Pirates seize ship carrying tanks, ammo

3.5 million!!! What a deal!!!!


Somali pirates free Ukrainian arms ship
by Mustafa Haji Abdinur Mustafa Haji Abdinur – Thu Feb 5, 12:00 pm ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) – Somali pirates said Thursday they had freed a Ukrainian ship seized in September with battle tanks and other weaponry on board after receiving a ransom of more than three million dollars.
The vessel's freedom was announced by the Ukrainian presidency and several pirates contacted by AFP but not by the ship's owners.
The reported release of the ship and its crew of 20 seamen -- a Latvian, two Russians and 17 Ukrainians -- marked the end of one of the longest and most dramatic sea-jackings in recent years.
"We have released MV Faina. There were only three boys remaining on board and they delayed the release for one hour, but now the ship is free," Sugule Ali, a spokesman for the pirates, told AFP by phone.
"The ship and the crew members are in good shape because our boys expended tremendous efforts to protect them. We fed them well."
Pirates in the town of Harardhere, off the coast of which the MV Faina had been held since its capture on September 25, said more than three million dollars in ransom were paid.
"The deal was 3.5 million dollars (2.7 million euros). The owners of the ship wanted to pay only one million but we resisted," said one pirate on condition of anonymity.
Sugule Ali confirmed a ransom was paid but would not reveal the amount, describing it only as "not huge... something to cover our expenses."
Fishermen and pirates in the Harardhere area told AFP they had spotted navy ships from an international anti-piracy coalition moving towards the freed Ukrainian vessel.
The Ukrainian presidency also confirmed the ship's release in a statement and said the vessel had resumed its journey to its initial destination, the Kenyan port of Mombasa, although sources close to the pirates believe that the Faina does not currently have enough fuel.
"On February 4, the ship was freed after a very difficult operation carried out by the Ukrainian special services in cooperation with foreign special services," the office of President Viktor Yushchenko said.
It was unclear what part the special services were supposed to have played but according to sources close to the pirates, the ransom money was flown from Nairobi and dropped to the pirates by parachute at 1200 GMT on Wednesday.
The sources said the air-dropped capsule contained 3.2 million dollars.
"Somali pirates are very quick at counting money, they have equipment. Three million dollars is a matter of 15 minutes, but there can be disagreements between them," said one source close to the case, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the final stages of the ransom negotiations, no fewer than 50 pirates were on board the ship and fishermen, elders and other witnesses in Haradhere said they saw the first groups return from the ship early Thursday.
The Faina's capture was one of the longest and most high-profile hijackings since Somali piracy surged in 2007.
The vessel's captain died, apparently of natural causes, two days after the ship was seized in the Indian Ocean.

Pirates had initially demanded 35 million dollars to release the ship but talks were slow to start in earnest with the Ukrainian ship owners, following threats of military action.
"We were fed up with the Faina," said Ahmed Mohamed Abdi, one of the pirates, shortly after receiving his share.
"There was a time we thought of releasing the ship without any payment on humanitarian grounds but we spent a lot of borrowed money on khat cigarettes, coca cola, mineral water and food," he told AFP.
Controversy still surrounds the intended recipient of the MV Faina's cargo, which includes 33 Soviet-era T-72 battle tanks and at least 14,000 rounds of different types of ammunition.
After the vessel's seizure in September, Kenya claimed the weaponry was for its armed forces but several sources have since revealed that the cargo was intended for the government of South Sudan.
According to organisations monitoring sea piracy, Somali pirates hijacked at least 49 foreign vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean last year, raking in tens of millions of dollars in ransom money. The release of the Faina brings to at least 13 the number of foreign ships still held by Somali pirates.

Somali pirates free Ukrainian arms ship - Yahoo! News

 

LOL. We would have just let it go for humanitarian reasons but we spent to much money we don't have on drugs. LOL

 

LOL No kidding. Wouldn't it be interesting if some other pirates hijacks her again ?

Freed arms ship sails away from Somali coast

]By MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED, Associated Press Writer Malkhadir M. Muhumed, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 7, 1:21 pm ET
NAIROBI, Kenya – A Ukrainian cargo ship carrying tanks and other heavy weapons sailed Saturday for Kenya with a U.S. military escort, leaving the Somali coast where pirates had held it for more than four months.



MV Faina was heading for the port of Mombasa under its own power, Vadim Alperin, the ship's owner, said in a statement posted on a Russian maritime Web site. It was being escorted by the guided missile destroyer USS Mason, and U.S. Navy commandoes were on board the Faina to provide security, he said.
Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, confirmed the navy was escorting the Faina, but gave no details.
The U.S. navy has watched over the Faina since its Sept. 25 capture by Somali pirates to make sure its cargo of 33 tanks and weapons did not fall into the hands of Somali insurgents believed to be linked to al-Qaida. The Faina and its 20-man crew was freed Thursday after pirates received an airdropped ransom of $3.2 million.
The ship began moving late Friday after it received fuel from the USS Catawba and the crew got a diesel generator going, switched on navigation and other equipment and put the main engine in working order, the statement said. It said the Faina's crew had been given a five-day supply of food and water, as well as fresh sheets.
"We are on the way. Faina is cruising to Mombasa," Capt. Viktor Nikolsky told The Associated Press via a satellite phone Saturday. Earlier he estimated the trip would take three to four days.
"The crew are healthy and eagerly looking forward to returning home," Alperin said in a separate statement Saturday.
U.S. Navy representatives and Faina crew members inspected the arms cargo, according to the ship's owner and the U.S. Navy spokeswoman.
"We know that none of the tanks were offloaded," Campbell said. The ship's owner said the cargo was found undamaged.
There is some dispute over who actually owns the cargo. Diplomats said it was destined for southern Sudan, which the autonomous region has denied. The Kenyan government insists the cargo is for Kenya.
Analysts said the Faina's seizure was a wake-up call about the danger that piracy posed to one of the world's most important shipping routes.
Warships from the United States, India, Britain, France, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and South Korea have since joined an anti-piracy campaign, though attacks continue.
Somalia does not have a coast guard or navy because it has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, reducing the Horn of Africa nation to anarchy and chaos.

Freed arms ship sails away from Somali coast - Yahoo! News

 

U.S. Navy Seizes 7 Suspected Pirates After Attempted Hijacking

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

CAIRO — The U.S. Navy has seized seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a merchant ship sent a distress call saying gunmen had tried to board it from a skiff.
Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, says the Marshal Islands-flagged Polaris sent the call on Wednesday afternoon.
The USS Vella Gulf raced to the location where U.S. sailors boarded the skiff.
Christensen says the suspects were armed with AK-47s and RPGs. They will eventually be handed over to Kenya.
It was the Navy's first arrest since a new U.S. anti-pirate task force was established to deal with the escalating piracy problem in the Gulf.
It also follows an agreement last month with Kenya for the U.S. to hand over arrested pirates.

FOXNews.com - U.S. Navy Seizes 7 Suspected Pirates After Attempted Hijacking - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

 

US Navy, Russians seize 26 pirates off Somalia

By ANDREW NJUGUNA, Associated Press Writer Andrew Njuguna, Associated Press Writer – Fri Feb 13, 8:30 am ET
ABOARD THE USNS LEWIS AND CLARK – U.S. Navy and Russian warships arrested 26 suspected Somali pirates this week, while a maritime watchdog warned on Friday that pirates are stepping up attacks as weather improves in the waters off East Africa.
The latest arrests came Thursday, when an American helicopter from the USS Vella Gulf fired warning shots at gunmen in two skiffs that had opened fire and tried to board the Indian-flagged vessel Premdivya.
U.S. forces searched the skiff and found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, then took nine suspected pirates aboard the American ship, the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said.
On Wednesday, the same American ship detained seven other suspected pirates — the Navy's first arrests since it established an anti-piracy task force this year. The suspects, armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, had tried to board the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel Polaris using a ladder from their skiff.
The pirates were transferred via helicopter to the USNS Lewis and Clark on Thursday, according to Lt. Nathan Christensen, a 5th Fleet spokesman. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said they could be handed over to Kenya, after the United States last month agreed to hand pirate suspects to the east African nation.
Associated Press Television News footage from aboard the Lewis and Clark showed some of the men, handcuffed and wearing leg shackles and white jumpsuits, being escorted from helicopters onto the ship.
They were given a meal, a blanket, a towel and a bar of soap, but they were not allowed to talk to each other. U.S. forces assisted by a translator were trying to get information from the men, such as their ages and nationalities. The men were then taken to a holding area surrounded by razor wire and guarded.
Separately, the Russian navy said Friday its nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser Peter The Great detained 10 Somali pirates closing in on an Iranian-flagged fishing trawler. Russian military prosecutors were questioning the men, who were caught on Thursday with rifles, grenade-launchers, illegal narcotics and a large sum of money, the navy said.
Piracy off Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, reached record levels last year. Somali pirates, seeking multimillion-dollar ransoms, launched 111 attacks and seized 42 vessels last year, mostly in the Gulf of Aden, with attacks peaking between September and November.
Somali piracy accounted for the bulk of the 49 vessels hijacked and 889 crewmembers taken hostage around the world in 2008 — the highest worldwide figures since the London-based International Maritime Bureau began keeping records in 1991.
The increased danger led the United States, India, Britain, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and other countries to send warships to the area to protect commercial vessels and more quickly rush to their aid.
Still, attacks have continued, and the maritime watchdog warned on Friday ships plying the popular trade route off eastern Africa to be more vigilant.
Noel Choong, chief of the bureau's reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said six ships were attacked on Wednesday and Thursday alone. "We haven't seen such an increase in attacks for some time," said Choong.
Since the beginning of January, 22 vessels had been attacked, and three were hijacked. Choong said favorable weather made it easier for the smaller pirate boats to ambush ships. He also said seven ships have been released over the past month, likely pushing pirates to try to replenish their stocks.
In the latest release, pirates freed a Japanese-owned cargo ship and its 23 crew members after nearly three months in captivity, a diplomat based in Nairobi, Kenya, said Friday.
The MV Chemstar Venus, owned by a Japanese shipping company and registered in Panama, was seized by armed Somali gunmen on Nov. 15 in the Gulf of Aden. On board were five South Koreans and 18 Filipinos. The diplomat, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the ship carrying unidentified chemicals was released Thursday night. There was no immediate word if a ransom was paid.
In the aftermath of what was one of the most dramatic pirate heists, Ukrainian sailors returned home after four months in captivity after the seizure of their cargo ship, MV Faina, which was loaded with tanks and heavy weapons. The sailors stepped off a plane in Kiev, tanned but exhausted-looking for a tearful reunion with their families on the tarmac.

Faina's ordeal began in September, when scores of heavily armed Somali pirates swarmed onboard as it carried 33 Soviet-designed tanks and crates of small arms headed to Kenya. The pirates released the vessel last week, reportedly after receiving a $3.2 million ransom. The Faina, with its cargo, docked on Thursday at the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Foreign governments had feared the Faina's weapons might fall into the hands of Somali insurgents, who the U.S. State Department says are linked to al-Qaida.

US Navy, Russians seize 26 pirates off Somalia

 

Well of course all Somali "fishermen" are armed. The French must have been confused .

Somalia Puntland Delays Pirate Trial Over Insufficient Proof

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AFP)--A court in Somalia's breakaway Puntland region has delayed the trial of eight pirates, handed over by French troops last month, for insufficient of proof, a judge said Wednesday.
The eight have been charged with attacking ships, arms possession and kidnapping, but their lawyers said the prosecution lacked evidence to prove the charges.
"The court decided to delay the hearing until prosecutors bring solid evidence that can lead to their trial," said Judge Mohamed Abdi Aware.
The pirates, arrested in the Gulf of Aden by the French navy responding to distress call from the Panamanian-flagged S. Venus on Jan. 1, said they were fishing and weren't carrying out attacks.
Somalia Puntland Delays Pirate Trial Over Insufficient Proof

 

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh right!

 

Sure, I never go fishing without an AK-47, RPG, or ladders in my boat. If any of those peices are missing I just go home.

Oh yeah, on occasion I bring a fishing pole and a net.

 

Well excuse me mister sarcasm, but how the hell do you catch a fish then?? I have the habbit of throwing bait to the water then drop a hand grenade... It sums up fishing to 5 simple minutes instead of spending hours trying to catch something at all...



Cheers...

 

I wonder if the French or any others photograph or video what they are doing when they catch the pirates. What do they do with the captured weapons?

 

Greek ship seized by pirates off Somalia

• 
  Sun Feb 22, 12:36 pm ET

ATHENS (AFP) – A Greek cargo ship has been seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia, Greece's merchant marine ministry said Sunday.The MV Saldanha was on its way to Slovenia to deliver its cargo of coal with 22 crew members on board, a ministry spokesman said, without giving further details.
According to a BBC report whose details were confirmed by the British defence ministry, the ship was boarded by pirates who warned the captain of a nearby British warship, the HMS Northumberland, to stay away.
The Saldanha was reportedly sailing under a Maltese flag. The British warship is in the area as part of a European Union taskforce to combat pirate attacks.
Pirates attacked over 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, more than double the 2007 total, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy and shipping security issues.
More than 150 suspected pirates were arrested by naval patrols in 2008.

Greek ship seized by pirates off Somalia

 

Danish, Chinese navies deter suspected pirates

The Associated Press
Posted: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Chinese and Danish warships stopped pirate attacks on two different cargo vessels sailing off Somalia, according to reports Thursday.
The Chinese navy rescued an Italian merchant ship from pirates, China's state news agency Xinhua said in a one-line report that gave few details.
If verified, it would be the first direct engagement between the Chinese navy and Somali pirates since Beijing dispatched a three-ship squadron for anti-piracy operations in December.
In the other incident, Denmark's HDMS Absalon received a distress signal Wednesday from a Chinese merchant ship, the Yandanghai, saying the crew was trying to fend off pirates using fire hoses, said Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet.
When Danish sailors arrived, they found a skiff with seven suspected pirates armed with a rocket-propelled grenade, four AK-47 assault rifles, two grenades and a knife. The men were disarmed, but not detained, Campbell said.
The Danish military said the suspected pirates were let go without the weapons. "The crew was allowed to sail on because of a lack of 100 percent solid proof that it was the same boat that had attacked the Chinese," the Danish Defense Command said in a statement.
The Absalon is part of a U.S.-led naval force set up last month to combat piracy along the lawless coast of Somalia, where attacks on shipping skyrocketed last year.
Somali pirates have received tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments after seizing dozens of vessels. The high-profile seizures include a Saudi oil tanker and a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks, both recently released.

Danish, Chinese navies deter suspected pirates | CharlotteObserver.com

 

Cost effective?

Nuclear supercarrier necessary to fight Somali pirates
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst
Published: Feb. 25, 2009 at 9:57 AM


Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The dispatch of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to combat the pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden is an ideal role for the enormous 80,000-ton plus warship.

At first glance, deploying the Eisenhower may seem like using an enormous and extremely expensive hammer to crack open a nut. But it makes cost-effective sense in a lot of ways.
First, throughout the history of warfare, the ideal strategy has been to deploy and use overwhelming force to crush an enemy with zero or minimal risk of casualties to one's own side.
Second, the Somalia-based pirates who have been infesting the Gulf of Aden off the Horn of Africa use extremely fast speedboats in which they can easily outpace the fastest conventional warships such as frigates and destroyers that the Russian, Indian and Chinese navies already have dispatched to project their power, show the flag and protect their own shipping in those waters.
That means that any kind of conventional surface fleets can do no more than protect a limited number of vessels in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's most important waterways for the shipment of oil from the Middle East all around the world.
But the one weapons system those speedboats cannot outpace is aircraft. And that's where aircraft carrier battle groups come in.
Furthermore, no other country in the world deploys colossal aircraft carriers powered by nuclear reactors as the United States does. The gigantic flight deck of the Eisenhower, therefore, can launch a far larger number of aircraft than the much smaller carriers of nations like Britain, France and Spain can do.
This is especially important in protecting the shipping in the Gulf of Aden. For, unlike the far more circumscribed waters of the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea or the Strait of Malacca, the Gulf of Aden is an enormous expanse of ocean 7.5 million square miles in area. A handful of reconnaissance aircraft or patrolling combat planes from a much smaller carrier could not possibly cover that entire vastness and be deployed to be able to react within a few minutes to reports of any pirate attack.
By contrast, the combat aircraft of the Eisenhower will be sufficient in number to fly regular patrols far more often and intensively over the areas of maximum risk. Their deterrent effect on the pirates therefore will be correspondingly greater.
It is certainly true that U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups are enormously expensive to maintain and operate, but since they are operating anyway, the additional cost of deploying any of them in the Gulf of Aden region will be insignificant as they would be doing something else anyway.
And the operations of the Eisenhower will send an enormously potent message to the oil-producing nations of the Middle East and the major industrialized nations of the world: Even in times of economic crisis, no other armed force or navy in the world can do what the U.S. Navy can do in maintaining the security of the world's most vital oil export lanes. Fleets of diesel-electric submarines, such as China and India are developing, cannot protect oil tankers or other cargo ships from the depredations of modern pirates operating in fast speedboats. Nor can nuclear-powered submarines armed with ballistic missiles such as Russia, China, Britain and France all operate.
Only large aircraft carriers with the ability to remain on operational station for months at a time can fulfill that role and offer the level of protection that major industrialized nations desperately need in their insatiable hunger for oil. And only the U.S. Navy with its giant nuclear-powered supercarriers can still offer that kind of capability.
That makes them an excellent continuing strategic investment.

Nuclear supercarrier necessary to fight Somali pirates - UPI.com

 

It appears the Danes still aren't on board with the idea of punishing pirates for their acts.

What kind of evidence do the Danes need before they will detain pirates and make sure they face trial? Turning them loose after disarming them just encourages the pirates.

 

Thats true. Its useless. I wonder if the pirates know when a Danish ship is in the area?

 

When they take a Danish ship, then they'll act OR when it starts to hit them in the pocket financially....

 

Somali Pirates Free Egyptian Ship Held for Two Months
Thursday, March 05, 2009


NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates freed an Egyptian cargo ship and its crew of 28 after holding the vessel for more than two months, an Egyptian ambassador said Thursday.
Ambassador to Somalia Saeed Morsy said the ship was released Wednesday, but did not say if any ransom was paid.
The Blue Star was carrying 6,000 tons of fertilizer when 15 armed pirates seized it Jan. 1 as it passed through the Red Sea and entered the Gulf of Aden.
Al-Badeel, an Egyptian daily newspaper, quoted Abdel-Hameed Ibrahim, father of one of the crew, as saying a ransom was dropped from a plane. It said the ship was en route to Kenya for refueling and will return to Egypt's Mediterranean port of Alexandria in three days.
The report could not immediately be confirmed.
The lawless Somali coastline is plagued by pirates, who attacked over 100 ships last year. The capture of a Ukrainian vessel loaded with arms focused international attention on the problem and countries as diverse as India, America, China and France sent warships to patrol the Gulf of Aden, which is one of the world's most important shipping lanes.
The naval presence is having some effect; the pirates' success rate at taking over a vessel has fallen from nearly 50 percent to around 30 percent. But attacks on commercial shipping have continued despite the patrols and some arrests.
On Thursday, the U.S. Navy handed over seven suspected pirates to Kenyan authorities for prosecution after they allegedly tried to hijack a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden.
The seven pirates were seized Feb. 11, when the Marshall Islands-flagged merchant ship Polaris reported gunmen had tried to board it from a skiff. U.S. sailors found automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades aboard, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
Meanwhile, German authorities launched an investigation against nine suspected pirates captured by a German navy frigate in the Gulf of Aden.
The nine were captured Wednesday after they attacked the Hamburg-based cargo ship MV Courier. Germany's Rheinland-Pfalz frigate answered the MV Courier's distress call and captured the pirates.
They are being held on the ship under international law as part of the European Union's "Atalanta" anti-piracy mission. They are the first pirates detained by Germany since the bloc's naval mission began in December.
Germany's Justice and Foreign ministries are working with other government agencies and the military to determine whether they should be brought to Germany to stand trial.
Analysts say the attacks will continue as long as chaotic Somalia provides a haven for pirate bases and its people remain poor. The Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government for since 1991 and is riven between heavily armed clan-based militias.

FOXNews.com - Somali Pirates Free Egyptian Ship Held for Two Months - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

 

LOL - what do you think?!

 

LOL They sure as hell wouldn't have set it free out of the kindness of their hearts .

 

And then there are the Germans


Germany hands Somali pirates to Kenya
March 08 2009 at 03:50PM
Berlin - Germany plans to ask Kenya to take custody of nine pirates captured earlier this week by the German Navy off the coast of Somalia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

Prosecutors in the German city of Hamburg issued arrest warrants for the nine Somalis on Friday, but a day later said there was no need for them to be transferred to Germany.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the request for Kenya to take custody of the pirates would formally be made to authorities in Nairobi by the German embassy on Monday.

Germany's government had been seeking the transfer of the suspects to Kenya, a move that was sealed on Friday morning in an agreement with the European Union.


The frigate Rheinland-Pfalz, where the pirates have been held since March 3, is due to arrive in the Kenyan port of Mombasa on Tuesday, when the handover is expected to take place.

The frigate, which forms part of the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta, apprehended the pirates when they attacked a German merchant vessel off Somalia with anti-tank missiles and firearms.

According to the EU regulations the mission is operating under, pirates can be held for 12 days.

The EU-Kenya agreement was signed in Nairobi by Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula and the Czech ambassador to Kenya. The Czech Republic is the current chair of the EU.

Kenya is a neighbouring country to Somalia, where many of the pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden are from.

In 2008, pirates seized more than 200 ships off the Somali coast, demanding millions of dollars in ransom. - Sapa-dpa

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