Adventures in Piracy

Piracy 'delaying vital food aid from reaching Somalia' - CNN

2011-11-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

Piracy 'delaying vital food aid from reaching Somalia' - CNN:

Piracy 'delaying vital food aid from reaching Somalia'
CNN
(CNN) -- Somali pirates are notorious for being behind a spate hijackings on the high seas but their activities have also exacerbated food shortages in the Horn of Africa, a senior official from the African Development Bank has said. ...

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Pirates seize oil tanker and kidnap crew near Nigeria - USA Today

2011-11-03T13:15:00.000-04:00

Pirates seize oil tanker and kidnap crew near Nigeria - USA Today:

BBC News

Pirates seize oil tanker and kidnap crew near Nigeria
USA Today
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Pirates seized an oil tanker off the coast of Nigeria's southern delta, kidnapping the crew in a bid to steal ship's cargo in the latest hijacking targeting the region, private security officials said Thursday. ...
Nigeria pirates hijack MT Halifax oil tankerBBC News
Pirates Sieze Oil Tanker off NigeriaVoice of America (blog)

all 128 news articles »

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UN Urging More Anti-Piracy Action Off African Coasts - Voice of America (blog)

2011-11-02T12:14:00.002-04:00

UN Urging More Anti-Piracy Action Off African Coasts - Voice of America (blog):

UN News Centre

UN Urging More Anti-Piracy Action Off African Coasts
Voice of America (blog)
A senior UN official says that despite unprecedented efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, countries must do more to address the problem. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun told the Security Council ...
Current efforts to stem piracy off Somali coast must be strengthened – UN officialUN News Centre
Somali pirates inspire copycat attacks: UNMSN Philippines News

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Somali pirates need jobs or jail, not ransom or death - Left Foot Forward

2011-11-02T12:14:00.001-04:00

Somali pirates need jobs or jail, not ransom or death - Left Foot Forward:

Left Foot Forward

Somali pirates need jobs or jail, not ransom or death
Left Foot Forward
David Cameron's announcement that UK flagged merchant ships will be licenced to carry armed guards has been interpreted as tough action to take the fight to Somali pirates. But on its own, it's a move that could make a complex situation worse and put ...
You can shoot Somali piratesThe Sun
Somali piracy: UK merchant vessels to be armedLink2Portal
Armed guards on UK vessels to counter piracyFinancial Times
Reuters -The Maritime Executive
all 575 news articles »

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Somalia: Is Pirate Fishing the Cause of Piracy and Will the Gulf of Guinea ... - AllAfrica.com

2011-11-02T12:14:00.000-04:00

Somalia: Is Pirate Fishing the Cause of Piracy and Will the Gulf of Guinea ... - AllAfrica.com:

Somalia: Is Pirate Fishing the Cause of Piracy and Will the Gulf of Guinea ...
AllAfrica.com
Last year London based international maritime organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Maritime Bureau (IMB) began to sound the alarm about the increasing threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, ...

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Ten Somali pirates sentenced to life imprisonment - gulfnews.com

2011-11-02T12:13:00.001-04:00

Ten Somali pirates sentenced to life imprisonment - gulfnews.com:

Ten Somali pirates sentenced to life imprisonment
gulfnews.com
Muscat: The Appeal Court in Muscat has sent ten Somali pirates to prison for life imprisonment while handing down three-year jail to three others in a separate case, according to a press release by the Public Prosecution on Tuesday. ...

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Somali Pirates Hijack Greek Tanker, 22 Crew - Voice of America (blog)

2011-11-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

Somali Pirates Hijack Greek Tanker, 22 Crew - Voice of America (blog):

Reuters Africa

Somali Pirates Hijack Greek Tanker, 22 Crew
Voice of America (blog)
Somali pirates have hijacked a Greek-owned vessel with 22 crew members on board and are taking the ship toward Somalia. The NATO Shipping Center says a vessel was hijacked Monday in the western Gulf of Aden. Andrew Mwangura, a regional piracy expert, ...
Somali pirates hijack Greek-owned chemical tankerReuters Africa
Chemical Tanker Liquid Velvet Falls To Pirates, 22 Crew Held HostageGCaptain (press release)
Somali pirates hijack Greek-owned chemical tankerNational Post (blog)
The Epoch Times -The Handy Shipping Guide
all 43 news articles »

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Ex-Marines Fighting Pirates as World Shipping Lanes Attacked - BusinessWeek

2011-10-18T15:41:00.000-04:00

Ex-Marines Fighting Pirates as World Shipping Lanes Attacked - BusinessWeek:

Ex-Marines Fighting Pirates as World Shipping Lanes Attacked
BusinessWeek
“The pirates will back off and wait to find a vessel that isn't armed. For the vessels that are unable to protect themselves, the violence will be quite intense.” PVI guards in September repelled a pirate attack on a vessel owned by Torm A/S, ...

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Piracy Attacks at Record Levels But Hijackings Decline - Insurance Journal

2011-10-18T15:40:00.000-04:00

Piracy Attacks at Record Levels But Hijackings Decline - Insurance Journal:

NASDAQ

Piracy Attacks at Record Levels But Hijackings Decline
Insurance Journal
“Somali pirates are finding it harder to hijack ships and get the ransom they ask for. The navies deserve to be complimented on their excellent work: they are a vital force in deterring and disrupting pirate activity,” said Mukundan. ...
Watchdog: Emboldened Somali pirates drive world attacks to recordMonsters and Critics.com
Watchdog says world sea piracy has hit new high with more raids in Somalia, BeninWashington Post
Piracy rising to record ratesNASDAQ

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Pirate hostages saved by HMS Somerset - This is Somerset

2011-10-17T13:51:00.000-04:00

Pirate hostages saved by HMS Somerset - This is Somerset:

Pirate hostages saved by HMS Somerset
This is Somerset
Crew on board a Royal Navy frigate rescued a group of Pakistani fishermen who had been taken hostage by Somali pirates who seized their trawler. In a daring mission Royal Marines from HMS Somerset boarded a large fishing dhow being used by the pirates ...

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Pirate Busters UK Ltd - The Sun

2011-10-16T18:35:00.001-04:00

Pirate Busters UK Ltd - The Sun:

The Sun

Pirate Busters UK Ltd
The Sun
Last month Brit tourist Judith Tebbutt, 56, was kidnapped by Somali pirates and her 58-year-old husband David was shot dead. Last year Brits Paul and Rachel Chandler were released for a reported £600000 ransom after months in captivity. ...
SEA TRANSPORTATION: Targeting The MiddlemenStrategy Page

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Tough time for pirates, sea robbers as Navy gears up for war - Vanguard

2011-10-16T18:35:00.000-04:00

Tough time for pirates, sea robbers as Navy gears up for war - Vanguard:

Tough time for pirates, sea robbers as Navy gears up for war
Vanguard
For maritime operators in Nigeria, it has been one long tale of woes over the raw deal they have been having in the hands of pirates and sea robbers on waterways who delight in seizing their ships with near impunity. ...

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Message in a Bottle: Old School S.O.S. Helps Rescue Hijacked Ship - Wired News

2011-10-16T18:34:00.002-04:00

Message in a Bottle: Old School S.O.S. Helps Rescue Hijacked Ship - Wired News:

shropshirestar.com

Message in a Bottle: Old School S.O.S. Helps Rescue Hijacked Ship
Wired News
Ship owners can now fend off hijackings with puke-inducing chemical sprays, ear-splitting sonic blasters and anti-pirate lasers. But this week a ship's crew foiled a hijacking with help from a decidedly older technology: a message in a bottle. ...
AUDIO: Pirates foiled by crew's bottled SOSBBC News
Somalian pirate ship's town linkHartlepool Today
Message in bottle tells rescuers that pirate hostages are safe in citadelMarine Log
shropshirestar.com -GCaptain (press release) -The Maritime Executive
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Tanker hijacked off Nigeria with 20 crew freed - AFP

2011-10-16T18:34:00.001-04:00

Tanker hijacked off Nigeria with 20 crew freed - AFP:

CTV.ca

Tanker hijacked off Nigeria with 20 crew freed
AFP
LAGOS — The 20 Eastern European crew of a tanker hijacked off Nigeria nearly a week ago were freed along with the vessel on Friday, officials said, amid mounting concern at West African pirate attacks. Details of the release of the crew as well as the ...
Tanker Hijacked Off Nigeria Released Along With CrewGCaptain (press release)

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BOLTON: Treat Somali pirates like terrorists - Washington Times

2011-10-16T18:34:00.000-04:00

BOLTON: Treat Somali pirates like terrorists - Washington Times:

Washington Times

BOLTON: Treat Somali pirates like terrorists
Washington Times
The recent kidnapping of a handicapped French woman from a Kenyan resort, initially attributed to Somali pirates, was the second such kidnapping in a month. Kenyan authorities now blame al-Shabab, the Somali terrorist group affiliated ...
IMO Host Anti Pirate Day but Freight and Shipping Interests Still Await Better ...The Handy Shipping Guide
UK to set up maritime center in Seychelles to combat piracyeTurboNews

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SOMALIAN PIRATES WHO ARE BEING STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS BY BRITISH MERCENARIES - Daily Star

2011-10-16T18:33:00.000-04:00

SOMALIAN PIRATES WHO ARE BEING STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS BY BRITISH MERCENARIES - Daily Star:

SOMALIAN PIRATES WHO ARE BEING STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS BY BRITISH MERCENARIES
Daily Star
RUTHLESS Somali pirates unleashing terror on the high seas are being smashed by groups of British mercenaries. Anti-piracy firms are making a fortune by hiring out teams of £1500-a-day ex-military hard men to protect ships from gun-toting ...

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Brit Marines save 23 in daring Somali pirate raid - The Sun

2011-10-13T15:21:00.000-04:00

Brit Marines save 23 in daring Somali pirate raid - The Sun:

AFP

Brit Marines save 23 in daring Somali pirate raid
The Sun
BRITISH Commandos were today praised as heroes after storming a cargo ship and freeing 23 hostages from the clutches of Somali pirates. The ten-strong team of elite Royal Navy specialists and Royal Marines mounted a joint operation ...
Marines overpower pirates after crew sends message in a bottleScotsman
Message in a bottle foils pirate attackHerald Scotland
Somali pirates foiled by British and U.S. naval forcesGlobalPost
CNN International -AFP -Aljazeera.net
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Owner: 20 sailors on tanker seized off Nigeria - The Associated Press

2011-10-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

Owner: 20 sailors on tanker seized off Nigeria - The Associated Press:

AFP

Owner: 20 sailors on tanker seized off Nigeria
The Associated Press
Violent pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea have risen in recent months, leading an umbrella group of London insurers to list Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia.
Pirates Seize Tanker off Nigerian CoastVoice of America
Pirates hijack tanker off Nigerian coastAFP
Tanker ship, crew seized off Nigeria's coastForbes
Sky News Australia
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Weather slows dive on Blackbeard's pirate ship - msnbc.com

2011-10-13T15:18:00.001-04:00

Weather slows dive on Blackbeard's pirate ship - msnbc.com:

msnbc.com

Weather slows dive on Blackbeard's pirate ship
msnbc.com
Diving archaeologists are in the midst of a monthlong expedition to the sunken wreckage of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off the North Carolina coast, but the weather is not cooperating. ...

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Southsea captain helped lead pirate swoop - Portsmouth News

2011-10-13T15:18:00.000-04:00

Southsea captain helped lead pirate swoop - Portsmouth News:

Portsmouth News

Southsea captain helped lead pirate swoop
Portsmouth News
A ROYAL Navy captain from Southsea was involved in the daring mission to free an Italian cargo ship captured by pirates, it has emerged. Captain Gerry Northwood, 49, played a leading role in the operation from the naval supply ship RFA Fort Victoria, ...

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Crew of pirate fishing vessel seized off Alaska faces deportation - Alaska Dispatch

2011-10-13T15:17:00.000-04:00

Crew of pirate fishing vessel seized off Alaska faces deportation - Alaska Dispatch:

Alaska Dispatch

Crew of pirate fishing vessel seized off Alaska faces deportation
Alaska Dispatch
Mark Begich, D-Alaska, suggested that the "pirate fishing vessel" be towed out into the Bering Sea and blasted to smithereens as a target for Coast Guard gunships. "It would send an unambiguous signal that pirate fishing is unacceptable to the United ...

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Somalian pirate ship's town link - Hartlepool Today

2011-10-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

Somalian pirate ship's town link - Hartlepool Today:

shropshirestar.com

Somalian pirate ship's town link
Hartlepool Today
A SHIP which made international headlines when its crew was subjected to a terrifying hijack by Somalian pirates was berthed in Hartlepool just last month. The Italian ship Montecristo was stormed by a crack team of Royal Marine commandos after it was ...
Message in bottle tells rescuers that pirate hostages are safe in citadelMarine Log
UK forces storm pirate-held shipBBC News
Sea captain helps rescue ship after pirate attackshropshirestar.com
The Handy Shipping Guide -GCaptain (press release) -The Maritime Executive
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Pirates Reasonably Close to Indian Territory:

2011-07-05T07:59:00.002-04:00

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HIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Piracy activities in the Indian Ocean were getting closer to Indian territory, Air Marshal Sumit Mukerji, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command (SAC), said on Thursday.
Addressing a farewell press conference at the SAC, Mukerji retired on Thursday after a career spanning nearly four decades - he said that pirates were ‘reasonably close’ to the Lakshadweep Islands.
“They are still in International waters. Now, the Indian Navy is engaged in anti-piracy measures. At the moment it is felt adequate,” he said. While pirates are believed to be upgrading their weaponry and mode of transportation, pre-empting a pirate attack is still a difficult proposition, he said.
“For one, the Indian Ocean is so vast. Identifying a pirate ship is a problem. They are quite fearless and mix and merge with other ships. Only when an attack is attempted, we know,” he said.
With the Indian Ocean region gaining in strategic importance, the SAC is adding more teeth to its Air Defence capabilities. Air Marshal Mukerji said that the Command would be getting new assets to ‘reach out into the Indian Ocean.’ The Tanjore and Sulur air bases will become fully operational soon. By 2016, Tanjore will have a Sukhoi-30 fighter squadron and Sulur, a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) squadron by 2012-2013, he said.
“Tanjore is going to see a lot of activity. “The Su-30 fighters aside, it will also have an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron and also a transport aircraft squadron in addition to a radar unit,” he said. The Su-30s can cover the Indian Ocean from the Malacca Straits to the Straits of Hormuz. “We are also getting a lot of radars. Our radars are also integrated with that of the Navy and the Airport Authority of India,” Mukerji said.
The IAF proposal to revive the World War II airfield at Kayathar in southern Tamil Nadu was being actively pursued by the Ministry of Defence, he said.

Somali pirates go high tech

2011-07-05T07:58:00.000-04:00

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By Neal Ungerleider, Fast Company

Somali pirates aren't content just floating around in their fishing boats, looking for victims. These days, pirates off the Horn of Africa are turning to a sophisticated mix of weaponry, jury-rigged GPS devices and ingenious hacks of shipping-industry databases to hunt down prey. The resulting technology isn't just fascinating — it also has a real impact on foreign millitaries who are fighting piracy.

In addition to random attacks on cargo and passenger ships, Somali pirates are increasingly relying on the use of GPS systems, satellite phones, and open-source intelligence such as shipping industry blogs in order to figure out the location of ships. Much of the technological infrastructure used by the pirates is allegedly located in the Somali city of Eyl, which has been described as the "piracy capital of the world."

In an interview with Abdullahi Jamaa of Egyptian Web publication OnIslam.net, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program detailed the methods used by the pirates:

"The most important thing for Somali pirates is getting relevant information regarding merchant vessels that they wish to hijack. But this does not come easily without the use of certain technologies […] What they must know includes information on the value of vessels, the value of the goods and the number of crew members […] They use navigational technologies in their daily operation. This involves a combination of technologies, most important[ly] they use satellite cell phones for long range communications."

Satellite phones are easily attainable in the chaos of Mogadishu; foreign importers earn a hefty premium bringing the expensive phones into the beleaguered country. However, the weapon in the Somali arsenal that's most interesting to Western observers is the use of pirate-operated radar to locate targets at sea. Pirate “motherships” with radar and advanced weapons capabilities have strayed far beyond the Horn of Africa to locales as far-flung as Madagascar, India and the Persian Gulf.

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A modern piracy story ends in DC with sentencing of Somali man who attacked 2 ships

2011-04-07T14:44:00.000-04:00

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By Associated Press, Thursday, April , 12:27 PM

WASHINGTON — A Somali man who has acknowledged being a modern day pirate and attacked two ships off the coast of Somalia has been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison.

Jama Idle Ibrahim was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court. He had previously pleaded guilty to a failed assault on the Navy’s USS Ashland and an attack on a Danish ship called the CEC Future, for which he and other pirates got a $1.7 million ransom.

Under a plea agreement, Ibrahim was sentenced to 25 years in the attack on the Danish ship to run concurrently with a 30-year sentence in the Ashland case.

The case is believed to be the first time a pirate who successfully got a ransom was prosecuted in the United States.