim Alperin, the real ship owner, doesn't know the real situation... The owner's representative I think has been hiding information from him", Nikolsky said, in his first interview since the hijacking.

The MV FAINA is a Ukrainian ship operated under a Belize flag and carries 33 Soviet-type battle tanks as well as ammunition.

Captain Vladimir Kolobkov died in unclear circumstances on September 27 and was replaced by second mate Nikolsky.

The ship's cargo sparked a controversy, with Kenya claiming it was the intended recipient of the weapons but several other sources insisting the shipment was in fact destined for the forces of South Sudan.

Nikolsky said that attempts to negotiate the ship's release, involving a flurry middlemen, had failed due to a lack of determination to free the crew.

"The leader of the pirates Mohammed Abdi is ready to establish contact with the ship's owner and he now refuses to make any contact with any other party", he said.

Nikolsky said the crew -- consisting of two Russians, 17 Ukrainians and one Latvian -- were decently treated by the group of pirates but stressed nevertheless that the months of captivity were taking their toll.

"They are staying in a small room without moving, without any physical exercise... Half of the crew is ill and the other half of the crew is going to go mad", he said.

Ecoterra Intl. had so far not distributed a letter sent from MV FAINA already two months ago, since we believed back then that the following letter was drafted under duress or even typed by a Somali captor, and because we also did believe Ukrainian officials that the situation was under control. But after hearing what the desperate captain - speaking freely - had to say, we like to at least let it be known what he wrote already two month ago (this is the original version as placed on a Russian website):

Quote:

Crew Letter

We are a crew of M/V FAINA situated near shore of Somalia. We were taken by Somali soldiers at 25 / 9 / 2008. 21 persons crew onboard: 18 Ukrainian, 3 Russians. After 3 days Captain Kolobkov died and his body is still onboard. MV FAINA has been loaded by military cargo at Port Octyabrsk Ukraine, and has been bound to Kenya, Port of Mombasa without any guard. Crewing company ‘TOMEX’, situated in Ukraine, in Odessa city; Mr. V. Murenko is owner of company and vessel. Director Mrs. E. Koritsyna. We stay here already for 47 days. Provision, fresh water, diesel oil finished. 17 persons located in small cabin under 24 hours guard. Negotiation about liberation of the crew and vessel between Ukraine, Russian government and soldiers not started yet. Military cargo can’t be private; that’s government cargo. We ask your assistance to spread that information to all mass media and officials to start immediately negotiations with soldiers. The last warning of soldiers is this: if the ship owner and the cargo owner refuse the negotiations and their request about money will not execute, ship, cargo and crew will be destroyed.

Truly Yours, Still Alive Crew of MV FAINA

Today 11.11.08, we tried to call the office but Mr. Murenko refused to speak and sent us to London lawyer, some Mr. Stepan Athkins which busy with our problems.

P.S.
MR.Murenko
Crew thinks that you are waiting for when ship, cargo and crew will be sunk in Indian Ocean. For your disappointment, we are alive and will be alive. Tears of our relatives and bodiea of 21 crew members you never pray in church.

End of quote

Captain of hijacked Ukrainian tanker in appeal for help

IC - 12/01/2009 10:09 NAIROBI, Jan 12 (AFP)

The captain of an arms-laden Ukrainian cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates appealed Monday for its Israeli owner to engage in direct talks with its captors and end its crew's 15-week ordeal.

Speaking to AFP by satellite telephone from the MV FAINA, Vladimir Nikolsky complained that no direct contact had been made by the owner with the leader of the pirates since the vessel was seized on September 25.

"I think Vadim Alperin, the real ship owner, doesn't know the real situation.... The owner's representative I think has been hiding information from him", said Nikolsky in his first interview since the hijacking.

The MV FAINA – a 152.5 metre (500 foot) blue-hulled Ukrainian vessel, sailing under a Belize flag of convenience -- was carrying 33 Soviet-type T-72 battle tanks, other weapons and ammunition.

Its captain Vladimir Kolobkov died in unclear circumstances two days after the ship's capture, leaving second mate Nikolsky -- who was contacted by AFP and spoke under the watch of his captors -- in charge.

The ship's cargo sparked controversy. Kenya said it was the intended recipient of the weapons, but several other sources said the cargo was in fact destined for the forces of South Sudan.

Nikolsky said that attempts to negotiate the ship's release, involving a flurry of middlemen, had failed due to a lack of determination to free the crew.

"The leader of the pirates Mohammed Abdi is ready to establish contact with the ship's owner and he now refuses to make any contact with any other party", he said.

Nikolsky said the crew -- a Latvian, two Russians and 17 Ukrainians -- were being decently treated, but stressed nevertheless that their ongoing captivity is taking its toll.

"The whole of the crew has been collected in a small room for more than three months. It's a very hard psychological situation. It's hard to stay in good health", said the captain, a Russian national.

"They are staying in a small room without moving, without any physical exercise.... Half of the crew is ill and the other half of the crew is going to go mad".

The MV FAINA was headed to Kenya's main port Mombassa when it was captured. It had only just enough fuel and supplies to reach its destination.

According to sources close to the pirates, the body of the deceased captain Kolobkov is being kept in the same refrigerator where the crew and pirates keep some of their food.

"We use the same provisions as the pirates", Nikolsky said. "Provisions are very poor. We eat one time in the evening and also we are given some water and sometimes we drink tea".

Saeed Hasan, a Somali academic acting as an intermediary and translator for the pirates, told AFP that medical attention is needed aboard the ship.

"We want a doctor and we want humanitarian assistance", he said, adding that Alperin should enter into direct talks with the pirates.

The MV FAINA has been held longer than any other cargo ship since an upsurge in Somali piracy in recent years. A Nigerian tug boat captured six months ago is also being held.

"Direct contact from the ship owner is the only solution.... The owner created his own problem by resorting to unknown Somali and other foreign intermediaries for the negotiations", Saeed Hasan said.

Nikolsky said Alperin's direct involvement could yield a breakthrough.

"In this case, he (the leader of the pirates) thinks that the mediation will run quick and successfully", he said.

"I want to address our best wishes to our families and say that we are healthy but that we are here while our families are so far from us".

There are an estimated 1,500 pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean -- mainly fishermen and former coastguards who have turned Somalia's waters into one of the world's most dangerous.

The pirates who took the MV FAINA are from the same clan as those who captured the Sirius Star, a Saudi supertanker with two million barrels of oil which was released on January 9, almost eight weeks after it was hijacked.

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 the vessel to be allowed and facilitated, and human rights protection 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 !

Somali pirates honor dead fellow. In a small ceremony the body of a deceased pirate, who had drowned after receiving 163 thousand US$ out of the ransom money for the release of the Saudi supertanker VLCC SIRIUS STAR, was lowered into his grave in accordance with Muslim tradition and under salute-salvoes bursting from Kalashnikov assault weapons. The money found with the ill-fated pirate-boy was officially handed over to his family and - after it had been dried - turned out to be ten thousand dollars more than widely reported. Other returning pirates had lost their money when their vessel capsized and two bodies of in total five drowned Somalis are not yet found.

Again Friendly Fire Mishap - A French helicopter opened fire on a Yemeni sailing vessel near Yemeni territorial waters last Friday, injuring the fisherman, was now confirmed by Yemeni media. A Yemeni traditional fishing boat MSV AL-GAMARIAIN was pursued by a boat believed to be French near Yemeni territorial waters. Shortly after, a French helicopter flew over the Yemeni boat and opened fire on it injuring Mr. Al-Kawsi, one of the boat's crew members from Al-Mukala city. Local sources told the Yemen Post that as soon as the crew of the Yemeni boat has access to the coast of Al-Mukala City, they informed the Fishermen Assembly which in its turn notified the authorities in the city. The same sources pointed out that the French Forces working with international forces suspected the Yemeni boat to be Somali pirates' boat and then opened fire on the crew of the boat.

Based on this incident Ecoterra Intl. called again on a better approach to the piracy problem and for improved rules of engagement to avoid such wrongful action in seas where most fishermen have to arm themselves in defence against pirates as well as against armed foreign fishing vessels. Most fisherman with guns on board are no pirates, like most livestock nomads with guns only have them for self-defence. Naval forces who have no experience in Africa to make the right distinctions between friend and foe should have no right to play wild chasing games with deadly force - that is simply inhumane. Though this case - based on the location of the incident - might have to be tried by the Yemen state, Ecoterra Intl. also renewed it's call for an independent and transparent oversight body monitoring the navies and investigating all such incidences in Somali waters. Such body must do this first for and on behalf of the Somali Government but also with the task to establish such important institution for the Somali Government, which in future must then take over such vital tasks of governance like monitoring and guarding the 3,300 km long coast and all the waters in the Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nm.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 15 foreign vessels with a total of 298 crew members accounted for (of which 66 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 -----

Clashes between Islamic militias have killed at least 29 people and wounded more than 50 in central Somalia. It is a renewed sign of divisions within an Islamic insurgency that has taken over most of the country.

The maritime threats in Senegal don’t just come from pirates, but also stem from the need to combat drug traffickers and a $1 billion illegal fishing industry which features international vessels operating off Africa’s coast. But while Senegal does receives now a multimillion dollar aid-packet to train their guards in coastal and marine security, Somalia is misused as a mere training ground for exercises of the international naval themselves, who have so far not assisted Somalia in a single case of illegal fishing by foreign vessels. Double standards and a different hidden agenda are obvious. Like in Cap Verde, where a 400,000 gross ton Japanese fishing vessel with a hold full of tuna was detected by naval forces, such vessels also operate in the Indian Ocean and especially off Somalia - where the navies close both eyes.

An unconfirmed report by the South-African outlet ITNewsAfrica states that Somali Islamist pirates operating on the Gulf of Aden would reportedly threaten to destabilize the world’s communication centre in India, if the European Union (EU) marines continue to wreak havoc. India has allegedly the biggest communication satellite centre linking Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. "The world should unite against these Somali pirates because they are becoming a global problem" said one Klaus Moeller, said to be a technology specialist from Germany on the ITNewsAfrica website, though he admitted that he does not know much about the Indian communication satellite and only likes "to think that it is the one that makes communication in Africa possible". Moeller, however, also stated: "But on the other hand I would like to believe that the Somali pirates are just making baseless and intimidating tactics, otherwise India has strong forces to protect this important facility".

Taiwan's presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Taiwanese cargo and fishing vessels should seek help from "the nearest warships" if attacked by pirates near the Gulf of Aden, in the waters off Somalia. The Taiwanese government does not plan to ask mainland-China for naval escorts to protect its commercial vessels off the Somali coast from pirates, despite speculation it might do so after Beijing sent two destroyers there to take on patrolling duties. "If Taiwanese vessels are attacked by pirates, they can ask any international anti-piracy warships nearby for help. Piracy is a universal crime", Mr. Wang said there were more than 40 warships in the waters off Somalia, sent by different nations in an international effort endorsed by the United Nations. Mr. Wang said he believed any of those warships would protect Taiwanese commercial vessels if they came under attack. Beijing has sent two missile-armed destroyers and a large supply vessel to Africa to protect Chinese ships against pirates. It has said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) warships would also protect vessels from Hong Kong and Taiwan. While Hong Kong ships are happy to accept the mainland navy's protection, observers have been intrigued by the possibility of Taiwan doing the same - given the long-standing hostility between the island and the mainland.

One of the PLA's missions is to conquer Taiwan if the island seeks full independence. The Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing said last week that Taiwanese vessels could ask for armed escorts from the PLA Navy through the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and the island's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). And a mainland shipping association said it had referred to the SEF a request for protection by a Taiwanese shipping company. However, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Chao Chien-min said it had not authorised the SEF to handle the issue. "But we would not exclude the possibility of asking help from other parties [including the PLA Navy]", he said. Officials in Taipei said the island was considering sending its own naval force to the waters off Somalia. Jiang Hsin-biau, a Taiwanese naval military attache in Washington, has said the island's navy was ready to send warships there. "We just need to overcome some technical [supply] problems ... because Taiwan has no allies [in the area]", Colonel Jiang said. "We consulted the US side and I believe the problems could be solved by international co-operation and money".

The Australian warship HMAS Warramunga’s 185-strong team departed today on a six-month deployment to the Middle East where it will seek to "disrupt violent extremists’ use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material. Warramunga is well prepared and mission ready for the important job before them", Parliamentary secretary Gary Gray said and if the government agrees to proceed with the anti-piracy mission, the navy would join Task Force 151 which has been established to tackle the growing threat of Somali pirates to trade in the region. The new anti-piracy operation, which was formed on January 1, has already indicated it would welcome the support of Australia to the mission. Earlier this month, Defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston also confirmed a potential role for an Australian warships in Task Force 151. "Task Force 152 is one. There is also the possibility of perhaps going further and getting involved in some of the important counter-piracy work that is coming on in the north Indian Ocean", he told sailors aboard the Anzac class frigate HMAS Parramatta last week. However, he warned the rules of engagement for the Australian navy in such operations were not clear. "There are a very confused rules of engagement for these operations. You've had some countries return pirates back to Somalia. You've had the Indian navy basically shooting up some of these vessels. You've had the French taking pirates back to France. It's not clear what rules of engagement the Australian vessel would be operating under'.'

Note
Picture: the woman that betrayed MV FAINA
From: http://www.isolato.org/blogchik/archives/2005/02/