Somali pirates cut ransoms to clear hijacked ships

Somali pirates said earlier this week that they would lower some of their ransom demands to get a faster turnover of ships they hijack in the Indian Ocean.

Armed pirate gangs, who have made millions of dollars capturing ships as far south as the Seychelles and eastwards towards India, said they were holding too many vessels and needed a quicker handover to generate more income.

"I believe there is no excuse for taking high ransoms. At least each of our groups holds ships now," pirate Hussein told Reuters from Hobyo on the Somali coast. He said the pirates were holding more than 30 ships at the moment.

"We have lowered the ransom only for the ships we have used to hijack other ships. We sometimes release these ships free of charge for they generate more (money). But we shall not lower the ransom for the bulk ships we are sure can bring bulk money."

Using captured merchant vessels as launchpads for new hijackings, the pirates have grown bolder despite a loosely coordinated global response, and insurance premiums for shipping lines have rocketed.

Pirates hold seized ships for an average of up to 150 days before freeing them for ransoms, some as high as $9.5 million for the release of Samho Dream, a South Korean oil supertanker.

Abdullahi, another pirate, said any decrease in ransom would be calculated by the ship's value, its cargo and the length of time it had been held.

"We have changed our previous strategies. We have altered our operations and ransom deals with modern business deals," he said from the port town of Haradhere.

"We want to free ships within a short period of time instead of keeping them for a long time and incurring more expenses in guarding them. We have to free them at a lower ransom so that we can hijack more ships."

Attacks have grown since 2007 when young Somalis in small skiffs with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades took to the water is to seek their fortunes.

But since late February, the pirates have had to share their spoils with the Al Shabaab Islamist rebels, who profess loyalty to al Qaeda. The insurgents - who have been waging a four-year insurrection against the country's Western-backed government - struck a deal to get a 20 percent cut of ransoms in Haradhere.

Pirates said the rebels had no say in their plan.

"Al Shabaab has nothing to do with our plan to lower ransoms. We agreed on a fixed 20 percent cut. Low or high ransom, the agreement is fixed," said Abdullahi.

Pirates seize ship and use it for further attacks; Libyan ship hijacked

Somali pirates hijacked a ship off the East African coast on Wednesday and are using it as a mother ship from which to attack other vessels.

The European Union’s Navfor anti-piracy task force said yesterday that between 30 and 50 pirates had captured the Indonesian flagged MV Sinar Kudus in the Arabian Sea and then used it to try and hijack the Liberian flagged cargo vessel Emperor nearby. However, private security on board the ship repelled the attack after an exchange of fire.

Meanwhile, pirates released the Panama flagged chemical tanker MV Hannibal II after four months. The 30 crewmembers on board were ‘safe and in good health,’ according to EU Navfor. In December last year one of the crew being held hostage was thought to have appendicitis and the pirates allowed a German medical team, with assistance from the EU Navfor, to evacuate the patient.

The Hannibal II was released after US$2 million ransom was paid, Tunisia’s transport ministry said yesterday. Most of the crew on board are Tunisian. The vessel is currently on its way to Djibouti in the Red Sea. “Negotiations have not been easy,” said Farid Abbas, owner of Gabes Marine Tankers (GMT), which owns the vessel.

The 24 000 tonne chemical tanker was carrying vegetable oil from Malaysia to Suez in Egypt when it was attacked and boarded by pirates some east of the Horn of Africa on November 11, AFP reports.

In a separate incident, a Libyan ship was hijacked in the Mediterranean. GNMTC, a Libyan owned shipping line, said its Anwaar Afriqya tanker with 22 crew on board was hijacked by an armed group and diverted to the port of Tobruk near the Egyptian border. GNMTC believes the hijackers are Libyan rebels opposed to Muammar Ghadafi. The Anwaar Afriqya was carrying 23 800 tons of petrol from Greece.

“This piracy operation must have been planned with the assistance of high technology and sophisticated positioning equipment plus vessel departure and loading information,” GNMTC said in its statement.

Pirates are holding roughly 30 ships and 600 crew hostage. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there have been five attempted hijackings off the coast of Somalia in the past week.

Somali pirates sentenced to life in US prison

Five Somali men were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in a US prison after being convicted of piracy and trying to attack an American warship off the coast of Africa last year.

In November the group was convicted by a jury in a federal court in Virginia on charges of piracy, attacking to plunder a vessel and various other firearms and weapons charges.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a growing problem over the last several years, with pirate gangs making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, but also prompting increased patrols by the US and other government navies, Reuters reports.

"Today's sentences should send a clear message to those who attempt to engage in piracy: Armed attacks on U.S.-flagged vessels carry severe consequences in US courts," said Neil MacBride, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The five men sentenced on Monday were captured after the April 1 attack in which a Navy frigate, the USS Nicholas, exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.

The sentencing comes days after a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted 13 Somalis and one Yemeni for seizing a yacht with two American couples aboard. The couples were later killed off the coast of Somalia.

Attempt to free Danish family from pirates fails

An attempt by Somali security forces to free a Danish family being held by pirates failed yesterday after the rescuers were ambushed.

One of the pirates, Bile Hussein, told the Associated Press that armed forces from the northern region of Puntland, which is where most Somali pirates are based, tried to surround the village of Hul Anod and free the Danish family. He said some of the government forces were killed and others were captured in the botched rescue attempt.

“We defended ourselves and foiled their attempt to recover the Danish family,” he told AP. “We have killed and captured some of their soldiers and burnt two (government) pickup trucks. They have run away back to where they came from …The hostages are safe and still in our hands.”

An official in the semi-autonomous Puntland region said that five soldiers were killed and vehicles burnt and that government forces have retreated for the moment.

Danish Foreign Ministry spokesman Folmer Jensen declined to comment on the attempted rescue, saying, “We don’t have any comment because we don’t have any information about the situation.”

Two weeks ago pirates seized the 43 foot yacht being sailed by the Johansens, their three children aged between 13 and 17 and two crew. The family was on a world tour and set off from Denmark in August 2009.

A Somali pirate previously warned that if any attempt was made to rescue the family, they would be murdered like the four Americans killed several weeks ago aboard their yacht the Quest.

Meanwhile, friends and family members in the Danes’ home town of Kalundborg, west of Copenhagen, are raising funds for a possible ransom.

“We know the government will not pay a ransom and want to contribute a portion,” a neighbour told the Politiken newspaper.

Experts said that although paying a ransom could fuel more kidnappings, it was the only viable option to secure their release.

Experts have also questioned the family’s route, saying that the Johansens had placed themselves in danger by ignoring warnings from naval forces policing the area.

Somali pirates released Ukrainian-crewed ship

Somali pirates released commercial vessel MV York with two Ukrainian crewmen on Wednesday, reports Ukrainian foreign ministry. 

Pirates hijacked Singaporean-flagged LNG tanker MV York in Oct 2010 off Kenya. There are 17 crewmembers on board the ship – one German, two Ukrainians and fourteen Filipinos. 

"Late in the evening of March 9 tanker MV York was released from pirates' captivity; there are two citizens of Ukraine aboard. Currently, the tanker is heading for one of the safe ports; nothing threats to health and lives of Ukrainians", said the press release. 

Ukrainian foreign ministry did not report details of the ship's release. 

Thirty five Ukrainians have been freed from pirates' captivity through the recent 12 months. 

Two citizens of Ukraine are still held hostages on captured ship MV Dover which was captured in Feb; one Ukrainian – on MV Beluga Nomination captured in Jan; six Ukrainians – on MV Blida captured in Jan.

Somali pirates released German vessel with Russian shipmaster

Somali pirates on March 1 (2) released for ransom German cargo ship Ems River captured on Dec 27, 2010. 

Amount of the ransom is not reported. All crewmen are alive and relatively healthy; they are 7 Filipinos and one Russian shipmaster (other sources say he is Romanian). 

Somali pirates hijacked cargo ship Ems River on Dec 27 at 13:03 (zulu time) in the point 17 57N 057 43E (175 miles northeastward Salalah, Oman) in the Gulf of Aden. Ems River was sailing from United Arab Emirates to Greece. Ems River IMO 9551662; deadweight is 5,200 tons; built in 2010; flag state is Antigua; operated by Grona Tankers, Germany.

Maritime Bulletin: Somali pirates will pay 20% ransoms to radical islamists

Somali pirates came to terms with radical Islamic group Al-Shabab about partial payment of ransoms obtained by pirates for captured vessels, says editor of Maritime Bulletin Mikhail Voitenko referring to a source in Republic of South Africa. 

"The share is going to be 20%. In return, Al-Shabab is obliged to release several pirate leaders which had been arrested while capture of pirate's den Harardhere; also, pirates will be allowed to use Harardhere as a base, and so on", writes Voitenko in his posting on Gazeta.Ru. "The news is very bad, since it will be definitely used by numerous politicians and authorities who have been trying to forbid ransom payments for a long time", considers Voitenko. 

"Now they have a good reason, because Al-Shabab is classified by the U.S. as terrorist organization", explains Voitenko. According to his estimate, if ransoms become "impossible", shipowners would have to pay them "secretly", or pirates "would sell captured sailors to relatives". 

The editor of Maritime Bulletin also reminded that Somali pirates had released Japanese cargo ship Izumi for ransom. As for Voitenko, the 20-man crew consisted of Filipinos "is alive and relatively healthy". Amount of ransom was not reported. Being in pirates' captivity, the vessel was used as a mother-ship. Izumi was hijacked 170 miles southward Mogadishu on Oct 10, 2010.

Pirates captured Greek ship with Russian sailor on board

Pirates hijacked Panamanian-flagged Greek cargo ship MV Dover on Feb 28 in the northern part of the Arabian Sea, reports official website of EUNAVFOR Somalia. 

There is one Russian sailor in the crew, 19 Filipinos, and three Romanians. 

The ship was sailing from Pakistan to Yemen. Details of the capture are uncertain so far. There is no communication with the ship. Information about the crew's health status is not available either. 

However, according to online Maritime Bulletin – Sovfrakht, the crew has probably sheltered in one of the ship's compartments waiting for help. 

Late Jan 2011 cargo ship MV Beluga Nomination was captured 100 km off Seychelles; there were also Russian citizens aboard the ship. Reportedly, at least one of them was killed. 

Thus, according to Maritime Bulletin – Sovfrakht, Somali pirates currently hold three Russian hostages – one from MV Dover, one from MV Beluga Nomination, and another one from Tunisian tanker Hannibal II. 

In 2008 UN Security Council permitted foreign warships to operate in Somali territorial waters, although so far they have not managed to take control over piracy. Pirates' activity is explained by the fact that the state has virtually ceased to exist – there is no central authority in Somali, only separate non-recognized state formations.

Pirates hijack bulk carrier; capture Danish family

Pirates hijacked the Greek-owned bulk carrier MV Dover in the North Arabian sea yesterday, while the Danish government announced that pirates had captured a Danish family and their sailboat, including three children.

The MV Dover was seized by pirates about 260 nautical miles northeast of Salalah in Oman. "The Panamanian flagged, Greek owned vessel was on its way to Saleef (Yemen) from Port Quasim (Pakistan) when it was attacked," the European Union's anti-piracy taskforce said in a statement. The crew include three Romanian citizens, one Russian and 19 Filipinos.
Meanwhile, on Monday Denmark’s government said that pirates hijacked a Danish sailboat as it was crossing the Indian Ocean. The vessel sent out a distress signal on Thursday and is now being towed toward the Somali coast.

The yacht was carrying a Danish couple, their three children (ages 12 to 16) and two crewmembers from the Maldives to Suez. The Danish naval vessel Esbern Snare is heading towards the yacht’s position.

Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said she was "deeply concerned," over the incident, according to the Associated Press. "It is almost unbearable to think that there are children involved, and I can only sharply denounce the pirates' actions.”

It is believed that this is the first time children have been kidnapped by pirates.

The incident was the second time in a week that a yacht was captured. On Friday 18 February Somali pirates hijacked the American yacht Quest while on its way to Djibouti.

The American naval vessel USS Sterett was sent to negotiate with the pirates on Monday but the next day gunfire broke out on the yacht. The four American hostages on board were killed along with two pirates. It is not clear who started firing first and it seems that the pirates may have begun fighting amongst themselves, the US Navy says.

The attack marked the first time American have been murdered by Somali pirates since a wave of attacks began six years ago. The United States said it may bring the 15 Somali pirates captured in the incident to American courts for prosecution over the killings.

In a separate incident, pirates released the Japanese vessel MV Izumi on Friday, the European Union naval force said yesterday. The Panama-flagged ship and its Filipino crew of 20 are believed to be making for a safe port. There is no information on the condition of the vessel or the crew. The ship was captured in October last year.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there have been seven unsuccessful attempts at hijacking ships off the Somali coastal region during the last five days. The IMB reports that Somali pirates are currently holding 33 vessels and 711 hostages.

Piracy affecting Grindrod

JSE-listed shipping and logistics business Grindrod says piracy has affected the group’s earnings in the year to December. CE Alan Olivier says piracy off the Horn of Africa has had a negative impact on the South African firm's bottom line.

Business Report newspaper says today the miscreants have affected particularly in the group’s Capesize bulk carrier business that mostly carries contractual cargo from Brazil into the Persian Gulf region. Olivier said Grindrod had to divert its ships around the high-risk zone in the Indian Ocean as far as possible, which obviously added significant cost. “Effectively we are losing a voyage a year so when we would be doing six voyages a year (a ship) we are now doing five voyages a year and receiving the same revenue,” he told he business daily.

“But it does have a positive impact in that if you can only do five voyages a year you need one sixth more ships in the market, which absorbs more ships into the market.” The absorption of ships will reduce the oversupply and improve the potential to increase shipping rates. Olivier added that piracy was also having a negative impact on the chemical side of the group’s business because there was a significant chemical trade into the east Africa coast and the Persian Gulf region. 

He said there were increased insurance costs, higher fuel costs for deviations and the cost of exercising best management practice, which involved improving security by putting razor wire around ships and installing water cannon, Business Report continued. All of this added cost to the operation of ships, he said. While Grindrod did not have a significant number of ships trading specifically into that area, Olivier said pirates had been operating in Mozambican waters and 1500 nautical miles off the Somali coast “so they are right across the ocean”. 

Olivier said the group had not had any recent piracy incidents, but some of its partners had and one of Grindrod’s Capesize carriers was followed for about 40 minutes about 18 months ago before the pirates gave up. Grindrod yesterday reported that attributable income declined by 11% to R780.3 million in the year to December from R872.8 million in the previous year. The non-shipping business contributed 54% of Grindrod’s attributable income, which is the first time in the company’s 101-year history that shipping did not contribute the majority of the group’s earnings. 

Headline earnings a share declined by 12 percent to R1.676 from R1.896. 

Olivier attributed the decline in earnings and headline earnings a share primarily to a R166m impact from the stronger exchange rate of the rand against the US dollar, lower profits on the sale of ships of R21 million compared with R253 million in the previous year, and business development costs. 

But he said volume growth in ship operating activities, together with improved profitability from freight services and financial services, contributed positively to results. Revenue rose by 9% to R30.2 billion from R27.7 billion, while operating profit dropped by 16 percent to R963.7 million from R1.14 billion. A dividend of 54c was declared, 10 percent lower than last year’s 60c. 

Pirates kill four US hostages near Somalia

Pirates shot dead four US hostages on a private yacht, the deadliest incident involving Americans kidnapped for ransom in the increasingly dangerous waters off Somalia.

The US military said the pirates shot the hostages before American special forces boarded the vessel.

US troops killed two pirates as they took control of the the boat, and took 15 pirates into custody. Another two pirates were found dead when the US special forces arrived but they were not killed by US forces, the military said, Reuters reports.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US government was "deeply saddened and very upset by the murder of four American citizens" -- a "deplorable act" that underscored the need for more international cooperation against the pirates.

"We've got to have a more effective approach to maintaining security on the seas, in the ocean lanes, that are so essential to commerce and travel," she told reporters.

Pirate gangs preying on shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean typically target large merchant ships, with oil tankers the prize catch, but the snatching of foreigners can also yield high ransoms. There were around 750 pirate hostages at the end of January.

The Americans killed on Tuesday were Jean and Scott Adam, from California, as well as Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle.

The US military said negotiations with the pirates had been under way when on Tuesday morning, without warning, a pirate fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett.

Then gunfire broke out inside the pirated vessel.

"The intent always had been that this would be a negotiated process and not ever go into a point where we actually had gunfire," said Vice Admiral Mark Fox, the head of US naval forces in the turbulent region.

President Barack Obama had authorized the use of force in the case of an imminent threat to the hostages, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

In Seattle, people who knew Riggle, who was in his late 60s, said he was a retired veterinarian who had worked under contract for the Seattle Animal Shelter.

"He was a very nice, compassionate individual. He had a way with animals. He treated people with dignity and respect," said Dan Jordan, the director of the shelter.

Jordan said Riggle seemed well-suited to his companion, Macay. "He was a man of few words, and she was a woman of many words," he said.

REVENGE

In April 2009, U.S. Navy special forces freed the captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama by killing three Somali pirates who held him hostage in a lifeboat. Obama had authorized the use of force in that incident as well.

The one surviving pirate from the Maersk incident has been sentenced to 33 years and nine months in prison in a federal court in New York.

Two Somali pirates who spoke with Reuters by telephone on Tuesday said the hostages were ordered killed since the pirates themselves were under attack by US forces.

"Our colleagues called us this morning, that they were being attacked by a US warship," Mohamud, a Somali pirate, told Reuters. "We ordered our comrades to kill the four Americans before they got killed."

Pirate leader Farah, speaking from Bayla, a pirate haven in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia, vowed to avenge the deaths and capture of his comrades.

"I lost the money I invested and my comrades. No forgiveness for the Americans. Revenge. Our business will go on," he said, adding he had spent US$110 000 so far in the hijacking, including on weapons and food and salaries.

Somali rebels agree ransom deal with pirate leaders

Somali militants freed pirate gang leaders detained last week after agreeing on a cut for future ransoms as well as a deal to have hijacked ships anchor at the port town of Haradhere, says pirates sources.

The Al Shabaab rebels, who profess loyalty to al Qaeda, said they had settled a multi-million dollar deal to receive a 20 percent cut in all future ransoms paid to the pirates, and opened a marine office at Haradhere to liaise with the pirates.

The rebel group controls major sea ports in southern Somalia, including the port of Kismayo, and seized Haradhere after merging with rival insurgents Hizbul Islam late last year, Reuters reports.

"After negotiation we signed the 20 percent ransom share to Al Shabaab and they released our leaders today. Now our relationship with Al Shabaab has improved," a pirate who identified himself as Ali told Reuters by phone from Haradhere.

"They have opened the marine office to improve security and coordination between us. We are happy because we have no other alternatives than agreeing with Al Shabaab demands for us to maintain Haradhere as our base."

Pirate gangs are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, and despite successful efforts to quell attacks in the Gulf of Aden, international navies have struggled to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean owing to the vast distances involved.

Ahmed Wardhere, who attended the negotiations as a representative of the local community, confirmed the agreement.

"Pirates who previously belonged to Al Shabaab signed the agreement first and then the other pirates agreed. Only a small group of pirate gangs who refused the agreement moved away with their ship towards the deep shores of Hobyo, he added.

A yacht with four Americans on board is believed to have been hijacked in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. embassy in Nairobi said on Saturday. 

Western officials have long worried that some of the money from piracy is making its way into the hands of extremists to fund violence in Somalia. 

Shipping industry associations have warned that over 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil supply passing through the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea is at risk from Somali pirates, who are able to operate ever further out to sea and for longer periods, using hijacked vessels as mother ships. 

Somali pirates ‘heading to Asia’

Somali pirates are responding to anti-piracy efforts off the African coast by moving further into Asian waters, says US Admiral Robert Willard.

He says the only solution to solving the piracy issue is to restore stability inside Somalia, which has been without an effective central government since 1991. Willard is the head of the United States Pacific Command, with 300 000 troops serving under him.

"It's remarkable that 28 nations combining their maritime forces together in the Gulf of Aden have not been able to defeat this challenge," Willard told the Asia Society on a visit to Washington last Thursday. “The pirates are just ranging farther out into the Indian Ocean - hundreds of miles, quite literally.”

A number of ships have recently been attacked in the Indian Ocean. On February 5, the Greek-flagged merchant ship Chios was attacked about 100 miles off the Indian coast. The attack was unsuccessful but it alerted the Indian Coast Guard to a hijacked Thai fishing vessel, which was liberated from pirates. The week before, the MV Verdi was approached by pirates off India’s coast. An Indian Coast Guard aircraft responded and tracked the pirates down to another hijacked Thai fishing vessel, which was also liberated. On February 8 the Italian-flagged oil tanker MV Savina Caylyn was captured 800 kilometres off the west coast of India and some 1 300 kilometres off the Somali coast.

According to Willard, the pirates are posing particular problems for the Maldives, a lightly populated archipelago of 1 192 coral islands best known for its beach resorts. Willard said he recently visited the Maldives where President Mohamed Nasheed told him, "his problem was that either abandoned pirates or pirates that were lost in the middle of the night in their activities, or otherwise detached from their motherships, were now landing in the Maldives."

Willard also foresaw pirates moving as far afield as the South China Sea. While piracy off the Somali coast is most often in the spotlight, it is also a big problem in the Caribbean, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Pirates used to be very active in the Malacca Strait but their activities have been curbed there through a highly successful campaign of patrolling, arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning pirates. Conditions onshore improved with a peace settlement among rebels in Aceh in 2004, which led to economic development and improved living conditions, Gulf News reports. 

Willard said that joint action by Southeast Asian nations has all but eliminated the piracy that once plagued the Strait of Malacca -- a vital route for oil that powers Asia's largest economies.

So far no nation, not even the United States, has seriously contemplated fighting piracy on land by destroying pirate bases, according to the Economist. Instead, the international community runs several seaborne anti-piracy missions off North Africa, with the European Naval Forces Operation Atalanta, NATO-led Operation Ocean Shield and Combined Taskforce 151 led by Americans. Atalanta was originally set up to safeguard the United Nation’s World Food Programme aid deliveries to Somalia but has expanded to take on a general anti-piracy role. Other nations like South Korea, China, Japan, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and India also have ships off the East African coast. China’s deployment marks the first time in modern history that it has deployed on a potential combat mission far from its territorial waters. Willard praised the coordination between the US and Chinese navies over piracy, saying: "We've been impressed with the effort that China has made."

Although waters in the Gulf of Aden are now safer, the international efforts have pushed pirates move farther offshore, even going as far as India and Mozambique. Colonel Richard Spencer, the British chief of the EU’s naval force, told the Economist that policing this enlarged area would require five times as many warships as the international task forces can muster.

Willard said that a naval approach to piracy will not solve the problem. "I don't think you're ever going to defeat this threat at the far extremes of their operations on the sea lanes," he said. "But rather you have to go to the centres of gravity - the source on land in the Horn of Africa - and put a stop to that.”

The UN and other organisations agree that solving piracy involves solving the issue on land, and not at sea, by creating economic prosperity, a functioning legal system and a stable government. A UN report last month called for a multi-dimensional approach to the issue: economic, security, and judicial or penitentiary. The report recommended the international community set up courts and prisons in Somaliland and Tanzanian. The Somali courts would operate under Somali jurisdiction and laws.

The report called for a modest US$25 million special funding, in order to better coordinate and empower the fight against piracy. In comparison, the UN estimates piracy costs the world economy $7 billion a year.

Willard said that Somalia's scourge also presented legal quandaries as sailors are not sure what to do with captured pirates. Some 700 suspected and convicted pirates are now in detention in 12 countries, more than half of them in Somalia, according to Yury Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. 

At the moment very few countries are prepared to hold and prosecute pirates, while lawlessness in Somalia makes trials there practically impossible. Somalia’s neighbour Kenya has become the lead prosecutor of suspected pirates, after persuasion from the West, but suspended prosecutions in November last year.

Despite the agreements with Kenya, suspected pirates have been taken to the Untied States, France, Yemen, Germany and the Netherlands, among others, for prosecution. In the first case to come to trial in Europe, a Dutch court sentenced five Somali men to five years in prison for attacking a Dutch Antilles-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden in 2009.

In a historic move last Wednesday a US federal court sentenced a teenage Somali pirate, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, to nearly 34 years in prison after the US Navy caught him attacking one of their ships. And in a first in Asia, a Malaysian court last week charged seven suspected Somali pirates for firing at Malaysian forces. They face the death penalty if convicted.

Meanwhile, the Seychelles has said it will host a second UN-supported centre to prosecute suspected pirates seized by foreign navies. It has amended its criminal code to enable it to prosecute them under universal jurisdiction, according to the BBC.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Somali pirates are holding 33 vessels and 712 hostages. In January this year there were 35 attacks on ships, with seven of them being successful, giving the pirates a further 148 hostages, according to the IMB. The situation will worsen in March when the monsoon abates and the Arabian Sea grows calmer - experts predict 2011 will be the worst year of Somali piracy. The IMB also reports that 1 016 sailors were taken hostage off Somalia last year and 49 ships hijacked, while 28 ships with 638 crewmembers are currently being held. 

Somali piracy becoming "criminal enterprise"

Somali piracy has evolved into a transnational, organised criminal network that risks becoming ingrained in the country's economic and social structures, says the head of the US counter-piracy unit.

Attacks on vessels off the coast of Somalia have been growing rapidly since 2007 as young Somalis in small skiffs with their AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades take to the waters to seek their fortunes.

Donna L. Hopkins, coordinator of Counter Piracy and Maritime Security for the US government, said it had become apparent that other nationalities were hoping to reap the benefits of what has become an increasingly lucrative activity, Reuters reports.

"Somali piracy has grown from being essentially a garden variety, local, off the coast protest against illegal fishing ... into a seriously networked and capable, transnational, organised and criminal enterprise," she said.

"We think there are other fishermen, fishermen other than Somali nationality, who are colluding in this business and helping to share the spoils."

Ransom payments have shot up over the last five years and now average around US$4.5 million to $5 million per ship, from around US$150,000 to US$300,000 previously, according to Dieter Berg, head of the marine division at reinsurer Munich Re.

By using bigger "mother ships" equipped with more sophisticated equipment, pirates have been able to carry out increasing numbers of attacks in recent months and range further away from the Somali coastline.

Last week Somali pirates seized two oil tankers in two days, capturing a Greek ship carrying Kuwaiti oil to the United States after taking an Italian oil vessel.

Hopkins said it was likely that sophisticated groups, potentially operating out of financial centres, had established networks to distribute fuel and weapons and transmit ransoms through money laundering networks.

"We need to find out who is complicit in the financial networks, other logistical supporting networks that are enabling pirates," she told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Regional instability along a critical trade route combined to make Somalia a "perfect storm" to fuel piracy, Hopkins said and warned it risked becoming an insurmountable problem.

"It's pretty clear from the reporting that's coming out that piracy is becoming deeply ingrained in the Somali economic and social structure," she said. "As long as there is no effective government to control the Somali territorial water and coastline this is going to be a problem."

Hopkins dismissed "deliberate links" between piracy and terrorism, but said militants would be attracted by the financial gains.

"Terrorists, no matter how ideologically pure, need money. And I suspect they are not above taking what they can." 

International Maritime Organisation warns of not taking piracy threat seriously

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) warns that an “unacceptably high proportion of ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean” are not taking the threat of piracy seriously by heeding warnings or taking measures to protect their ships. 

In a circular letter to IMO members, the United Nations, intergovernmental, non-governmental and other organizations, the IMO said that naval forces off the coast of Somalia have observed many ships in area that are not registered with the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa; are not reporting to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Dubai; show no piracy deterrents and are not acting on warnings of pirate activity. At least 25% of commercial ships passing through the Gulf of Aden ignore safety precautions, AllBusiness reported in January. 

The IMO noted that as of February 14, 685 crew on board 30 ships are being held for ransom along the Somali coast, which reflects a worsening situation as pirates are expanding their reach into the Indian Ocean, especially through the increasing use of mother ships. The organisation also says that pirate attacks are becoming more violent and that pirates are using captured crew as human shields.

Failure to implement fully the IMO guidance, including the industry-developed best management practices, significantly increases the risk of successful pirate attacks, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said. Some of the best management guidelines include maintaining a high cruising speed (travelling at 18 knots or more makes it almost impossible for pirates to board), erecting physical barriers and using hoses and foam to deter pirates.

“Regrettably, there is disturbing evidence to show that, in too many cases, this advice has either not reached shipping companies or their ships or has not been acted upon,” the circular letter says. The IMO goes on to urge “all those concerned, particularly Administrations, industry representative bodies, seafarer associations, shipowners and companies to take action to ensure that ships’ masters receive updated information unfailingly and that all the recommended preventive, evasive and defensive measures are fully and effectively implemented”.

The announcement follows the launch on February 3 of the IMO’s anti-piracy action plan, in support of the 2011 World Maritime Day theme: “Piracy: orchestrating the response”. The action plan was launched by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said the escalation of piracy off the Somali coast is “completely unacceptable” and requires urgent action. He welcomed the decision of the IMO to pay special attention to this serious threat during the year ahead.

Also present at the launch was Colonel Richard Spencer, who criticised the shipping industry for in many cases failing to take adequate self-protection measures or assist the co-ordinating naval bodies, even when they had advised authorities they were in the high risk zone. “NATO has taken to phoning up ships within 50 miles of a mothership sighting to warn them of the risk because ships are not reading the warnings they put out. They are sailing blind,” he said. “There is a reason why some flags consistently have the highest number of ships taken. I’m speechless as to why some flag states are not doing more.” He said naval forces had “observed non-compliance” on the ships of the top four flag states, Liberia, Panama, Marshall Islands and Bahamas.

As a result of the continuing piracy scourge, the IMO is encourages governments to provide extra naval and aerial surveillance in piracy affected areas and provide security forces with information on ship movements.

The IMO added that an information distribution facility (IDF) has been created to help security forces operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean to build a better picture of where ships are, in order to provide warnings of pirate activity and to facilitate more effective repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships through the more effective deployment of the limited available naval and military resources.

Through the anti-piracy action plan, the IMO aims to strengthen its anti-piracy abilities and expand its reach to create a broader, global effort. The plan has six main goals for 2011 and beyond. These are:

• to increase political pressure to secure the release of hostages;

• to review and improve IMO guidelines and promote compliance with best management practices and the recommended preventive, evasive and defensive measures ships should follow;

• to improve support from and co-ordination with navies;

• to promote anti-piracy co-operation between states and the industry;

• to deter, interdict and bring to justice pirates;

• and to provide care, during the post-traumatic period, for those attacked or hijacked by pirates.

Republic of South Africa dispatched first ship to fight piracy

Republic of South Africa sent the first warship to counter piracy in the Mozambique Channel, reported broadcasting corporation SABC on Feb 13. 

Frigate Mendi will join other 5 frigates and 18 smaller warships in the anti-piracy campaign. 

In Dec 2010 Somali pirates failed to capture two vessels in the Mozambique Channel which was their southernmost assault. 

According to International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates currently hold 31 vessels and 700 hostages.

Somali pirate threat diverting grains shipments

Grains shipments are being diverted around Africa as Somali pirate gangs strike deeper at sea increasing journey times and potentially lifting insurance costs at a time of unrest over food prices.

Pirates operating off the Horn of Africa are threatening traffic aiming for the vital Gulf of Aden trade route, either from Asia towards Europe and the Middle East Gulf or from the United States and Europe heading towards Asia.

While wheat shipments from Australia, one of the world's biggest exporters, were expected to accelerate shortly as the new export drive gathers pace, a trade source said sellers could find it harder to find vessels willing to make the journey through the Gulf of Aden to Middle Eastern buyers. A wheat cargo from Australia to Saudi Arabia this month cost an additional $10,000 a day due to the higher risk, Reuters reports.

"You have to find an owner who is willing to put his ship at risk for which there will probably be an insurance premium and higher costs," the source said. "If freight costs spike, it could hurt."

The source said Australian canola shipments to European markets were being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, which was adding 10-12 days extra journey time.

THREAT RESPONSE

Responding to the growing threat, London's marine insurance market last month expanded the stretch of waterways deemed high risk from seaborne raiders to include the Gulf of Oman and a wider stretch of the Indian Ocean.

Pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms and despite successful efforts to quell attacks in the Gulf of Aden, international naval forces have struggled to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean owing to the vast distances involved.

"Many crews are having to run the gauntlet of small arms attacks that are endangering their lives and the safe passage of world trade," said Peter Hinchliffe, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents about 80 percent of the global industry.

Trade sources said grains shipments from European and US exporters to key buyers in the Middle East were also being re-routed around the Cape rather than run the risk of passing through the Gulf of Aden via the Suez Canal. 

"There is obviously extra voyage time involved but the lower freight costs are cushioning the impact. The dangers of having a ship hijacked are very large," a major European exporter said.

Grains markets are increasingly sensitive to potential disruptions as adverse weather patterns have raised concern over global supplies at a time of growing unrest over food inflation.

Food price protests sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East reached Jordan on Friday, following disorder in Algeria and Tunisia which has had many countries in the region moving to cut food prices and food taxes.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index .BADI, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, has tumbled to its lowest in nearly two years hit by a glut of vessels seeking employment.

The cost of hiring a panamax vessel, especially used to transport grains, on a 4 to 6 month time charter contract was estimated at US$14,500 to US$15,500 a day, around US$4,000 a day lower than a year ago. Nevertheless, some shippers were resigned to having to stump up higher costs due to a lack of any solution at present.

One of Australia's largest grain shippers CBH Group said it was still shipping through the risk area. "Premiums are being factored in. So it's just one of those things that has to be taken account of," a spokeswoman said.

FRUSTRATION GROWING

Security analysts said the move by underwriters to widen the piracy risk zone was set to have a bigger impact on shipping, although any premium rises would depend on what risk mitigation procedures were in place such as crew training and watch rotas.

"The extension should be seen as an official warning for the business community that piracy is spreading very far eastwards," said John Drake, senior risk consultant with AKE Ltd.

"By using 'motherships' the pirates are able to travel much further out to sea because they can transport larger supplies of fuel, food and water." 

Maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7 and $12 billion a year with Somali piracy in particular driving up the cost of shipping through the Indian Ocean, researchers say. Frustration is also mounting among seafarers who have found themselves in the firing line, with more than 600 mariners held hostage by pirate gangs in Somalia. 

"Members are expressing profound fears about their vulnerability and the scale of the risk level now," said Andrew Linington, with seafarers' union Nautilus International.

Cornwall frees pirate hostages after three-month ordeal

RAISING their arms in the air under the guns of HMS Cornwall, 17 Somali pirates surrender to the frigate – bringing to an end a 92-day reign of terror.

For this pirate ‘mother ship’ is actually a Yemeni fishing boat – with five of its crew held hostage by the 17 brigands since early November.

The fishermen have now been freed, the pirate skiffs (and all the associated piratical paraphernalia – ladders, grappling hooks, powerful outboard motors, fuel drums, weapons – sent to Davy Jones’ Locker) thanks to Cornwall’s boarding team.

The Fighting 99 responded to a distress signal from a South Korean merchantman after the Yong Jin spotted the dhow acting suspiciously.

The Type 22 stopped the battered vessel from attacking the Yong Jin, then prepared to board with the ship’s Lynx hovering overhead. It was, said Cornwall’s CO Cdr David Wilkinson, “a very slick operation”.

The team from Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines found 22 souls on board and plenty of evidence of pirate activity.

Further investigation revealed that five of the men were Yemenis, the rightful masters of the dhow. They’d been held prisoner by the Somalis since November 11.

The freebooters had then turned the dhow into their mother ship, ranging around the Horn of Africa, using three skiffs to carry out pirate raids.

“Our presence had a hugely-significant effect on the lives of the five Yemeni fishermen,” said Cdr Wilkinson.

“They’ve been freed from more than three months of pirate activity and can now return to their families.”

With no legal powers to detain the pirates, only to destroy their kit, the ship returned the Somalis to their native land before resuming her mission with Combined Task Force 151 in the Gulf of Aden.

Danish warship freed Yemeni vessel captured by pirates

Danish naval ship Esbern Snare released a Yemeni fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean which had been held by Somali pirates for about a year, reports Associated Press referring to NATO command. 

Esbern Snare detained a suspect vessel with two boats on the deck. After cautionary fire, a boarding party was sent on board the vessel; they captured 16 pirates and released 2 Yemeni hostages. 

Piracy still remains the main threat to global maritime shipping. Early in Feb Somali pirates tried to hijack a Greek-flagged tanker 290 miles south-westward Indian coast. The ship managed to escape. 

Somalia can not find the answer to the piracy problem because it ceased to exist as united state in 1991 with falling of Siad Barre dictatorship who had been governing the country since late 60's. Currently, world community recognizes Federal Government of Somalia as the only lawful authority in the country; however, the named government controls only a part of a capital city, Mogadishu. 

The rest parts of Somalia are either under control of unrecognized state formations or self-governed territories which leaders have different views on integration. 

Anti-piracy campaign off Somali is carried out under EUNAVFOR – Operation Atalanta launched in 2008 and NATO Operation Ocean Shield started in 2009. Russian warships also participate in maritime security operations.

Nato seizes 'pirate mother ship' off Somalia

A Nato warship has captured a suspected pirate mother ship off Somalia, Nato's counter-piracy mission has said.

It said Denmark's warship fired warning shots on Saturday, forcing the vessel to stop and its crew to surrender.

Sixteen suspected pirates on board were then held and a weapons cache seized. Two Yemeni hostages were also freed.

"These ships provide the pirates with a floating base. They pose a great threat to the merchant shipping," the chief officer of the Danish warship said.

"We have now eliminated one of these threats," Commander Haumann of HDMS Esbern Snare warship said.

The Nato mission said the incident happened on Saturday morning, when the warship came across a suspicious vessel with two skiffs on deck.

It said it believed the fishing vessel had been hijacked.

The Nato mission - alongside with the EU's naval force - has been escorting merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden since 2008.

Earlier this week, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) said Somali pirates were now using at least 20 seized vessels as mother ships to launch attacks in the region.

Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in recent years by capturing cargo vessels in the shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa and holding the ships and crew for ransom.

Somalia has had no functioning central government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish off its coast.