The MV FAINA Piracy Crisis Chronicle – IV

As the ongoing piracy crisis off the Somali coast at the Horn of Africa region risks triggering the world’s first major military enterprise after Iraq, in three previous articles of this series, I provided with a recapitulative record of the insightful press releases of the leading NGO Ecoterra; more specifically, I republished Press Release updates no 43 to 53. In the present article, I republish Ecoterra Press Release updates no 54, 55 and 56.

54th Update 2008-11-17 17:44:03 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.

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 54 - 1275 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now seven week long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.

"Negotiations are dynamic. Certain problems derive from the lack of a coordinated position of the pirates and a number of factors that influence their mood and behavior," the ship owner said earlier. The owner refuted media reports that claimed alleged threats and violence against the FAINA crew. "Such reports are groundless," the owner said. "The physical condition of the crewmembers is satisfactory. The provision of food, water and fuel is discussed daily. The ship owner, the intermediary and other sides are doing their best to achieve a positive outcome and to speed up the release of the ship and crewmembers on acceptable terms".

In an interview with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation today a Kenyan Minister has again denied reports that the tanks seized by Somali pirates are bound for South Sudan. According to the cargo’s manifest, obtained by Journalists, the contract included the phrase GOSS, widely used to mean the Government Of South Sudan. But Kenyan Minister Moses Wetang'ula said it means General Ordinance Supplies and Security which would be a code for the department of defense. He insists that the military hardware is destined for its arm, but refused to comment further.

News from other abducted ships ----------

The U.S. Navy finally confirmed today that Somali pirates had sea-jacked a Saudi-owned oil tanker on Saturday. Lt. Nathan Christensen says the pirates took control of the ship 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombassa, Kenya as quoted by AP and other agencies while speaking over the phone from the 5th Fleet's Bahrain headquarters. This could, however, not be confirmed. Even Lloyd's List got confused now, reporting under the headline: "Pirates hijack VLCC in Red Sea" that "The tanker with 25 crew aboard was taken 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombassa, Kenya, the US Navy said." The Red Sea is not 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombassa and the Arabian Sea is not off Kenya. The U.S. navy and the owner also refuted claims by a Saudi TV station reporting that the ship had been released.

Fact is that the abducted 319,430 dwt, 2008-built VLCC SIRIUS STAR is a very large crude carrier, managed by registered owner VELA INTERNATIONAL MARINE Ltd. but said to be the property of SAUDI-ARAMCO. It is the largest vessel ever to come under attack by pirates in the area and most likely was taken at the eastern end of the Gulf of Aden where it becomes the Arabian Sea. The large ship and its 25 crew, including nationals from the UK, Croatia, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia, have been under the command of an armed gang now for the third day. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office confirmed that two of those on board are British but could not give any details of their role on the ship and it is therefore not known if they were supposed to act as security personnel.

Obviously there is also a mix-up confusing an Saudi ARAMCO owned tugboat RABIGH, an attack on which was averted on Saturday by helicopters from a Russian naval ship, with the sea-jacking of the crude-oil tanker SIRIUS STAR and/or the MT CHEMSTAR VENUS, a tanker, which was already confirmed abducted on Saturday. However, "The vessel [SIRIUS STAR] is under the pirates’ control," the spokesman for the US Navy 5th fleet confirmed finally today and local sources claim that is already near the Somali coast, approaching Eyl. Dhahran-based Saudi ARAMCO declined to comment on the incident, and Vela International, ARAMCO's shipping unit, couldn't immediately be reached for comment by phone or e-mail. Owners often withhold crucial information like coordinates at the moment of attack for insurance reasons. The vessel is insured by Britannia Steamship Insurance Association Ltd.

With the latest capture and release still at least 16 foreign vessels with a total of 335 crew members have been seized and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed.

According to sources in Yemen, negotiations got under way to release 28 Yemeni fishermen who are held off Socotra Island in the Arab Sea since four months, informed sources said. But in a strange twist this case seems to be used now to cover-up a blunted anti-piracy operation by the British Royal Navy, killing two Somalis and a Yemeni. It is said now that the pirates held 33 Yemeni fishermen along with three boats, one of them being MSV AL-ZAEEMAHA. But while taking the other hostages away they used one of the boats together with five of the fishermen on the boat to continue piracy acts, the sources said. The pirates have been seizing the fishermen and using them as human shields while using the boats for piracy acts. Yemen authorities informed international forces in the Indian ocean about the incident and the forces then launched a hunt for the pirates, is now said by Yemen media, who link the case to the two Somalis, who were killed in a clash with British commando forces. Some of the British forces located in the ocean were pursuing the pirates, who were seizing the five fishermen, but the pirates escaped and the fate of the fishermen has not been known yet, Sana media distributed. However, the fate of the fishermen is still unclear.

Other related news -----------------

Odfjell SE, the world's largest chemicals shipping line, said its vessels will now sail around Africa, rather than risk attacks near the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden.

In a Hindustan Times interview with Rahul Singh, a young Indian marine engineer, who has crossed the Gulf of Aden twice in the last two months and witnessed hijacking each time, exposes the vulnerability of merchant vessels and how shipping firms are driven only by profit.

Excerpts:

Do seafarers feel secure with different navies, including the Indian Navy, patrolling the waters?

No, it is not adequate. Chemical tanker Stolt Strength was hijacked on November 10. She was just 24 miles behind our ship and was desperately calling for assistance, but no warship responded. We were safe due to high speed.

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula warned that insurance costs for ships plying Eastern African ports had risen by between 30 and 40 per cent due to threats of piracy. The minister said there was need to start a regional anti-piracy campaign. Speaking in Mombasa, Wetangula said the Government would host a maritime conference in Mombasa next month to address security threats to shipping. "Countries will meet and discuss safety of the shipping route through Somalia," he said.

Special feature --------

We Are All Terrorists !

- or if you are not a terrorist you must be and are a terrorist -

WTN - Nairobi 17.11.2008

Today it has become obvious even to the usually blind how the anti-terrorism laws, induced by the U.S. of America after 9/11 worldwide, are misused everywhere and especially in Africa: Mario Masuko, who leads the People's United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), and is a leading Swazi democracy campaigner has been charged under a new anti-terror law today and the democratic opposition party Pudemo as well as three other groups were banned under the anti-terrorism act already on Friday. These laws have become the new oppression tool for monarchs, dictators and from America and Austria to Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Likewise the general listing of most of the Islamic groups in Somalia under the Al-Shabaab ("The Youth") movement and therefore labeling all as being part and parcel of a terrorist organization - branded as such by the U.S. of America - is creating many problems to any peacemaking and must be therefore seen as an attempt to not allow for peace. To make no distinction between different groups, who all are Muslim by Religion but now bluntly tagged as Islamists in Somalia, has the effect that anybody not familiar with the local situation gets a wrong idea. Even many good willing people and politicians from around the world actually are scared off, because they fear to be tainted as dealing with terrorists by their own governments, if they just want to help peace to come true.

"Because of the endless disputes in government, the opposition groups have taken most of the country, including Ceel Asha, 11 miles from the capital," Somalia's TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf said yesterday in comments that received wide coverage. Ceel Asha is located at the road from Afgoi to Mogadishu and actually already at the outskirts of the capital. But the outside world under influence of the Anglo-American media, however, concludes out of this that a terrorist organization would have taken over the whole country - reason enough for massive counterstrikes - no?

The reality is far from that and until the international community really understands that it should keep their masterminding fingers off, but assist the young people of Somalia to rebuild their state, the chaos will prevail - maybe so wanted by some international players, including the UN. The Somali President, who lost most of his supporters, called for action against the militants just before he flew out of Kenya today in a private jet of the Libyan Government, allegedly to speak to Col. Mu'ammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddhāfī.

Like 1972/3, when a massive alphabetisation campaign sparked the voluntary spirit of the whole Somali nation and leaped it out of total illiteracy, the young opposition groups of different clans and in different regions have in common that they are fed up with the war, fed up with foreign troops in their country, fed up with insecurity, fed up with the warlords, fed up with their foreign-fed politicians and fed up with strategic games by international militants - all gambling with their country, their lives and their future. Desperate people will always try desperate means - so why not first and foremost help young people in Somalia to fight against the destitute situation and not just spending money for the fight against bogeyman - the terrorist.

55th Update 2008-11-18 17:55:29 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.

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 55 - 1299 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now seven week long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.

While preparations to come to a release modus are made, the vessel has been receiving fuel, food and other supplies.

News from other abducted ships ----------

MV DELIGHT (until March 2008 known as MV IRAN JAMAL, formerly under Iranian Flag), a now Hong-Kong, China-flagged bulk-carrier with a gross tonnage of 25,768 and built in 1986, was sea-jacked today. Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the ship was attacked Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden. The vessels registered owner is now STARRY SHINE INTERNATIONAL LTD, Hong Kong, while the ship manager is still from Iran: IRAN SHIPPING LINES. Insurer is North of England P&I Association. The vessel is not covered by an ITF agreement. The Delight, which has a crew of 25, was carrying 36,000 metric tons of wheat to Bandar Abbas in Iran. The nationalities of the crew are not yet clear, but some seafarers from Poland are said to be among the crew. China's maritime search and rescue center has confirmed the abduction of the vessel.

NATO had no immediate plans to intercept the 330-meter (1,080-foot) long Saudi supertanker sea-jacked by Somali pirates on Saturday, alliance spokesman James Appathurai said Tuesday. The vessel was allegedly taken 450 nm miles off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean, which astonished highest U.S. naval officers. U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, head of the US military as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates. "They're very well armed.
Tactically, they are very good," he said. Today the ship was anchored within sight of impoverished Somali fishing villages. The Sirius Star was following the route around the Cape of Good Hope when it was attacked, because it was too big to go through the Suez with a full load, said Arthur Bowring, managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.

The Somali captors of the oil tanker with two Britons on board have opened negotiations, the vessel's operator said. Vela Marine said in a statement that the tanker’s 25 crew -19 from the Philippines, two from Britain, two from Poland, one Croatian and one Saudi - were reported to be safe. "A Vela response team has been established and is working to ensure the safe release of the crew members and the vessel," a statement said. The VLCC SIRIUS STAR , a tanker carrying 2m barrels of oil, is brand new and was launched in March in a ceremony at Koje City, South Korea. Vela’s crude oil tankers usually sail from Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia’s main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, to the Gulf of Mexico and Europe either sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa, or through the Suez Canal. VLCCs such as the Sirius Star usually sail via the Cape of Good Hope. Vela International Marine is the sixth largest owner of VLCCs in the world and the ship, built by Dubai-based Vela International, is the second of six very large crude carriers built by the firm and has a value of about 180 million US$. U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet Cmdr. Jane Campbell said the super tanker weighs more than 300,000 metric tons and "is more than three times the size of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier," making it one of the largest ships in the world. The tanker was fully loaded, the company said, a cargo worth about US$100 million. A spokesman for the Royal Navy said he could not say if British troops are preparing any attempts to rescue the vessel. "It is our policy not to discuss operational matters," he said.

"Alongside our international partners, Her Majesty's Government is deeply concerned, not least because two of the crew are British," UK Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said, speaking from Kenya. The tanker was anchored in Harardhere early today, Colonel Abshir Abdi Jama, said in Puntland, adding that he had information suggesting the pirates had hired marine military experts. Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, an adviser to the president of Somalia's breakaway state of Puntland, said too that the Sirius Star was now off the coast at the pirate lair of Harardhere, some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Mogadishu. "We have been receiving some information and we now know that the ship is anchored near Xarardheere (Harardhere)," Mr Qabowsade said. The US Navy confirmed that the vessel, carrying around two million barrels of oil, has anchored off the coast of Somalia near the coastal town of Harardhere. Frontline Ltd., the world's largest owner of ships and the tanker's proprietor, said it may divert vessels from the area though it has yet to make a final decision about sending carriers away from Somalia, Jens Martin Jensen, interim chief executive officer of the company's management unit, said by mobile phone from Singapore today.

Meanwhile the British naval ship HMS WAVE KNIGHT, an auxilliary vessel, has docked today in Mombasa / Kenya with 8 suspected Somali pirates and two dead bodies on board. The arrested people and the two deceased hail from the raid of British commandos dispatched by HSM CUMBERLAND on a Yemeni Dhow on 11th November in the Gulf of Aden, which was said to have had links with an earlier attempted attack of pirates in a small outboard-engine skiff on a Danish merchant ship, which was averted by Russian and British naval helicopters. The 8 shall be charged tomorrow morning in front of a Mombasa magistrate, who already in 2006 had sentenced 10 alleged pirates captured by US forces on 21. January 2006 from MSV SAFINA AL-BISARAT, a Dhow from India, and rendited on USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL and USS NASSAU to Kenya, where they were sentenced to 10 years in jail. Their appeal is pending. Why Kenya has been chosen and obviously must have accepted to receive the suspected pirates, which were not arrested in Kenyan waters, could not be immediately established. Likewise what shall happen with the bodies of the deceased is not clear. However, speaking in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Bob Ainsworth, Britain's Armed Forces Minister, said that the British Royal Navy had handed over to Kenya the eight suspected Somali pirates captured last week in an incident at sea a week earlier. "I am pleased to announce that earlier today, the Royal Navy successfully completed a counter-piracy operation by handing over to the custody of the Kenyan police eight suspected pirates interdicted on the 11th of November during an incident at sea," he said. Where the body of the Yemeni man is, who also lost his life during the incident is not known.

With the latest capture and release still at least 17 foreign vessels with a total of 360 crew members have been seized and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed.

Other related news -----------------

"My son put on weight on the hijacked ship" says MT Stolt Valor's second officer’s father and adds: "information on torture incorrect". MT Stolt Valor crew members, relieved as they are on their way home, do not seem to be exactly agitated with their Somali captors. Some parents were in touch with their sons since when the ship was hijacked. Of the 18 Indian crew members, at least two called up their kin to give an account of their experience during captivity of the Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Both clearly indicate that their period in captivity has been blown out of proportions as "tortuous" by media. Capt P Unnikrishna, who spoke on the phone with his son P. Ulhaskrishnan, a second officer on board MT Stolt Valor, chuckled, "He said he had put on weight in the two months, due to lack of work. He was sounding composed and said he was in good health, as were the other crew members." Unnikrishna told DNA, "The incorrect information on torture reported in the media caused us torture. Issues regarding food, water and unhygienic living condition were just hearsay".

News emanating from the ship now indicate that there was no hygiene issue or the crew members being starved by the captors. Cadet Santosh Patil, another captive, informed his brother Sunil on Monday that all their personal belongings like laptops were returned by the Somali pirates. Capt Unnikrishna also had a telecon with Capt PK Goyal, the master of the vessel, on Monday morning. Stolt Valor is out of Somalian territorial waters now and is expected to arrive in Mumbai on November 24. For two month pressure was put on the Japanese owner, Yama Maru Kissen of Central Marine, to extract the ransom money.

Finally also Stolt-Nielsen S.A. confirmed a day later that M/T Stolt Valor was released and that all crew members were unharmed. MT Stolt Valor, which is on time charter from Japanese owners to Stolt Tankers B.V. was seized whilst transiting the Gulf of Aden on September 15. Since that time the owners worked continuously with the assistance of the relevant authorities and professional negotiators to secure the release of the vessel and the crew members on board, the company said. The Company, however, remained deeply concerned with the welfare of the crew members of M/T Stolt Strength, also a time-charter ship, which was hijacked on November 11 and continued to be held by the hijackers in the Gulf of Aden.

The Department of State warns U.S. American citizens against all travel to Somalia, including northern Somalia.

INTERMANAGER describes the piracy situation off Somalia as "quasi-war" like and that merchant vessels need the naval protection they would have in war time. "We’re in a situation where we’re in a quasi war situation and we should benefit from the protection of the allied navies," said InterManager secretary-general Guy Morel. He noted that in World War II merchant vessels enjoyed naval protection and that the same should be the case in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali Coast today. New InterManager president Roberto Giorgi was also keen to see action from a United Nations level. InterManager has already joined with other industry organisations such as Intertanko, Intercargo and the International Chamber of Shipping to appeal to the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to appeal for action.

NATO brings misery to fleeing refugees. The plight of people from mainly Ethiopia and Somalia who want to flee the desperate situation in the Horn of Africa and do pay substantial fees to human-traffickers to facilitate their escape, face horrible situations in and around Bosasso / Puntland - the semiautonomous region in the North-East of Somalia, which has been the main springboard for the last ten years. Every day boatloads of over hundred people, who already paid their fare for the dangerous voyage by Dhows from Yemen over the waters of the Gulf of Aden are dropped back on the African shore, when chased by naval helicopters and their pursuing warships. Without food or any money left they have to track back on foot to Boosaaso only to find that the IDP-camps are full and UNICEF offices in Boosaaso are closed at present for a security upgrade after the recent bomb-attacks in Northern Somalia, though local staff the Danish Refugee Council continue to work with the displaced people. While Yemen and as a matter of fact the commanders of the warships might think that to stop the flow of refugees from Africa to the Middle East and thereby also preventing them to reach later Europe would be the right thing to do, the humanitarian situation in Boosaaso is actually getting into such a horrible situation that an immediate intervention by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who has the specific mandate from the international community to care for such situations, is urgently required, at least for the Ethiopians for which Somalia is the country of first asylum. At least 52,000 people have abandoned their homes in Ethiopia's Somali region over the recent days after the Webbi Shabelle and the Genale rivers burst their banks following heavy rains. The indiscriminate control/attack-policy against any Dhow (traditional wooden sailing Ship, mostly also motorized, but slow) under the pretext that it could serve as mother-ship for pirates endangers fishermen and legitimate traders likewise and puts refugees' lives in jeopardy.

NATO's operation ends in mid-December when a bigger European Union mission is set to take over but NATO is considering "complementary" action to the EU mission, alliance spokesman James Appathurai said today in Brussels.

Police from the semi autonomous government of Puntland confirmed that again prisoners from Boosaaso Jail escaped early on Tuesaday, and witnesses stated as reasons poor custody and lax guarding. Ali Nur, a security officer, told a local radio station that recently arrested pirates were among the 8 escapees, but refused to say how they escaped from the prison. A week ago already "pirate"-inmates had escaped from the prison in Garowe, the headquarters of the self declared government of Puntland in Somalia. The security situation of Puntland has been worsening, as regional presidential elections are due to be held at the beginning of next year and the national governance of the Transitional Federal Government has almost collapsed.

The local administration of Kismaayo burnt this morning a consignment of contaminated rice from Dubai, because it was declared unfit for human consumption, having been spoiled by sea-water and diesel. Transport Dhows from Dubai have engaged again in a regular barter-traffic with Kismaayo, bringing sugar and rice and taking livestock and illegal charcoal, which has been declared Xaram (unclean) by religious leaders already years back, because the indiscriminate harvesting of the last trees in Lower Juba region for the production of charcoal is a key-contributor to the desertification of the country.

Kenya's Internal Security Minister George Saitoti today urged the Al-Shabaab movement in Somalia to immediately return 2 Italian nurses, their Kenyan driver and 3 vehicles, which were abducted from El Wak-Kenya and taken into Somalia, or to face stern action in the border regions.

56th Update 2008-11-19 22:15:57 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.

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 56 - 1325 hours into the FAINA Crisis - Update Summary

Efforts for a peaceful release continued, but the now seven week long stand-off concerning Ukrainian MV FAINA is still not yet solved, though intensive negotiations have continued and both sides are striving to finalize the modalities of the safe release of crew and vessel.

An uneasy situation is created by delayed action.

News from other abducted ships ----------

Somali pirates on Wednesday released a Hong Kong-flagged ship and its 25 crew seized two months ago, a Kenyan maritime official said. The MV Great Creation, with 24 Chinese and one Sri Lankan crew, was seized on September 18. "The pirates released the Great Creation this morning and it is currently sailing to Abu Dhabi", said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Association, which monitors shipping in the region and the activities of Somali pirates.

A Thai-operated fishing vessel registered in Kiribati with 16 crew members was abducted off the coast of Somalia, but closer to Yemen. Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau confirmed it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday as it traveled toward the Middle East. "Two speed boats with five to six Somali pirates each came alongside the fishing boat and thereafter hijacked her," he added. Its owners lost contact with it on Tuesday morning. Choong said communications were cut while the ship was reporting the incident. The condition of the 16 crew on board the vessel is unknown.

Reports from Abu Dhabi revealing that Somali pirates have seized another ship, a Greek bulk carrier, were received by a regional maritime group on Wednesday, The Greek ship was reportedly taken on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden with between 23 and 25 crew on board. The Greek merchant marine ministry, however, said it had so far no word of a Greek-flagged or Greek-owned vessel being seized.

A first demand for ransom has been made for the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, which Somali pirates seized on Saturday after dodging international naval patrols in their boldest strike yet. "Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," said Mr Ka'aki, a spokesman for the owners, Saudi ARAMCO. "We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return.'' Saudi's Prince Saud al-Faisal did not confirm whether a ransom was likely to be agreed, but said talks had begun. Saud, speaking during a visit to Athens on Tuesday, said Saudi Arabia would join an international initiative against piracy in the Red Sea area, where more than 80 pirate attacks have taken place this year. He did not elaborate on what steps the kingdom would take to better protect its vital oil tankers. Saudi Arabia's French-equipped navy has 18,000-20,000 personnel, but has never taken part in any high-seas fighting.
A man identifying himself as Farah Abd Jameh, and purporting to represent the pirates, said in an audio tape broadcast by leading Arabic television channel Al Jazeera: "Negotiators are onboard the ship and on land, once they agree on the ransom, it will be taken in cash to the oil tanker.’’ The pirate representative added: "We assure the safety of the ship carrying the ransom,’’ before warning against any attempts to use counterfeit cash. Dollar bills bearing the printing date 1990 are not accepted in Somalia, due to many fake notes in circulation and banks had tried to get rid of that kind of money by placing it in ransom cash deliveries. The families of two British officers being held on VLCC SIRIUS STAR said that they hoped the men would be "home safely very soon" after ransom negotiations began. Chief engineer Peter French and second officer James Grady, of the supertanker, were named by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this afternoon in an attempt to disperse speculations that they would be security-personnel.

With the latest capture and release still at least 18 foreign vessels with a total of around 401 crew members have been seized and are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed.

Other related news ------

The Indian Navy Warship, INS Tabar (Battleaxe), a stealth frigate armed with supersonic BrahMos (PJ-10) anti-ship cruise missiles - on patrol in the Gulf of Aden since November 2 -, sank a pirate vessel off the Somali coast after an exchange of fire on Tuesday evening. The Indian Navy warship foiled an attempt by the pirates to hijack an Indian and a Saudi ship off the Somalian coast. INS Tabar, which is currently in the Gulf of Aden for Anti-Piracy Surveillance and Patrol Operations, encountered a pirate vessel, 285 nautical miles South West of Salalah (Oman) on the evening of November 18, with two speed boats in tow, said a Navy officer. This vessel was similar in description to the ‘Mother Vessel’ mentioned in various Piracy bulletins, navy spokesman Nirad Sinha added. On repeated calls, the vessel’s threatening response was that she would blow up the INS Tabar if it closed on her. Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar, the officer said.

The INS Tabar retaliated in self-defence on being fired upon and destroyed the pirates’ mother vessel that was stacked with large amounts of ammunition. The warship's return fire reportedly ignited a series of blasts that destroyed the ship. Almost simultaneously, two speedboats were observed breaking off to escape. The ship chased the first boat that was later found abandoned. The other boat made good its escape into darkness. The Indian navy says it's scored a success. "From what we see in photographs the pirate vessel is completely destroyed," a senior officer said on condition he not be named. The Indian Navy is preparing a full incident report.

Reports indicate that M.T. "STOLT VALOR", the Hong Kong registered vessel with 22 multi-national crew, that was hijacked by Somali pirates on 15th September 2008 and released on 16th November 2008, is on the way to Muscat / Oman. The Japanese owners have decided to divert the ship to Muscat for re-fuelling, since there is insufficient fuel on board to reach India. The vessel is now considered well outside the pirate-infested waters of Somalia . The owners and managers are in regular contact with the vessel. The vessel is expected to arrive Muscat on 22nd November 2008 for re-fuelling, underwater cleaning of the ship’s hull prior to departing for an Indian port.

The British tanker Trafalgar was suddenly surrounded in the Gulf of Aden by at least eight speedboats. It radioed for help and a German frigate patrolling 12 miles away dispatched a Sea Lynx helicopter. The German navy said that the pirates fled at high speed as the helicopter loomed down on them. An Ethiopian ship was also nearly captured but the German navy again managed to avert the attempted hijacking. The German government has promised to decide on its contribution to the EU naval force by early December. But German commentators on Wednesday see military force as a Band-Aid, which won't solve the problem along these crucial trade routes until the lack of government in Somalia itself -- a "failed state," which since 1991 has been ruled by shifting alliances of warlords -- is addressed.

The European Union will launch its anti-piracy operation -- its first-ever -- off Somalia on December 8 to boost warships from NATO, the United States and other nations already in the region, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said in Paris.

Meanwhile, Somalia's PM Nur Hassan Hussein said, "These piracy problems are not limited only within Somalia, but it is affecting the whole region, it is affecting globally the world, and we see that the Transitional Federal Government doesn't have any capacity to combat and eradicate this piracy which is becoming a concern, a common concern for all the world". Somalia would like to see more Russian warships helping the country fight piracy off its coast, the country's ambassador to Moscow said on Wednesday.

An Australian mining company has paid millions of dollars in controversial fees to Somali rebels responsible for a surge in international piracy, an Australian newspaper revealed. Since 2005, so the The Age newspaper, oil explorer Range Resources has paid the disputed government of the Puntland State of Somalia more than US$ 6 million (A$ 9.3 million) for resource rights to the region. After signing an agreement with Puntland's government in October 2005, Range Resources paid US$ 1.5 million up front, 17 monthly payments of US$ 200,000 and an additional one-off US$ 1 million. The payments ceased last year. In return, Range Resources holds the rights to all mineral and hydrocarbon exploration for Puntland, an area covering more than 212,000 square kilometres. To date no oil has been recovered in Puntland by Range Resources or its mysterious joint-venture partner, Consort Private, which is registered in the Maldives. In 2005, Somalia's Transitional Federal Government raised concerns with the Australian Stock Exchange over Range Resources' ability to secure the exclusive mineral and oil rights to a large slice of the country.

In a letter to the ASX, then TFG prime minister Ali Mohammed Gedi offered to co-operate with "any investigation" into the company's explorations claims. His letter stated that the deal with the regional Puntland government was not valid because only his transitional government had the power to negotiate the sale of mineral and oil rights. Gedi himself is implicated of having embezzled millions of Dollars from a never held Saudi financed peace conference and since has been protected by the U.S. in Los Angeles. "I know nothing about that at all," Mr Povey said, who quit the company last month, but has since confirmed to The Age that the money was paid directly to Puntland's disputed government. Online newspaper The Somaliland Times has also reported that funds from Range Resources have been used to buy weapons in the region. Range Resources disputes that report. Range's deal was struck with Puntland's minister of finance, Mohammed Ali Yusuf. His name appears on documents lodged by Range with the ASX. Two Victorian policemen also have links with Range Resources and its operations in Puntland. In 2006, former Victoria Police sergeant Joe Obeid performed a security assessment for Range Resources in Puntland. That report declared that Puntland was safe for Range to pursue its business interests. In 1998, Mr Obeid, who was stationed at Brunswick, was dismissed after being found guilty of five of seven disciplinary charges against him. A police spokesman at the time said the charges included conduct likely to diminish public confidence in the force and conducting a business without the Chief Commissioner's permission. Last year serving Victoria Police officer Tony Langdon performed a security assessment of Puntland for Range. Mr Langdon is the subject of an Ethical Standards Department investigation into allegations he threatened two private detectives. He denies the allegations.