The Threat of Modern Piracy- A Merged Thread

[The Bread Guy]

Reuters:

The merchant ship Arctic Sea, missing for more than a week, is in international waters in the Atlantic about 400 miles north of the Cape Verde islands, Portugal's Lusa news agency reported on Friday.

Quoting the director-general of defence of Cape Verde, Pedro Reis, Lusa said the ship was north of the islands.

"The ship is located at a distance of 400 nautical miles north of Sao Vicente, outside Cape Verde's exclusive economic zone," Reis was quoted as saying. Lusa gave no further details.

More from Voice of America, the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse if you're interested.

 

[CougarKing]

And Finland says that someone has demanded a ransom for the missing ship:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090815/ap_on_re_eu/eu_missing_ship

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer Jim Heintz, Associated Press Writer – 50 mins ago
MOSCOW – A ransom demand has been received for the return of a Russian-manned freighter that went missing last month in the Atlantic, Finnish investigators said Saturday.

It was not immediately clear if the ransom demand was legitimate, and the whereabouts of the Arctic Sea, its 15 crew members and its euro1.3 million ($1.8 million) cargo of timber remain a mystery.

The crew had said they were attacked in Swedish waters four days before the ship disappeared on July 28, but there has been no confirmation that the ship was actually seized.

"A ransom demand has been made ... let's say it's a largish amount of money," Markku Ranta-Aho, of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, told national YLE radio. He said the demand was addressed to the Finland-based company that owns the Arctic Sea, but he would not give details or say where the ship might be located for fear of endangering the crew.

 

[a_majoor]

And a threat you probably didn't think about....

 

[Larkvall]

They are still looking for that ship!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb-b_vN9oR8

 

[Larkvall]

They found the ship!!!  ;D

The cargo vessel the 'Arctic Sea', which had been missing for almost three weeks, has been found off the west coast of Africa.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSdq6sfqv6w

 

[The Bread Guy]

Catching Pirates While Helping Others Nab 'Em Too - from NATO's Maritime Component Command (highlights re:  extra focus mine):

17 Aug 09

NATO begins Operation Ocean Shield

Operation Ocean Shield, NATO’s contribution to international efforts to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa, commenced today after the North Atlantic Council (NAC) approved the mission. Operation Ocean Shield builds on the experience gained during Operation Allied Protector, NATOs’ previous counter-piracy mission, and develops a distinctive NATO role based on the broad strength of the Alliance by adopting a more comprehensive approach to counter-piracy efforts.

While at-sea counter-piracy operations will continue to be the focus, a new element of regional-state counter-piracy capacity building has been developed for Operation Ocean Shield. NATO’s capacity building effort will aim to assist regional states, upon their request, in developing their own ability to combat piracy activities. This element of the operation is designed to complement existing international efforts and will contribute to a lasting maritime security solution off the Horn of Africa.

A bit more from Agence France-Presse.

 

[Yrys]

"Russia has sent two nuclear powered submarines to search for “Arctic Sea”, a cargo vessel that is thought to have been hijacked by pirates or gangsters...."

"...."Under the orders of President Dmitry Medvedev all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic have been sent to join the search for the Arctic Sea," news agency Itar Tass quoted navy commander Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky as saying...."


.... "It doesn't look like bog standard piracy. If it's standard piracy, where's the ransom?" said David Osler, industrial editor at maritime newspaper Lloyds List, who raised the Russian mafia possibility.

He suggested it may have been part of a "drugs deal gone wrong", noting the hijackers' claim
to be anti-drugs police and their search of the ship. "Another possibility is a hijack to order. You
steal the ship, respray it and sell it on," he told AFP. "But the ship was built in 1991 -- who would
go to the trouble of hijacking that to order?"

Maritime intelligence expert Nick Davis, chief executive of Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre,
raised the prospect of a commercial dispute. "It's not carrying a valuable cargo, so I strongly
suspect this is a commercial dispute with its owner and a third party and they have decided
to take matters into their own hands," he told the BBC. He added that the Arctic Sea was
unlikely to have sunk, saying: "You can't lose the vessel with all that cargo without telltale
signs being washed out."....

Follow-up :

Russia finds missing cargo ship

Russia says it has found a missing cargo vessel near the Cape Verde islands and
retrieved its Russian crew. Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the
15-member crew had been taken on board a Russian navy vessel. They were in
good condition, he said.

The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea went off radar after passing through the English
Channel with its cargo of timber. Speculation over the cause of its disappearance
had ranged from pirates to a mafia dispute to a commercial row.

The Arctic Sea was found at 0100 Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) 300 miles (480 km) off
Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Tass news agency quoted Mr Serdyukov as telling
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"The crew have been transferred to another ship. They are being interrogated now
in order to find out what happened," Mr Serdyukov said. The sailors were "alive,
healthy and are not under armed guard", the agency quoted him as saying.

Malta's Maritime Security Committee confirmed that the vessel was in the hands
of the Russian military. Further clarification in the case was being sought, it said
in a statement.

Carrying timber reportedly worth $1.8m (£1.1m), the 4,000-tonne Maltese-flagged
vessel sailed from Finland and had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of
Bejaia on 4 August. The crew reported having been boarded by up to 10 armed men
as the ship sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July, but the intruders were reported
to have left the vessel on an inflatable boat after 12 hours.

The last known contact with the crew was when the Arctic Sea reported to British
maritime authorities in Dover as it passed through the English Channel. It was then
sighted in the Bay of Biscay on 30 July. On Saturday, police in Finland said a ransom
demand had been made, but emphasised that they could not confirm its authenticity.

Map charting reported sightings of the Arctic Sea

 

[X-mo-1979]

Kudo's to the different navy's around the world for aiding in the anti piracy.However  I wonder why shipping companies are not hiring PMC's to guard their ships.Wouldn't it be a good idea?A small price to pay compared to the millions needed to retrieve another ship?

I think it would act as a deterrent more than anything.

 

[CougarKing]

Kudo's to the different navy's around the world for aiding in the anti piracy.However  I wonder why shipping companies are not hiring PMC's to guard their ships.Wouldn't it be a good idea?A small price to pay compared to the millions needed to retrieve another ship?

I think it would act as a deterrent more than anything.

Some have. Some of the older posts reflect that, although they were using non-lethal weapons such as sonic blasters(link) in those past cases, IIRC.

 

[GAP]

Russia arrests 8 suspects in Arctic Sea hijacking
The Associated Press Tue. Aug. 18 2009 6:19 AM ET
Article Link

MOSCOW — Russia's navy arrested eight men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea freighter near Sweden and forcing the crew to sail to West Africa, the defense minister said Tuesday.

Anatoly Serdyukov said the suspected hijackers were detained by the naval vessel that found the Russian-crewed freighter Monday off Cape Verde, thousands of miles (kilometers) from the Algerian port where it was supposed to dock two weeks ago.

Serdyukov spoke to reporters at an air show outside Moscow.

He told President Dmitry Medvedev earlier Tuesday that the suspected hijackers -- citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia -- were arrested without a shot being fired, state news agencies said.

There was still no information on why they allegedly seized the Arctic Sea, an 18-year-old ship with a cargo of timber worth only US$1.8 million.

The 15 crew members were safe and had been taken aboard the Russian naval vessel for questioning, Serdyukov said.
More on link

 

[The Bread Guy]

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Russia Navy detains 8 hijackers of Arctic Sea vessel
RIA-Novosti, 18 Aug 09
Article link

MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian frigate Ladny <see attached photo of frigate> has freed the Arctic Sea cargo ship in the Atlantic without firing a single shot and eight suspected hijackers have been detained, Russia's defense minister said on Tuesday.

The Arctic Sea vessel was located 480 kms (300 miles) off Cape Verde on Monday after being missing in the Atlantic for over two weeks. In addition to the 15-person crew, there were eight unidentified people on board.

Anatoly Serdyukov said a speed boat carrying four Estonians, two Latvians and two Russians approached the Arctic Sea in the Swedish territorial waters on July 24.

"The hijackers boarded the Arctic Sea, threatened the crew with weapons and demanded that their orders be followed. The Arctic Sea was following en route to Africa continent with all of its communications and navigation equipment shut down, as ordered by the hijackers," the minister reported to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The eight hijackers were arrested by Russian Navy personnel. None of the crew was injured in the operation, the Russian minister said.

"The investigation into the hijacking is continuing on board the Ladny frigate. We are taking measures to send the crew (of the Arctic Sea) back home," Serdyukov said.

Russia's Investigation Commission later said it had launched a criminal probe in connection with the hijacking.

The Maltese-flagged cargo ship left Finland with a cargo of timber on July 22 en route for Algeria. The ship last made radio contact with British coastguards on July 28. Finnish police confirmed that a $1.5 million ransom demand had been issued.

Last week, President Medvedev instructed the country's Navy to launch a search for the missing ship.

 

[Yrys]

Russia Navy detains 8 hijackers of Arctic Sea vessel
RIA-Novosti, 18 Aug 09
Article link
The Arctic Sea was following en route to Africa continent with all of its communications and navigation equipment shut down, as ordered by the hijackers,"

Well, I was puzzled by their destination. The only reason I can think of,
it's they have links with some African pirats and/or organisation...

What do you think ?

 

[a_majoor]

Interesting speculation. Now we can add piracy to the list of "cover stories" out there:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/19/world/international-us-ship-russia.html?_r=1

Hijackers Threatened to Blow Up Mystery Ship: Reports
Sign In to E-Mail Print By REUTERS
Published: August 19, 2009
Filed at 5:47 p.m. ET

Skip to next paragraph  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The hijackers of a cargo ship that disappeared off the coast of France threatened to blow it up if their ransom demands were not met, Russian news agencies said on Wednesday.

Russia on Tuesday arrested eight people on suspicion of hijacking the Arctic Sea off the Swedish coast and sailing it to the Atlantic Ocean, ending weeks of silence about the fate of a ship which has intrigued European maritime authorities.

Limited information from Russian officials has failed to satisfy skeptics who voiced doubts about whether the piracy actually took place or was a convenient cover story to conceal a possible secret cargo of arms or nuclear material.

"The crew members have already confirmed that the captors demanded a ransom and threatened to blow up the vessel if their orders were not obeyed," Interfax quoted a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.

"The crew members also claim that the people who seized the Arctic Sea were armed and got rid of their weapons when the ship (Russian navy ship) Ladny ordered the dry cargo carrier's crew to stop the vessel," he said.

Climbing gear, flares and a high-speed inflatable boat supposedly used in the hijack were found aboard the Arctic Sea, RIA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying at a briefing for Russian media.

The agencies did not say what ransom was demanded. Nobody answered the phone when Reuters called the ministry's press service to attempt to verify the reports.

The Maltese-registered, Russian-crewed vessel and its $1.3 million cargo of timber disappeared from radar screens three weeks ago, prompting speculation ranging from an attack by an organized crime gang to a top-secret spy mission.

The Malta Maritime Authority said on Tuesday, without elaborating, that the Arctic Sea had "never really disappeared," a comment which increased speculation that security services might have been involved in the affair.

Russia has said the eight detainees were citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia who on July 24 boarded the ship, forced the crew to change route and turned off its navigation equipment.

After heading through the Channel between England and France in late July, radio contact was lost and the 4,000-tonne ship did not deliver its cargo to the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4. The Russian navy found the missing ship on Monday in the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Verde.

Russian military personnel were arranging on Wednesday to fly the eight suspected hijackers and 11 crew members to Russia from the Cape Verde island off the west coast of Africa near where the vessel was intercepted, according to Cape Verde authorities.

Russian media reports earlier this month had said there were 15 crew on board the Arctic Sea and marine news site www.odin.tc reported the ship had a crew of 13.

The Arctic Sea was also on its way back to Russia, sailing with a replacement crew, the authorities said.

The official version of events was questioned by Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition journalist and commentator.

"The Arctic Sea was carrying something, not timber and not from Finland, that necessitated some major work on the ship," she wrote in the Moscow Times newspaper on Wednesday.

During two weeks of repair works in the Russian port of Kaliningrad just before the voyage, the ship's bulkhead was dismantled so something very large could be loaded, she wrote.

"To put it plainly: The Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it," she said.

(Additional reporting by Alvaro Andrade in Cape Verde)

More Articles in World »

 

[Larkvall]

"The eight suspected hijackers of the 'Arctic Sea' cargo ship are being questioned by investigators in a high-security prison in Moscow."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBZB0hs011g

 

[The Bread Guy]

"The eight suspected hijackers of the 'Arctic Sea' cargo ship are being <vigourously?> questioned by investigators in a high-security prison in Moscow."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBZB0hs011g

Hmmm.... Shades of a 2006 novel by Frederick Forsyth perhaps?

 

[MarkOttawa]

Meanwhile, back at the Gulf of Aden and an LA street gang, from Peter Worthington at NewMajority. com:

Canada Goes Pirate Hunting
http://www.newmajority.com/canada-goes-pirate-hunting

When the Canadian frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, intercepted Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last April, some were puzzled that instead of blasting the pirate boat out of the water, the Winnipeg’s helicopter displayed a “stop” sign to dissuade the hijacking.

“The stop sign was mounted beside a machine gun, and the pirates got the message – stop or else,” recalls the skipper of the Winnipeg at the time, Commander Craig Baines, now ashore and due to take a French course before assuming staff duties in Ottawa.

Cdr. Baines feels the term “pirate” is a bit misleading. “They’re more like a Los Angeles street gang,” he says. “Young, hopped up on khat, armed and dangerous, but not thugs – kids mostly, in a high-risk business.”

He was asked if sinking their boats and stringing them up wouldn’t be a more persuasive deterrent than stop signs?

“If we were to catch pirates in the process of attacking or boarding a ship, we’d take such action as necessary,” says Cdr. Baines. “Remember, we are the good guys. We follow rules. Rather than pirates in the popular sense, these people are criminals.”

Each country with ships in NATO’s anti-pirate mission to keep the sea lanes open around Somalia, has its own rules about piracy. The French have been aggressive, and on occasion hostages have been killed [see 2) here]...

When the 134 meter-long, 5,000 ton Canadian warship comes along side a 25 to 40-foot pirate boat, powered by 40 to 60 horsepower engines, the pirates try to dump their weapons and incriminating evidence overboard.

“Instantly they are no longer combatants,” quips Cdr. Baines. “They are seven guys just sitting in a boat, sometimes fishing and all proclaiming innocence.”

Even though it can be frustrating to capture pirates and then have to release them, there is satisfaction in the mission. Cdr. Baines, whose 22 years in the navy have been spent mostly at sea on nine different ships, figures the Winnipeg stopped six pirate attacks on his watch, and other NATO ships thwarted 15 piracies.

Still, one gets the feeling that keeping the sea lanes open in the Gulf of Aden with limited NATO ships, is a losing cause. Catching pirates doesn’t deter the ones financing the piracy...

Just as Canada’s army is a good fit with U.S. and NATO forces, so our navy integrates well with the U.S. and allied navies. As Cdr. Baines puts it: “We’re a small navy, but we’re world class, and we integrate well.”..

Canadian morale in pirate waters is high. During six months chasing pirates, there were no complaints among the Winnipeg’s crew of 250 – even though none of the pirates they encountered wore eye patches, had peg legs, or wore the skull and crossbones...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[The Bread Guy]

....into detecting tiny craft.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/88208/post-868802.html#msg868802

 

[CougarKing]

Another update:

http://www.norwaypost.no/content/view/22412/1/

Pirates apprehended by Norwegian frigate       
Boarding crews from the Norwegian frigate "Fridtjof Nansen" on patrol in the Bay of Aden, on Saturday stopped and boarded a suspicious vessel, and found weapons, ladders and boarding equipment.
Seven men, suspected of being pirates were questioned, but were later set free.

- We have to operate according to international law. We could not prove that they had done anything wrong, and we could therefore not arrest them, says spokesman for the Norwegian Defence Operative Center, Lieutenant Colonel John Espen Lien.

The arms and equipment found on board the alleged pirate vessel were confiscated.

(NRK)

Rolleiv Solholm

 

[The Bread Guy]

From U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs:

MANAMA, Bahrain – Yesterday, at approximately 8:00 a.m. local time, Somali Pirates aboard Motor Vessel (M/V) Win Far, fired what appeared to be a large caliber weapon at a U.S. Navy SH-60B Helicopter from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 49, embarked aboard USS Chancellorsville (CG 62).

No rounds of ammunition struck the SH-60B. The SH-60 crew did not return fire. No personnel injuries resulted from the incident.

Win Far is a Taiwanese-flagged vessel that was pirated April 6, 2009, and over the past 135 days it has been used as a “mother ship” to conduct other known pirate attacks, most notably the U.S. flagged Maersk-Alabama in April 2009.

The helicopter was conducting a routine surveillance flight of M/V Win Far currently held at anchorage by Somali pirates south of Garacad, Somalia when the incident occurred.

During the flight, aircrew observed activity, but could not ascertain they were fired upon until their return to Chancellorsville and review of Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) video, which recorded the incident. The helicopter was approximately 3,000 yards from Win Far when it was fired upon.

More than 30 crewmembers remain as hostages aboard the pirated vessel M/V Win Far ....

Somali pirates aboard the Motor Vessel (M/V) Win Far fired on a U.S. Navy SH-60B Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Scorpions of Helicopter anti-Submarine Squadron light (HSL 49). The helicopter, embarked aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), was conducting a surveillance mission near the anchored M/V Win Far south of Garacad, Somalia. No rounds struck the helicopter and no one was injured. Click here to view <21 second .wmv video>

More from Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg wire services.

 

[CougarKing]

I would have thought that a North Korean ship would be better armed than this- as in having armed soldiers aboard- in stead of their merchant sailors just resorting to molotov cocktails as described below:

North Korean ship fights off Somali pirates
AP

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Somali pirates tried but failed to hijack a North Korean cargo ship when crew members fought back with improvised fire bombs and sped away, a maritime official said Tuesday.

Separately, other Somali pirates released a Greek-managed ship with 22 Filipino crewmen after five months in captivity, officials in the Philippines said.

The North Korean ship was adrift off the Somali coast near Mogadishu on Sept. 5 for engine work when the crew saw 10 pirates approaching in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The North Korean ship immediately started its engine and moved away, and the captain called the bureau for help when the pirates — dressed in military clothing — began firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Choong said.

The crew fought back with improvised molotov cocktails — bottles filled with kerosene or similar fluid and set alight by a wick or rag. The crew also fired distress rocket flares at the pirates, and the ship escaped "after the captain increased speed," Choong said.

The captain later told the IMB a U.S. warship arrived at the scene, but the pirates had fled, Choong added. He could not confirm it was a U.S. ship.

One of the 30 North Korean crew members was injured, and the ship was damaged, Choong said. The ship was heading to the Middle East when it was attacked. It was not clear where the ship went.

The incident raised the number of attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year to 156. So far, 32 ships have been hijacked and five remain held by pirates along with 102 crew members, Choong said.

It was not immediately clear if the five ships still in custody are in addition to the Greek-managed ship that was reported by the Philippine government to have been released.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Tuesday the information came from Bright Maritime Corp., the local manning company of the St.-Vincent and Grenadines-flagged bulk carrier. It was not immediately known when the ship and crew were released.

The ship was headed to India from Jordan when it was seized April 14.

The Philippines supplies about 30 percent of the world's 1.2 million merchant sailors.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 — a power vacuum that has allowed the pirates to operate freely around Somalia's 1,900-mile (3,060-kilometer) east African coastline, along one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The U.S. government last week warned of an increase in piracy off Africa's east coast because the monsoon has ended and Somali pirates will have easier access to passing ships.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_re_as/piracy