Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor update december 3.

2009-12-03 * THU * 14h35:23 UTC

Issue No. 298

BREAKING :

MV CHARELLE FREED FROM SOMALIA
Cargo vessel freed from piracy off Somalia - all 10 crew-members well. (©ecoterra)
Seized in the afternoon on Friday June 12, 2009, the relatively small 2,800-tonne general cargo ship MV CHARELLE has been released by her captors after they received a ransom, maritime observers working with ECOTERRA Intl. reported. The owner of the vessel and the captain confirmed the release. The ship is manned by seven Sri Lankans and three Filipino sailors and all are reportedly well, given the circumstances after being held hostage for nearly five month.
MAY DAY
The Antigua and Barbuda flagged vessel - carrying at present mostly empty containers - was boarded by 8 Somali pirates just off the12nm territorial waters of the Sultanate of Oman near Ras el Had, which is about 120 miles south-east of the capital Muscat and around 60 miles from the famous Dhow building place and harbour of Sur, where the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean meet.
"I can confirm a ship, the MV CHARELLE, has been hijacked Friday afternoon inside Oman’s territorial waters", Commander Chris Davies, NATO’s maritime spokesman said at first. Later it was clarified that the seajacking of MV CHARELLE, operated by Pentagon Freight Services LLC between Indian Ocean and Red Sea Ports, took place outside Oman’s territorial waters. However, this was the first recorded attack close to the waters of the Sultanate of Oman and it remains so far the only one, though just yesterday the crew of a Greek oil tanker and using flares and hoses fought off a pirate attack in the Arabian Sea. The pirates fired automatic weapons at the MT SIKINOS and its crew of 24 some 500 miles (800 kilometers) south-east of Oman. Before being overwhelmed by the pirates, the captain had sent the international distress signal MD (May Day) via VHF radio, which was received and re-transmitted by another vessel, the MV Eli Maersk, that was close by. The signal told that the ship was boarded by Somali pirates.
The MV Eli Maersk, however, then falsely reported that MV CHARELLE was on fire while the 10 member crew had retreated to the ship’s engine compartment. NATO Lieutenant Commander Alexandre Fernandes aboard the Portuguese warship Corte-Real admitted that the naval forces dispatched for anti-piracy duties in the area had not heard the distress call from the vessel but later also confirmed the abduction. The Omani authorities and navy responded immediately, but after realizing that that MV CHARELLE had been boarded by heavily armed pirates, could do little.
Gary Kruger - Manager Pentagon Freight Services Oman LLC, who operate the cargo - and Jim Robb, General Manager ISS Oman, of Inchcape Shipping Services who are the agents for the charterers of the vessel, first had no information about the ship.
Twenty percent of global shipping – including 8 percent of global oil shipments – is funnelled into the narrow, pirate-infested Gulf of Aden that leads through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal. The route is bordered on one side by the failed state of Somalia and on the other by the increasingly unstable country of Yemen.
The Charelle case off Oman triggered immediately new fears that Somali pirates had started ‘fishing’ in new and least expected waters, which unfortunately became very true with attacks happening in the meantime up to 1000 nautical miles away from the Somali coast. Some time after the attack the MV CHARELLE then was commandeered to a southern direction and towards Somalia - escorted by a Coalition warship and an Omani navy vessel, both of which refrained from intervening in order to avoid endangering the crew. Vessel and crew then were directed by the pirates to Hobyo, where the vessel was moored for the long months to come - just 3 nautical miles off the coast to the north of the ancient capital of the former Sultanate in central Somalia.

GLOBAL AFFAIR
The Charelle affair was a truly global one, implicating the Gulf state of Oman, where the vessel was abducted nearby, the flag-state Antigua and Barbuda, a small island nation with a population of only about 85,000 located north of South-America on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, then 6 time zones away the owner-manager in New Zealand, the owner company in Samoa, fearing for their German-built vessel operated from the Arab Gulf State of Dubai with a crew from Sri-Lanka and the Philippines and in the core of all the Horn of Africa and Somalia where the vessel was held by Somali pirates at Hobyo.
Samoa is now the fastest growing offshore centre in the South Pacific. A very business-friendly government seeks to stoke the engines of economic growth. Complete anonymity of owners is guaranteed by law. There is no public register, which makes finding the owner of a Samoan corporation very difficult. Thus, the Samoan company offers substantial privacy of ownership while bearer shares are available.
But it took not long to clarify that TARMSTEDT INTERNATIONAL LTD of Samoa (Apia) is the owner, while TRADEX MARINE LTD of New Zealand are the managers and early media reports claiming that the MV CHARELLE was a German vessel could be rectified.
Though the 86 m long vessel was built in 1985 in Bremerhaven, Germany by Seebeckwerft, the vessel since then had changed ownership and name seven times and only since 2007 it sails under the name MV CHARELLE. At present it is insured with the Ship Owners’ Mutual P&I Association of Luxembourg. Unfortunately the vessel has no ITF agreement covering the crew.

NEGOTIATIONS
The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry stated that Lankan missions in Nairobi and Canberra were coordinating with relevant officials and likewise the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Republic of the Philippines through its mission in Kenya kept a watch.
However, in October the New Zealand shipping company, who owns the vessel, confirmed that negotiations for the release of MV CHARELLE had broken down, because the negotiator of the sea-shifta did not honour the reached agreement and negotiations had to start all over again with a new interpreter on the Somali side and a mediator.
While in the beginning of the crisis 65 tonnes of oil and sufficient food and water for the crew members were on board, the supplies rapidly declined. Captain Bandara did a remarkable job to keep the crew healthy and unharmed throughout the ordeal.
Seven of the 10 member crew are Sri Lankans including the Captain E.M.G. Bandara from Rakwana, First Officer Indika Ruwan, chief engineer Anton Seneviratne, chief cook Sunil Amerasinghe and seamen Ajith Amerasinghe, Ananda Perera and Lakshman Perera. The crew is completed by three Filipino sailors Renel Redanial, Richard and Agustin, who were hired through the Philippine manning agency Leeward Marines, despite a ban for Pinoy seafarers to work on ships, which have to go through pirate-infested waters.
Renewed efforts to come to a conclusion proofed to be extremely difficult, because in the meantime an immense ransom was paid for the release of Spanish fishing vessel FV ALAKRANA, which caused also the pirates of MV CHARELLE to want more.

RELEASE
With affirmative action taken, the new negotiations reached an agreement and the vessel, which was held mostly near Hobyo, moved northward to Garacad at the North-Eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast. There typical last minute quarrels among the pirates could be resolved and a security system set up for the release.
Today, Thursday, in the afternoon and shortly before 17h00 (14h00 UTC) the last man of the Somali sea-shift left the vessel.
Secured against another hostile takeover, MV CHARELLE sailed to freedom.

AFTERTHOUGHTS
The case once again did proof that pro-active and dedicated mediation is the right key to achieve a fast and secure release. When MV CHARELLE was seized back in June 14 ships were being held at the time by Somali sea-shifta and still now, five month later and though releases and new captures changed names and figures in between, a similar number of ships is kept hostage in Somalia - despite the fact that billions of dollars are spent on naval operations of a global armada around the Horn of Africa.
As long as there will be no respect for Somalia and the natural resources like the wealth of the tuna fisheries and support from the free world to help the impoverished coastal communities in Somalia to develop and prosper without piracy, the menace will never be stopped - even not with further billions channelled to the western military-industrial complex or with an invasion of the sovereign nation of Somalia. The situation only will be made worst and the violence will escalate.
Like with the Barbary Pirates 200 years ago - Americans still cry out today : "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute" - the only difference is that back then they could solve the problem by wiping out the pirate base in Tripoli. Today that will not be possible for numerous reasons of which not at least the most important one is the high mobility of the sea-shifta, who don’t care from where they strike, an Island in the Seychelles, a bay in Yemen or from anywhere along the 3300 km long coastline of Somalia, whose downfall and persistent turmoil is not the fault of the impoverished Somalis alone.
However, the night-mare for the 10 sailors of MV CHARELLE is over.

Note to editors :

MV CHARELLE (see picture HERE)
Vessel’s Details :
Ship Type : Cargo
Year Built : 1985
Length x Breadth : 86 m X 22 m
DeadWeight : 2980 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average) : 11.2 / 10 knots
Flag : Antigua Barbuda [AG]
Call Sign : V2RX
IMO : 8506452,
MMSI : 304010427

LATEST :

Dutch navy captures 13 suspected pirates off Oman coast EU NAVFOR is holding 13 pirate suspects today after an attack on the general cargo ship BBC TOGO 150 n-miles south of Salalah, Oman. The 7,800dwt ship was attacked by pirates in two skiffs yesterday afternoon. However, barbed wire and other protective measures stopped the attackers from boarding. No casualties were reported. The Dutch warship Evertsen from EU NAVFOR and the Canadian warship Fredericton of NATO searched for the attackers.
In the evening Evertsen localized a dhow with two skiffs in the area of the earlier attack and fitting the given description commandos boarded.
In addition to the 13 suspects, "two of the original crew [were] on board. Ladders, grappling hooks, and nine automatic weapons, 1 RPG with three grenades and cases with ammunition were found,” EU NAVFOR said.
The Dutch Defense Ministry said its navy had captured the 13 pirates off the coast of Oman after they attacked the merchant marine ship. It said the pirates used speedboats and guns and tried to board the Antigua-flagged BBC TOGO, but were repelled, because the ship was well prepared in accordance with the ’Best Management Practices’ with barbed wires and other Self Protection Measures.
The pirates failed to board the vessel. Automatic weapons were fired, but luckily no casualties were reported.
They then returned to a larger fishing boat where a Dutch frigate captured them yesterday evening, 240 kilometres south of Salalah. The Dutch seized machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and boarding hooks.
The pirates are being held on the HMS Evertsen and may be turned over to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution, the ministry said today.
It is, however, not yet clear, if the mothership is the missing, sea-jacked Yemeni fishing vessel FV SHAXAR - EU NAVFOR couldn’t say.

...

Hijacked Greek ship moored close to pirates’ den in Somalia
A huge Greek oil tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean has reached the Somali coastline, the European Union’s anti-piracy mission off Somalia said on Wednesday.
"Maran Centaurus dropped anchor in Hobyo this morning," said on Wednesday Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers Assistance Programme. "The crew is reported to be safe." Local observers had reported the vessel 30 miles south of Hobyo.
The Greek-flagged MV Maran Centaurus, capable of carrying 300 000 tons, is the second-largest ship to be seized in the pirate-infested waters off lawless Somalia.
EU NAVFOR said in a statement that the ship, which was seized 600 nautical miles north-east of the Seychelles on Sunday, was now at anchor close to the pirate haven of Hobyo.
The Greek shipping company confirmed that their supertanker, which Somali pirates hijacked four days ago, has reached the coast of Somalia. Maran Tankers Management Inc. said in a Wednesday statement the tanker is near the Somali coastal town of Hobyo. The town is a haven for pirates. The company says that ship’s crew of 28 including 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, one Romanian and two Ukrainians were seized.are well.
The VLCC MARAN CENTAURUS was hijacked on Sunday about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) off the coast of Somalia. The tanker is carrying around 275,000 metric tons of crude oil.
The vessel and her cargo was headed from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to the US and was believed to be worth around $150-million.
The largest ship to be seized - Saudi tanker Sirius Star, which was carrying 2 million barrels of oil worth around $100 million at the time - was released late last year after a ransom of $3-million was paid to the pirates.
The seizure of the Sirius Star, taken during a huge upswing in piracy exactly a year ago, helped to prompt the deployment of warships from meanwhile over two dozen nations to the Gulf of Aden - one of the world’s busiest waterways - in order to combat the piracy, while the capture of the Maran tanker came right in time for the renewal of a disputed UN Security Council resolution.

news from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships as well as seafarers and vessels in distress

STATUS OF ABDUCTED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA

Summary : Today, 03rd December 2009, at least 11 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somalia against the will of their owners, while at least 272 seafarers suffer to be released.

Cases not completely closed :

MS INDIAN OCEAN EXPLORER and S/Y SERENITY - presumed sunken, wrecks not secured.

FV HILAL - wrecked near Eyl, but salvaged by owner.

BARGE NN - an unnamed barge is held at Kulule (near Bendar-Beyla) since mid march. Ownership and circumstances not yet clarified. In the meantime local people have developed some ailments.

S/Y JUMLA or YUMLA ? - a mysterious yacht kept near Dinooda.

MT AGIA BARBARA : INDIAN AND SYRIAN CREW STILL WANTED FOR MURDER - vessel escaped from Somalia after the murder of a TFG policeman and the attempted murder of another to the UAE - unhindered by international naval forces. See our respective updates.

Cases in negotiations :

FV WIN FAR 161 - The Taiwanese fishing vessel was seized April 6, 2009 near the Seychelles. Said to have been observed earlier to fish illegally in Somali waters. It had after the sea-jacking been involved in the attack on MV ALABAMA and is now still moored about 7 nm from Garacad at the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast. The crew of 30 (17 Filipinos, six Indonesians, five Chinese and two Taiwanese) is still together and on board, but in awful condition. The ship’s skipper and first engineer are Taiwanese nationals and the 700-ton long-liner is owned by a Taiwanese company, which regularly sent their vessels into Somali waters from the Seychelles - a key transshipment point for poached tuna from the Indian Ocean to Japan. The Government of the Philippines seems to be pretty helpless to even find the manning agency, who lured the 17 Pinoy sailors into the fish-poaching operation. Naval fire damaged the vessel, but it is said to still be able to sail. It is moored on the heavy anchor obtained from another, former sea-jack hostage - the MV Hansa Stavanger - near Garacad. The governments of the crew members seem not to be able to push the owner to come to terms while the crew is in a horrible state. "Let’s concentrate on getting the crew of WIN FAR 161 free," commented a spokesman from ECOTERRA Intl. after the release of MV Charelle and added "that crew suffers at the moment the longest and the most, whereby the US naval vessel close by is not helping in any way to ease the plight of the 30 sailors from five nations."

MV ARIANA : Seized May 2, 2009. The Ariana was seized north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil laden with soy-beans. The 24-strong all-Ukrainian crew has run low in food and water. The ship, flying a Maltese flag, belongs to All Oceans Shipping in Greece, who fronts for a British conglomerate. So far the shipping company has not responded to calls for urgently required medical attention. Two female sailors are on board, one of them in serious condition. The vessel received some fuel from MV KOTA WAJAR and is at the moment held close to it north of Hobyo. The Ukrainian Human Rights ombudswoman had appealed to her European counterpart in order to achieve immediate relief to the suffering of the crew members, who have run out of food and clean water. Promises by the Ukrainian government to facilitate the offered evacuation of two female sailors, one of whom was in a life-threatening medical condition and still would require to be flown out, were broken. The vessel and crew are held near Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast. The presence of a 11/12-year old girl on board could not be verified. News concerning her release falsely disseminated by wire-services twice did not come true. Medicial evacuation not facilitated, medicines not delivered - the lying games of owners and governments continue.

MV KOTA WAJAR : Seized on Oct. 15, 2009. The 24,637-tonne container ship, seized 300 nautical miles north of Seychelles, was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa from Singapore. It has a multinational 21 men crew on board, of which two are Singaporean 5 Sri Lankan and 4 Indian. It was used to lift a sea-jacked British couple, John and Rachel Chandler from their 38-ft yacht S/Y LYNN RIVAL, seized October,22 2009 en route to Tanzania and later recovered by the UK naval vessel Waveknight. The boxship is held around 30nm south of Hobyo and negotiations have started since a week.

MV DE XIN HAI : Seized on Oct. 19, 2009. The 76,000 tonne Chinese bulk carrier with 25 Chinese sailors was en route from South Africa to carries about 76,000 tonnes of coal and there were 25 Chinese crew aboard when it was hijacked in the Indian Ocean 550 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 700 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia. The bulker is owned by the state-owned Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co. Negotiations for the release seem not to have started in earnest, though the Chinese Shipowners’ Association secretary general Zhang Zuyue confirmed that the Chinese side is willing to pay a ransom. The vessel and crew are held slightly more than 3nm south of Hobyo at the central Somali coast.

MV AL KHALIQ : Seized on Oct. 22, 2009. The Panamanian-flagged 22,000 dwt handymax bulker MV AL KHALIQ was abducted around180 miles west of the Seychelles. The crew consists of 24 Indian sailors and two Burmese nationals. EU NAVFOR patrol aircraft confirmed the hijacking, with 6 pirates seen on board and two skiffs in tow. A third, the ’mother ship’ had apparently already been winched onto the ship’s deck. The vessel with over 35,000 metric tons of wheat grain is now moored near Harardheere and the crew is on board.

FV THAI UNION 3 : Seized on Oct. 29, 2009. Pirates on two skiffs boarded the tuna fishing boat with a crew of 27 with 23 Russians, two Filipinos and two nationals from Ghana about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles and 650 miles off the Somali coast. During the attack the Russian captain was shot in the left elbow. The Russian and US navies tried to provide medical aid to the captain, while the captors themselves took him to hospital, had him treated and returned him to the vessel. The fishing vessel and its crew are held just around 1.5nm apart from FV ALAKRANA, near Harardheere at the central Somali coast.

FV SHAXAR : As reported by the Yemeni coastguard and pirate sources from Eyl at the beginning of November the Yemeni fishing vessel, which had armed guards on board was impounded by a Somali militia overnight on Friday October 30, 2009 near Ras Hafun after a gun battle, in which at least one Somali was killed and another one wounded. The vessel then teamed briefly up with the in the meantime released large cargo Dhow MV SHREE NAHYAR near Garacad but was taken again to the high seas to be used as mothership on a piracy mission. Present location unknown. The vessel carries the name SHAXAR in Arabic writing and has a crew of 4 Yemeni as well as 6 Indian sailors. It must have been seized on its way back to Yemen, because it was fully loaded with illegal charcoal and fish. Charcoal export from Somalia has been banned since long and since April this year all fishing licences for foreign vessels were withdrawn, because of fraudulent organized crime issuing illegal fishing licences. Maybe this is the vessel which the Dutch navy nabbed yesterday afternoon - we are awaiting confirmation.

MV DELVINA : Seized on Nov. 5, 2009. The 53,629 dwt bulk carrier had 21 men crew consists of 7 Ukrainian officers and 14 Filipino sailors. The vessel was seized 250 nautical miles northwest of Madagascar and is laden with wheat. It arrived last night near Harardheere at the central Somali coast and the crew is said to be ok, given the circumstances. Negotiations have started.

MV FILITSA : Seized on Nov. 10, 2009. The 1996-built, 23,709 dwt cargo-ship has a crew of 22, including three Greek officers and 19 Filipinos. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been heading from Kuwait to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked 513 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles as it was sailing from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the port of Durban in S. Africa loaded with fertilizer. The ship belongs to the Order Shipping Co. Ltd.

MV THERESA VIII : Seized on Nov. 16, 2009. The chemical tanker was hijacked in the southern Somali Basin, north-west of the Seychelles. The 22,294 dwt tanker has a crew of now only 28 North Koreans, since the captain of the tanker died from gunshot wounds sustained during the hijack. The vessel went last night to Garacad but then returned to Harardheere.

VLCC MARAN CENTAURUS : Seized Nov 29, 2009 : The tanker was sailing from Kuwait to the Gulf of Mexico when it was seized north-east of the Seychelles about 800 miles (1,300 km) off the coast of Somalia.. The dwt 300,294 tonnes tanker has a crew of 28 sailors with nine Greeks, two Ukrainians, one Romanian and 16 Filipinos on board. The gigantic tanker has arrived in Hobyo.

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With the latest captures and releases now still at least 11 seized foreign vessels (13 cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy and the crew of AL HILAL is still held in Puntland) with a total of not less than 272 crew members (incl. 71-3=68 Filipinos, the British sailing couple and the 9 sailors of Al Hilal) are accounted for.

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