Please Note
Slight change to format. Small, but will assist in posting direct to the Blog page.
For those out there who do not wish to receive email and a no frills text version.
Yer, counting the days to the Holiday !!!!
Blog Page at : http://snooper-news.blogspot.com/
Regards
Snooper
-------------------------------------
THE ZAC SUTHERLAND UPDATE
Zac's Blog
My name is Zac Sunderland and I am 17 years old. I departed 14th June 2008 from Marina del Rey, California in an attempt to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone by yacht.
====================
Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Photo : Jen Edney,
Caption : Well, that be ME !!!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Out of Africa II
Latest Position: 12/10/28 0318Z 28 32.197S 34 48.455E
I have been given the green light to head into Durban and am slowly making my way south and west. The conditions are light and shifting but are predicted to fill in today. I will have to push Intrepid hard to make the most of the window of wind for the next 24 - 36 hours. I forgot to mention what I have been eating out here when I wrote the summary of my day a few days ago. I'm afraid it has been pretty depressing. I have not had much success with provisioning and my Costco canned soups and chilis are long gone. I have some canned mac and cheese and some amazingly spicy canned curry that I am bringing home for dad for Christmas. (Hopefully he won't read this.) My favorite thing these days is canned fruit and Lara Bars that my grandmother sent with Dad to Mauritius.
To the commenter that questioned whether or not I read the blog comments: the answer is yes and no. I don't have the capability to access the blog from the boat. I have to either dictate or email my blogs home for my mom to post onto the blog. She copies the comments and posts them in emails for me or reads them to me if the weather is too wild to be checking email. I read the blog and yahoo.com emails etc when in port when I have time. That said, I will attempt to answer your questions more regularly than I have done in the past.
@ Daveh - I am totally loving the night vision scope. It is my favorite piece of equipment outside of the radar/chartplotter. I was too tired to forage for a thinner coin or tool so I chose to just watch the ship pass.
@ Jeff Michals-Brown: I set my alarm at 2.5 miles and also at 4.5 miles. The boat is small enough that when I swing the radar monitor into the salon (inside of the boat) it wakes me up pretty well. If I miss the 4.5 mile alarm, I have the 2.5 mile alarm as a back up.
@ Point Yacht Club: I am looking forward to meeting you all in a few days!
Cheers,
Zac
posted by Zac at 6:07 PM
---------------------------------------
Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
--------------------------------------
Mike Perham aged 16, the youngest person to sail across the atlantic solo now has his eye's on an even more adventurous challenge.
To become the youngest person to sail around the world solo in an open 50 racing yacht.
Test Sail - 09 12 08
My goodness, what a hectic few days it’s been! I’ve taken Totallymoney.com out of port and back again three times in 24-hours.
First let me start by apologising for the radio silence, only we’ve been working solid and I can’t send emails from the boat while we’re in port as it needs to make contact with a satellite which is on the horizon, so if any land gets in the way there’s no signal. It only works when I’m at sea…
Secondly the great news is that the autopilot has been fixed. The problem was caused by its two compasses, which were out by 60 degrees for some reason. These have now been replaced by the specialist and, fingers crossed, everything seems to be in order.
The engine had also conked out due to a problem with the ballast pump and, as always seems to be the case in these situations, we were missing the one tool we needed to fix it. Dad and I were forced to trawl the entire island before we found the thing! But this is now repaired, along with all the other little niggles.
Now everything seems to be shipshape, I’m taking Totallymoney.com for a 24 hour test sail, starting this afternoon and then I’ll be off again tomorrow – then it’s really going to get exciting, I just can’t wait to get further south!
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
===================
Somali pirates free Greek ship - maritime official
Tue 9 Dec 2008, 14:51 GMT
NAIROBI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Somali pirates have released a Greek freighter, the MV Capt Stephanos, which they hijacked in September, a regional maritime organisation said on Tuesday.
A surge in attacks at sea this year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has pushed up insurance costs, brought the gangs tens of millions of dollars in ransoms, and prompted foreign warships to rush to the area.
The Stephanos was seized on Sept. 21 by gunmen from the Horn of Africa nation. It was flying the Bahamas flag, carrying coal and had 17 Filipinos, one Chinese and a Ukrainian on board.
"The crew members' state of health is estimated as satisfactory," the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said in a statement, adding that the ship was heading to Italy.
The group said the vessel was released late on Monday.
There have been nearly 100 attacks in Somali waters this year, despite the presence of several foreign warships. The sea gangs are holding about a dozen ships and nearly 300 crew.
Among the captured vessels are a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil, the Sirius Star, and a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying some 30 Soviet-era tanks, the MV Faina.
The 27-member European Union agreed on Monday to launch an anti-piracy naval operation off Somalia involving warships and aircraft from several nations.
The first such naval operation by the EU will initially involve three warships -- from Greece, Britain and France, and two maritime surveillance aircraft from France and Spain. (Reporting by Daniel Wallis)
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL988677.html
----------------------------------
Warship handed over to Royal Navy
One of the world's most advanced warships is to be officially handed over to the Royal Navy during a ceremony on the Clyde.
HMS Daring will be the first of six new Type 45 destroyers built by BVT Surface Fleet in Glasgow to enter service.
The 7,000 tonne vessel has successfully carried out sea trials after being launched at BVT's Scotstoun yard in 2006 and will enter service in January.
The Type 45s replace the ageing fleet of Type 42s as part of a £6bn project.
HMS Dragon was launched in November 2008, HMS Dauntless in January 2007 and HMS Diamond in November 2007.
They are due to come into service in 2009 and 2010.
Work on the fifth and six T45s, Defender and Duncan, is still ongoing.
Each of the 150m long vessels has a price tag of £605m.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7774289.stm
Published: 2008/12/10 01:14:05 GMT
---------------------------------
Expert: US Navy doesn’t need war on piracy
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 9, 2008 17:44:40 EST
The U.S. Navy and its international allies should take care they don’t start a “war on piracy,” as the U.S. declared “wars” on terror and drugs, a top maritime security analyst said Tuesday.
Piracy will never be completely eliminated, Rand Corp. researcher Peter Chalk said, but it can be managed and defended against to the point that it becomes just another cost of international commerce. What’s more, the international system can probably withstand a great deal more attacks and hijackings beyond the recent spike off Somalia, he said, given the scale of global trade.
Although Chalk cautioned that there are few reliable figures when it comes to the costs of piracy, he said a rough estimate is that global piracy costs the world about $16 billion per year, although he noted that figure is a conservative guess because many pirate attacks aren’t reported. The total yearly value of international maritime trade is more than $7.8 trillion, making the losses to piracy comparatively minor.
As with other piracy experts, Chalk said the lawlessness off Somalia’s coast was a symptom of its anarchy on land. The absence of authorities gives pirates the ability to hijack ships and take them to ports where no police will try to free them. Also, pirate payoffs give locals a stake in helping the attacks continue. Short of invading the coastal towns that serve as pirate havens, experts have said, there is no way to strike at more than the symptoms of piracy.
Chalk also echoed other experts with his view that the U.S. and European naval patrols off Somalia could never stop all the attacks over hundreds of square miles, nor even serve as a deterrent for pirates who have proven to be wily, inventive operators. As such, the European Union’s new anti-piracy patrol, with four ships, won’t have much of an effect, Chalk said.
The U.S. commander in charge of the waters off Somalia, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, told CNN on Monday that he thought it would take a force of 61 warships to safeguard the sea lanes just in the Gulf of Aden, compared with the 14 international ships now patrolling off the Horn of Africa. If the U.S. Navy alone had to provide a force that size, it would take every destroyer and cruiser in the fleet, plus three frigates.
But Chalk suggested there were nonmilitary techniques that could at least help cut back on the number of hijackings. If foreign agencies tried to spur local development in the pirate-haven towns, it could lessen the appeal of the money that came in from piracy, he said, although he cautioned that some attacks probably would still take place.
He also cautioned that pirates’ recent successes could presage new maritime terrorist attacks. There’s almost no hard evidence linking Somali pirates with Islamic terrorists, Chalk said, but terror groups could use the lessons from pirate attacks for future operations. Terrorists could also become regular third-party buyers of weapons and other goods seized by pirates.
Cruise ships and civilian ferries —“the softest of the soft targets” — are at particular risk for small-boat suicide attacks, Chalk said. Most governments treat ferries more as mass transit than as commercial vessels, he said, and the way such ships are built makes them especially susceptible to catastrophic attacks. The 2004 bombing of Philippine SuperFerry 14, which killed 116 people, cost just $400 for 8 pounds of dynamite hidden in a television set, Chalk said.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/12/navy_pirate_speech_120908w/
----------------------------------
First View – AQUAMARINE ACE
The impressive new pure car carrier AQUAMARINE ACE (60,143-gt, built 2008), operated by Mitsui (MOLShip) was one of several car carriers to arrive in Durban harbour this week.
Picture by Steve McCurrach
http://www.airserv.co.za/maritime.htm
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2008_12_9_4235.html
----------------------------------
Nations Gather to Prep for Black Sea Interoperability Exercise
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081209-06
Release Date: 12/9/2008 6:33:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mark Meredith, USS Enterprise Public Affairs
NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Commander, Carrier Strike Group 12, hosted representatives of 11 nations Dec. 2-4 for the initial planning conference for the 37th annual Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) exercise at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel..
BALTOPS 2009 will take place in the Baltic Sea June 8-19, 2009 and is the largest international exercise organized in the Baltic.
The purpose of BALTOPS is to promote mutual understanding and maritime interoperability between U.S. Navy, NATO and Partnership for Peace (PFP) participants through a series of multilateral training exercises. Carrier Strike Group 12 is assigned as the primary planning, coordination and execution command for the exercise.
For the 2009 BALTOPS exercise, 12 countries are scheduled to participate: Estonia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
"The purpose of BALTOPS is to bring all of the nations together in one exercise," said Cmdr. J.G. Olaf Albrecht, the head of the delegation from the German Navy Fleet Headquarters. "We learn how other navies work and how to live together in the Baltic Sea, especially the nations which are former Soviet nations such as Lithuania and Latvia. It's a very educational experience."
The initial planning conference is only one step in the preparation for a successful BALTOPS.
"We have more planning conferences left; the main planning conference will be hosted in Germany," said Lt. Sam Bethune, Carrier Strike Group 12 exercise lead planner for BALTOPS. "And the final planning conference will be hosted by Poland. Not only are these nations helping to plan the exercise, but they're hosting our conferences so we can learn a little bit about their country and culture as we do the planning."
BALTOPS is an important experience because it improves interoperability among the participating nations and creates forces that are able to easily integrate into multinational, multiwarfare operations.
"It's a great exercise and a great experience for everybody who will take part because it's unique," said Albrecht. "Normally, we don't train with the United States, so this is the only time we have training with Americans inside the Baltic. It's a very important thing."
Through the dedication and the hard work of everyone involved, Bethune hopes this upcoming BALTOPS will be as successful as the previous 36 BALTOPS.
"We had great participation at this conference," said Bethune. "We hope for even better participation at our next conference in Germany. We accomplished all of our goals, so we're moving ahead in pretty good shape. It was a very successful event, and having it here in downtown Norfolk was a treat."
For more news from Carrier Strike Group 12, visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn65.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2008/12/mil-081209-nns04.htm
----------------------------------
Boost for Coega as R1 billion contract is signed
The new refinery at Coega for state-owned PetroSA moved a step closer on Monday with the signing of a R1 billion contract for the first phase of the engineering and design contract, which has been awarded to US energy group KBR.
KBR will be setting up a local proprietary limited company that will include black economic empowerment participants. Ultimately the R111 billion refinery in its final stage will have its own gas-fired power station and will be connected to Gauteng by pipeline.
According to PetroSA chief executive Sipho Mkhize, the Coega refinery will play a major role in securing South Africa’s future fuel supplies. Without the refinery the country will probably have to import 10 billion litres of fuel a year by 2015 – equivalent to 200,000 barrels per day which is approximately 20% of the country’s requirement.
PetroSA says the refinery will create employment for 25,000 people and will produce 400,000 barrels a day, making it the largest in Africa when it comes into production in 2014.
Not that everything is all cut and dried yet. The feasibility study for the project will only be completed by September next year after which final board approval must be sought, sometime in 2010.
The positioning of the refinery at Coega means that the port of Ngqura will have to adapt to handling large oil tankers, either directly in port or by way of an offshore mooring facility. PetroSA says it will source crude oil on the international market although the emphasis will be on supplies from South America.
Providing all goes to plan the refinery promises to be the Eastern Cape’s biggest industrial development ever.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2008_12_9_4235.html
----------------------------------
Sonangol and KBR sign contract to build Lobito refinery
KBR, the Texas-based company that specialises in building oil platforms and which has just recently signed a contract to develop the first phase of the new Coega refinery in South Africa (see report above), has signed with Sonangol, Angola’s national fuel company, to build a new refinery at the port city of Lobito.
Included in the two-year contract is the development of harbour facilities to service the refinery and other access points. KBR will undertake the supervision of the refinery’s construction.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2008_12_9_4235.html
----------------------------------
OPEC needs big supply cut to stem oil's slide
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
OPEC needs to make a large cut in supplies at a meeting next week, its third reduction since September, to prevent further falls in oil prices as world demand slumps due to slowing economies. The 12-member OPEC should cut output by at least 1 million barrels per day (bpd) at the December 17 meeting, OPEC delegates and analysts said. Some even suggest the minimum reduction should be 2 million bpd.
"The whole world economy is in turmoil," Shokri Ghanem, Libya's top oil official, told Reuters. "We think this needs substantial action."
That may prove a challenge given the signs of a lack of unity among OPEC members that emerged at a meeting last month which put off taking any decision on supply until December.
Since the Cairo meeting, oil has hit a four-year low near $40 a barrel.
Apart from Libya, Iran and Venezuela have also called for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output further. But Saudi Arabia, OPEC's top exporter, has yet to publicly back another reduction.
OPEC has implemented two-thirds of a November 1 agreement to cut output by 1.5 million bpd, according to Reuters estimates. At a meeting in September, it decided to lower supplies by about 500,000 bpd.
But analysts and traders say OPEC needs to do more than improve compliance. Nauman Barakat of Macquarie Futures USA said a further cut of more than 2 million bpd was needed. Others expected at least 1 million bpd.
"To do nothing is not an option, that's what we saw last time," said Rob Laughlin, oil analyst at MF Global.
"I'm looking for a 1.0 million-barrel to 1.5 million barrel cut. If they fail to do that, they will lose further confidence in the market."
CREDIBILITY PROBLEM
While OPEC does not have a formal price target, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said last month that $75 a barrel was a "fair price" for oil, a view later backed by other OPEC members including Kuwait and Nigeria.
Even so, without a big supply cutback that is swifty implemented and communicated by OPEC members to their oil buyers, $75 oil may remain more of an aspiration than a reality.
"The problem OPEC faces is one of credibility," said David Hufton of brokers PVM in a report. "They need another cut of 2 million bpd, backed up by full compliance and prompt notice to lifters."
"If OPEC is indecisive and unconvincing on December 17, they risk meeting again in Q1 next year with crude at $30."
OPEC's ability to prop up the market could gain a boost if it secured the cooperation of non-member countries, such as Russia.
Russia, the largest non-OPEC oil exporter, plans to attend the December 17 meeting in Oran, Algeria. It has worked more closely with OPEC in recent months and agreed to cooperate with the group to study the market.
So far, Moscow has stopped short of committing to any kind of coordinated supply cut, something it last did in the economic aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Source: Reuters
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28185&Itemid=79
----------------------------------
Piracy update – Maersk ship identified as the mystery vessel attacked off Dar es Salaam
The identity of the container ship which was attacked by pirates abut 450 n.miles off the coast of Dar es Salaam at the weekend has been revealed.
The ship was the Maersk Line vessel MAESRK REGENSBURG (9,957-gt, built 2006) and not a Dutch ship as was first reported. The ship is registered in Hong Kong.
The vessel came under attack from a small boat carrying a number of men armed with rifle grenade launchers who fired on the ship while trying to force it to stop. One of the rocket grenades started a fire on the ship which was however extinguished and the boxship managed to make its escape.
The attack took place about 450 n.miles east of Dar es Salaam and roughly 350 n.miles from the Seychelles and is the furthest south that pirates believed to be from Somalia have operated so far.
In another report involving the Ukrainian Ro-Ro vessel FAINA, which has been in pirates’ hands since 24 September, several of the crew apparently attacked the pirates on board the vessel but were unable to secure their release. Agence France Presse reported a pirate as saying that some crew had ‘misbehaved’. “They tried to harm two of our gunmen late Monday. This is unacceptable and they risk punitive measures,” he said.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has become the latest shipping line to show its concern over operating in the risky waters of the Gulf of Aden. The company has decided that world cruise passengers on board the cruise ship C COLUMBUS will be flown to Dubai to rejoin the ship rather than risk the passage through the Gulf.
http://ports.co.za/news/article_2008_12_9_4235.html
----------------------------------
Security upgrades set to make India’s ports even more costly
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
India’s relatively high-cost ports are likely to charge even more as the government takes steps to beef up security following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The government is planning to install equipment to scan cargo containers, set up a marine commando force, increase the number of security personnel and buy speedboats to help in search operations. These measures will likely add to port charges, already one of the highest in the region, and could dent India’s competitiveness in the global market, say some shipping experts. India’s ports handle some 95% of the country’s external trade by volume and 70% by value.
Container scanning was inevitable for trade with the US anyway. Under the Greenlane Maritime Security Act, a US law that takes effect in 2012, India would have to install equipment that scans all cargo containers bound for the US or risk being barred from shipping containers to the US.
“India’s port tariffs are higher than other competing ports in South Asia,” notes Arvind Mahajan of consultant KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd. “As a result, many big shipping firms prefer not to call at India ports.”
However, Shailesh Garg, general manager at the Indian unit of London-based maritime consultancy firm Drewry Maritime Services Pvt Ltd, said that in the long run, “India will reap the benefits of installing scanners and tightening security at its ports.”
India spends 13% of its GDP on logistics expenses, against 11% in Japan, 10% in Europe and 9% in the US. This higher percentage is mainly on account of poor logistics infrastructure at ports in the country, which translates into high transaction costs for exports and imports.
For instance, the vessel related charges or so-called marine charges (paid by ships calling at a port) such as port dues, berth hire and pilotage in India for a ship with a capacity to load 2,500 standard cargo containers range from $8,500 (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) to $23,000 (Cochin Port).
That compares with $2,500-3,000 in Dubai and $4,500-5,000 in Colombo.
“Strengthen the security at ports even if it increases costs. Because, the losses could be enormous if anything goes wrong,” said an executive at APM Terminals, the container terminal operating unit of Danish shipping and oil conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk A/S. APM Terminals Management B.V. runs a container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port, that handles some 60% of India’s container cargo traffic of about 7.5 million standard containers a year.
Others say that there is no procedure now to scan the inside of a container that comes directly from the factory.
“If someone misuses that (factory), you are in for serious trouble,” said Shankar Chatterjee, managing director, India & South Asia of UK-based project logistics firm F.H. Bertling Ltd.
Meanwhile, a major stumbling block is who will bear the cost of bolstering port security.
“Security is something which the government should provide because the security of a nation is the responsibility of the home and defence ministries,” insists S.R.L. Narasimhan, secretary, Western India Shippers Association, which represents the country’s exporters and importers in India’s western region.
“The defence budget should be increased to fund initiatives to strengthen port security.”
“The cost of scanning a container should be kept at the bare minimum so that the exports are not impacted,” said an executive at PSA International Pte Ltd, the world’s second biggest container port operator, which runs a container facility at Tuticorin Port on India’s eastern coast.
Container scanners cost between Rs25 crore to Rs50 crore, depending on specifications.
“Ships waiting for extra time incur demurrage which is ultimately passed on to the shipper, adding to the transaction costs of the exporter,” said Priya Safaya Fotedar, director, policy at the Federation of Indian export organizations. Demurrage is a charge imposed for holding a ship beyond its allotted time. It takes about five-seven days for a ship to unload and load container cargo at Indian ports.
That compares with 6-8 hours in Singapore, the world’s largest container port which handled 27.1 million standard containers in 2007.
Source: Livemint
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28191&Itemid=79
----------------------------------
Africa Command Welcomes Army Component
American Forces Press Service
VICENZA, Italy, Dec. 9, 2008 – Southern European Task Force cased its old colors, ending the airborne chapter of its history, and uncased its new colors signifying acceptance of its new mission as the Army component in support of U.S. Africa Command in a ceremony here today.
The ceremony followed an official announcement by the U.S. and Italian governments Dec. 3 in Rome that SETAF would become U.S. Army Africa.
“We are honored and privileged to be the first members of U.S. Army Africa,” Army Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, SETAF commanding general, said. “This is a huge responsibility, as our decisions and actions will establish the foundation that others will build upon in the years ahead.”
Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, and Army Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army, attended the ceremony, which highlighted SETAF’s long, proud history.
“I welcome all of you to the U.S. Africa Command team,” Ward said. “I am confident that this great command is up to the challenge.”
Garrett, who was promoted from brigadier general to major general earlier today, said that while SETAF’s mission has changed, its relationship with the command’s Italian partners will not.
“The enduring relationship between the United States and Italy will only get stronger; new opportunities will spring from common objectives and a shared vision for a prosperous Africa,” he said.
SETAF, stationed in Italy since 1955, has a long history of operating on the African continent and working with African nations. During the past 15 years, SETAF has provided crisis response, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance on the continent.
During the next year, SETAF soldiers will learn and grow to lay the foundation for future success as U.S. Army Africa, Garrett said. This foundation includes building and strengthening relationships with African army organizations, along with national and international partners, to promote peace, security and stability in Africa, he said.
(From a Southern European Task Force news release.)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2008/12/mil-081209-afps07.htm
----------------------------------
Array of Strategies Are Tried to Turn Back Pirates at Sea
By MARK MCDONALD
Published: December 9, 2008
HONG KONG — The increasing number of pirate attacks on the open seas has shipowners and governments desperately seeking countermeasures to stop the brazen seizures.
On Monday, the European Union began a yearlong naval operation in the Gulf of Aden, where 14 ships are being held for ransom, including a Saudi supertanker and a Ukrainian ship with tanks and other military equipment aboard.
Eight countries are participating in the new flotilla, code-named Operation Atalanta, which will be backed up with three airplanes. Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said the mission would have “robust rules of engagement,” while coordinating with other navies already operating in the region, including those of the United States, India and Russia.
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution last week that allows navies to breach the 12-mile territorial limit to enter Somali waters in pursuit of pirates.
In the Gulf of Aden, 102 ships have been attacked so far this year and 40 have been hijacked. With 21,000 ships passing through the region each year and only a handful of international navies to run interference, the lure of piracy for impoverished Somalis has been extraordinary.
“Somali fishermen simply changed their business model, and they’ve got military hardware in the meantime,” said Dieter Berg, head of marine underwriting for the large reinsurance company Munich Re. “Piracy is now a real industry in Somalia. Whole clans are living off it.”
Some pirate groups are now getting inside information in Europe about upcoming shipments of dangerous cargo and shipping routes, Mr. Berg said, the better to select their targets.
Interviews with owners, insurers, security companies and antipiracy experts suggest that all manner of technical innovations are being tried to fend off attacks, from high-tech sonic cannons to electrified wires strung around the hulls of their boats.
Some ships have put on extra crew members to stand watch around the clock. Sonic guns and night-vision goggles are in such demand in the region that their price has doubled.
Foam sprayers and high-pressure fire hoses have been used to drench the speedboats used by hijackers as they approach ships. Huge floodlights have been installed on ships. Some ships are stocking sprays developed by the United States military to make decks so slippery that the pirates, if they do come aboard, would be unable to stand up. Some ships have built — and have actually used — panic rooms where crews can hide.
Some well-known security companies are trying to expand into the maritime security business, offering teams of onboard guards, most of them former military combat veterans, to repel pirates.
“I’ve had lots of e-mails from these security companies offering us their services — at vast expense,” said Arthur Bowring, managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.
The effectiveness of security guards remains to be seen, and many experts on piracy and insurers do not endorse the use of armed guards. But without armed guards, some analysts say, there is no real deterrent.
“How do pirates in a small boat stop a 30,000-ton ship? It’s firearms, that’s all it is,” Andy MacDonagh, a director of the private military contractor Raven Special Projects, said in an interview with the maritime trade publication Lloyd’s List. “But as soon as you fire back, they are going to turn round and go the other way, because they’re so vulnerable.”
An unarmed three-man security team was overwhelmed by pirates who captured the chemical tanker Biscaglia in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 28. The guards jumped overboard as the pirates clambered onto the ship. They were plucked from the water by a rescue helicopter.
“Of course they went overboard,” Mr. Bowring said. “They didn’t want to sit on a beach in Somalia for three months.”
The security team, employed by Anti Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, based in Poole, England, was without firearms, but it did have water sprayers and a sonic cannon. The cannon — a long-range acoustic device, or LRAD, which can cost as much as $125,000 — shoots sound waves from a dish transmitter. The noise, if properly aimed and focused, can be debilitating at 100 meters, or 330 feet.
“The pirates were basically laughing at our guys,” said Anti Piracy’s owner, Nick Davis. “LRADs don’t work when they take an AK-47 round through them.” The pirates won that skirmish and are now negotiating a ransom for the Biscaglia’s release.
Many antipiracy advocates are pushing for the United Nations to take action. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, has called for a multinational stabilization force in Somalia to pave the way for United Nations peacekeepers who would eventually deny the pirates safe harbor.
The pirates usually come in the night, in speedboats too small and too fast to be picked up by radar. When they draw alongside, pirates throw grappling hooks over the railings and scamper up the sides. “The whole thing can take five minutes,” said Noel Choong, director of the Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “Once they’re on board, it’s over.”
Some hijackers throw crew members overboard, while others set them adrift in dinghies or keep them as hostages.
“It’s an incredibly traumatic time for the crew and their families,” said Mr. Bowring of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association. “An owner sends them out there, and they’re powerless to defend themselves.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/world/10pirates.html?ref=world
----------------------------------
17th Air Force takes on Africa airlift mission
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 10, 2008
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — A new unit is taking U.S. military air operations in Africa under its wing.
Photo - Marcus Maier/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force
Master Sgt. James Pentergast, left, 37th Airlift Squadron C-130 flight engineer, shows the cockpit of one of the U.S. C-130s to members of the Botswana Defense Force.
The 17th Air Force officially stood up in October at its Ramstein Air Base headquarters. With close to 150 airmen already on board, the unit will direct airlift on the continent while striving to help African nations improve air safety and security, according to 17th Air Force officials.
The focus of the air component of U.S. Africa Command, known also as U.S. Air Forces Africa, is on supporting existing U.S. government initiatives to help African nations in conflict prevention, according to the 17th Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Ron Ladnier.
"I get frustrated when I hear people say … that’s militarizing foreign policy," Ladnier said.
"We’re already there. We’re already doing these things," he said, pointing to a paper illustrating hundreds of U.S. military flight arrivals on the continent since January 2003. "All we’re doing is putting it under one house so we can focus our efforts."
Prior to AFRICOM’s activation on Oct. 1, U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Pacific Command divided responsibilities for military activities in Africa.
The 17th Air Force is primarily taking over air component duties from U.S. Air Forces in Europe and 3rd Air Force.
And it’s doing so without any permanently assigned aircraft to call its own.
"It is unique," Ladnier said of the unit’s wingless organizational structure. "We have pilots … navigators and loadmasters, but they’re on staff in desk jobs.
"We do not have enough airplanes to go around, period," Ladnier said. "Even some of the airplanes we do have are so old, we can’t work them as far as we’d like to sometimes."
But 17th Air Force will still have aircraft at its disposal from other units. Two C-130s arrived this week with aircrews and maintainers from Dyess Air Base, Texas, for a temporary deployment, swapping out with a pair of Hercules aircraft from Little Rock, Ark.
While at Ramstein, the aircraft and crews fall under the newly formed 404th Air Expeditionary Group and its subordinate 42nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.
Most airlift to Africa involves transporting supplies and/or people, with flights departing almost daily from Germany, according to the 404th Air Expeditionary Group commander, Col. Lida Dahnke.
Recent missions include delivering a C-130 engine to Ethiopia and showing maintainers there how to perform an engine change and teaching night-vision goggle tactics.
The 17th Air Force is also coordinating 34 Theater Security Cooperation events in fiscal 2009 geared toward promoting air safety and security on a continent where the rate of air accidents is high.
Needs identified already include C-130 maintenance and parts, improvements in air traffic control and air field security, and obtaining real-time weather information, said Col. Don Kochanski, 17th Air Force’s director of plans and programs.
However, he said, "We don’t know what their greatest needs are yet. We’re still asking them what they need. I think every country is different."
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59318
----------------------------------
December 9, 2008
Faina "break out" story in doubt
Earlier today, AFP was reporting that some hostages aboard the captured Ukrainian arms ship Faina had made a break out bid.
AFP quoted a pirate "spokesman" as saying that two of the pirates were jumped by crew members but eventually overpowered.
Now a different version of things is being offered by Russian journalist Mikhail Voitenko, who in the past has acted as a spokesman for the Faina's owner, Vadim Alperin. According to Ria-Novosti news agency Voitenko says that "yesterday evening, two pirates who headed for the shore on a boat were seized and detained by the Americans. The pirates called intermediaries and the ship owner and asked them to speak to the Americans to ask for the release of their seized accomplices, but were told it is impossible. So the pirates launched the canard about a mutiny. Something like a threat."
If U.S. forces are, indeed, holding two pirates, so far they're keeping quiet about it.
http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMVII/2008dec00095.html
----------------------------------
Australia Dalrymple Coal Vessel Arrivals Nearly Halve
Editor: Sharon Li
10 Dec 2008 02:47:51 GMT
SYDNEY -- Expected vessel arrivals at Australia's major coking coal export port, the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal in Queensland, have nearly halved to 28 for the month of December compared with average arrivals of 50-55 vessels, an official said Tuesday.
"The number of ships arriving is directly related to global steel production," said Greg Smith, general manager of the port's operations at Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group (BBI.AU), which holds a long-term lease to operate the coal-loading terminal.
Steelmakers have made huge production cuts in response to waning demand and plummeting prices, with many cutting output by about 40%, including the world's biggest producer ArcelorMittal (MT), which has cut output by 35%.
The drop in coal vessels won't affect Babcock's revenue, however, since all its contracts are on a take-or-pay basis, which means users of their services will have to pay a specified amount even if the services aren't used.
Dalrymple is the key exit port for coking coal from the Bowen Basin, the world's largest producing area of high-quality coking coal.
"There is obviously a downturn in the market. But this is also the time when you do expect some fun and games being played, before the repricing negotiations (for annual coking coal prices)," said Smith.
Iron ore mining producers like Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) have already announced they will cut output, but most coking coal miners said demand has so far stayed firm.
And while many coal producers around the world will feel the impact from the downturn in the coal market, Australian miners are expected to weather it well, according to Merrill Lynch, even though the bank has slashed its coking coal price forecast for 2009 by 58% to US$125 a metric ton. The 2008 benchmark price was US$300/ton.
Australian producers such as Felix Resources Ltd.(FLX.AU) and Gloucester Coal Ltd.'s (GCL.AU) operating costs have come down sharply in U.S. dollar terms, while mining costs are also lower.
Production and export cuts are more likely to come from higher cost producers in the U.S. and Canada, Merrill said.
Australia supplies about 55% of the world's seaborne metallurgical coal; it exported 135 million tons during the last financial year that ended June 30.
-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones
http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/europe/100028648-1-update%253Aaustralia-dalrymple-coal-vessel-arrivals.html
----------------------------------
Shipping’s struggle to stay afloat
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
The economic crisis has resulted in a fall in demand for freight transportation, threatening the survival of many ship owners and operators, says Axel Pierron of Celent, the research consultancy. Mr Pierron says a “huge financing requirement for shipbuilding order books” has emerged because banks are reluctant to finance vessel purchases, provide guarantees for payments to shipyards or to guarantee payments for goods, especially in the dry bulk sector, which represents 55 per cent of all sea-borne trade.
Shipyards worldwide have orders worth $600bn through to 2012, requiring around $320bn in funding but Celent says the shortage of financing is exacerbating difficult conditions in dry bulk shipping rates.
Celent warns the market will see an oversupply of new ships with a 40 per cent increase in the next two to three years and this will put further pressure on falling price levels. However, Mr Pierron expects to see the freight market start to recover by the middle of 2009, helped by rising exports of agricultural commodities.
Celent says the freight industry is beginning to mature and this process is being helped by greater participation by financial players, who have grown from 15 per cent of the market in 2007 to 40 per cent in early 2008.
“This shows the increasing importance of freight derivatives in investors’ portfolios” says Mr Pierron.
Source: Financial Times
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28200&Itemid=79
----------------------------------
Panama signs $2.3 billion in loans for canal work
7 hours ago
PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — The Panama Canal Authority has signed a group of loans totaling $2.3 billion to finance the expansion of the waterway.
Panamanian President Martin Torrijos calls the loans a sign of confidence in the management of the canal, which was handed over by the United States in 1999.
Lenders include the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Andean, European and Japanese development banks.
Canal administration head Alberto Aleman signed the loan contracts at a ceremony on Tuesday.
The canal authority needs $5.3 billion to widen the 50-mile (80-kilometer) canal by 2014. It will fund the rest from ship tolls.
The canal, opened in 1914, is too narrow for today's larger freighters.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0eJm2YE3H5Ii8IWvUdh1Q15iFTgD94VI42G0
----------------------------------
Scads Of Super Subs In The Indian Ocean
by James Dunnigan
December 9, 2008
Pakistan is switching from France to Germany for its next batch of submarines, and is buying three Type 214 diesel electric submarines. Pakistan is currently building the last of five Agosta subs, with the assistance of the French designers.
The 214s will be built in Pakistan, and the first one will be in service in about six years. The Type 214 is a 1,700 ton, 202 foot long boat, with a crew of 27. It has four torpedo tubes and a top submerged speed of 35 kilometers an hour. Maximum diving depth is over 1,200 feet. The Type 214 is similar to the earlier Type 209 and Type 212. The Type 214 also has a air-independent propulsion (AIP) system. This enables the sub to stay underwater for over a week at a time. Pakistan is paying about $350 million per sub.
The main undersea adversary for the 214s will be six French Scorpene class diesel-electric submarines being built in India. These are similar to the Agosta 90B subs that Pakistan has just finished building. The third Pakistani Agosta was recently finished, after being delayed over a year because Islamic terrorists had killed some of the French engineers working on the project. France is also helping Pakistan install AIP in the first two 90Bs. The third one was built with AIP.
The two designs are similar, with the Scorpene being more recent (and the result of cooperation between a French and a Spanish firm.) The Agosta is a 1,500 ton (surface displacement) diesel-electric sub with a 36 man crew and four 21 inch torpedo tubes (with 20 torpedoes and/or anti-ship missiles carried.) The Scorpene is a little heavier (1700 tons), has a smaller crew (32) and is a little faster. It has six 21 inch torpedo tubes, and carries 18 torpedoes and/or missiles.
Both models are usually equipped with an AIP (air independent propulsion) system. This enables the sub to stay under longer, thus making the sub harder to find. AIP allows the sub to travel under water for 4-5 days at low speed (5-10 kilometers an hour).
With both nations having these modern subs, they have very lethal weapons against surface warships. With well trained crews, 214s, Agostas and Scorpenes can get close to just about any surface ship, no matter how good the defenders anti-submarine defenses are. But it's the AIP boats that are the real killers. Without AIP, subs spend most of their time just below surface, using their diesel engines (via a snorkel device that breaks the surface to take in air, and get rid of the engine exhaust.) Snorkels can be spotted by modern maritime patrol aircraft, and both nations are getting more of these.
India is apparently getting AIP for its Scorpenes. The price of the contract is quoted as $300 million for each boat. That could include AIP, because the boats are being built in Indian yards, which have much lower costs. European built AIP boats go for about half a billion dollars each. Typically, AIP adds about $100 million to the cost of a sub.
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200812921224.asp
----------------------------------
Anti-whalers set to fight
DAVID KILLICK
December 10, 2008 12:44pm
ANTI-whaling activist Paul Watson sets sail from Hobart tonight vowing to sink the Japanese whaling fleet _ economically.
Speaking dockside in Hobart today, the head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society accused the federal government of abandoning the cause and engaging in the pretty harassment of him and fellow activists.
"We're not going down there to protest whaling, we're going down there to intervene, to uphold the law, to stop them from whaling," he said.
"The key to success is economics, we've got to make sure that their losses are greater than their profits every year.
"For the last three years they haven't made a profit. We're going to make it a fourth and if we have to make it a fifth we're going to keep doing it. We're never going to retreat from this. We're going to drive them economically.
"Our goal is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically."
The Steve Irwin is expected to depart from Hobart this evening for a four to six week mission disrupting the Japanese scientific whaling fleet.
Prominent supporter Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah was not in evidence today and was not expected to join the ship on this voyage.
Captain Watson said he was unafraid of Japanese plans to deploy its Coast Guard to defend the whaling fleet.
"It doesn't bother us at all. We've taken on the Soviet Navy, the Norwegian Navy, we're not afraid of the Japanese Coast Guard," he said.
"I would like to see what the reaction of the Australian Government will be when Australian citizens are hauled back in chains to Japan from the Australian Antarctic Territory, what are they going to be then?"
He accused the Australian Government of harassing him and his members by detaining them at immigration, barring them from bringing in protective equipment and controlling their movements.
"I convinced thousands of people to vote for this government on the belief that they were going to actually honour their promises to take an aggressive stand to protect whales, we're severely disappointed.
"Peter Garrett should have stayed a musician because he was a far more effective environmentalist as a musician than he is as environment minister.
Bob Brown described the Sea Shepherd as the most important vessel to visit Hobart in his lifetime and condemned federal government for not taking a harder stance against the Japanese whaling fleet.
"What we see here is global citizens' action replacing spineless backdown by governments here and everywhere who should be taking maximum action to make sure these whales are protected.
"This is a battle between criminality and decency.
"The Australian Government went to the election promising action."
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2008/12/10/43625_tasmania-news.html
----------------------------------
Charter rates hit new lows
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Container ship charter rates have fallen to new lows as demand by carriers for tonnage evaporates amid stagnant or declining cargo volumes on key routes. Charter rates, which have retreated by as much as 35 percent for some ship sizes in the past three months, likely will fall even further in the coming weeks, with ocean carriers set to return an increasing number of vessels to their owners as they come off-hire.
The market’s decline to levels not seen since the depths of the 2002 slump has prompted reports that prominent charter owners are seeking to cancel or defer deliveries of container ships ordered speculatively without charters.
The daily charter rate for a 2,500-TEU vessel is just over $10,000, compared with $12,868 a month ago and around $25,000 in May, according to the Hamburg Shipowners Association. The group’s Contex index, which tracks earnings of ships of 1,100, 1,700 and 2,500 TEUs, has plunged from 974 at the beginning of May to 416 for the week ending Nov. 28.
Rates for bigger ships are also retreating, with a 3,500-TEU gearless Panamax earning $17,500 a day, down from $26,000 in August and a 2007 average of $29,958, according to the London ship broker Clarkson.
Around 70 chartered container ships have already been laid up and more will be idled in the coming weeks as carriers eliminate or reduce services, according to AXS Alphaliner, the Paris-based consultant. Successive rounds of service cuts have reduced capacity on the Asia-Europe route by nearly 25 percent since early summer.
In all, 115 vessels with a combined capacity of 270,000 TEUs, or 2.2 percent of the world fleet, are idle, up from 150,000 TEUs a month ago, AXS Alphaliner estimates.
With further services being shuttered in December, the figure will “continue to rise progressively” in the coming weeks as ships will be put at anchor or in semi lay-up as they terminate their rotations, AXS said. The volume of idled vessel might rise to 400,000 TEUs by the end of January, or 3.2 percent of the world fleet, the same share as in depth of the 2002 slump.
The few vessels finding employment are being chartered at rates that barely cover operating costs as carriers take advantage of a buyers’ market. Many of the charters are for very short periods, between a month and six months, compared with 24- and 36-month deals common at the beginning of the year.
Market sentiment is being impacted by talk of owners trying to scrap orders for vessels that were ordered during the boom two or three years ago. Leading Hamburg owner Rickmers reportedly sought to cancel a contract for four 8,500-TEU vessels due for delivery in 2010, and some 7,000-TEU ships.
But brokers caution there is no firm evidence owners are pulling out of deals. “Whilst there is a lot of chatter about widespread cancellations, very little has actually been confirmed so far,” Clarkson cautioned.
Owners are now waiting to see how many vessels will be returned by carriers as they come off charter through 2009.
CMA CGM has said it can align capacity with demand by letting go some of the 130 vessels whose charters expire next year. Zim, the Israeli carrier, also plans to return vessels as they come off hire as part of a downsizing program.
Source: Pacific Shipper
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28199&Itemid=79
----------------------------------
Somali piracy backed by international network
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN and ELIZABETH KENNEDY – 1 hour ago
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Ahmed Dahir Suleyman is cagey as he talks about the global network that funds and supports piracy off the coast of Somalia.
"We have negotiators, translators and agents in many areas ... let me say across the world," said Suleyman, a pirate in the harbor town of Eyl, where scores of hijacked ships are docked.
"These people help us during exchanges of ransom and finding out the exact person to negotiate with," he told The Associated Press. Before cutting off the cell phone call, Suleyman snapped: "It is not possible to ask anymore about our secrets."
The dramatic spike in piracy in African waters this year is backed by an international network mostly of Somali expatriates from the Horn of Africa to as far as North America, who offer funds, equipment and information in exchange for a cut of the ransoms, according to researchers, officials and members of the racket. With help from the network, Somali pirates have brought in at least $30 million in ransom so far this year.
"The Somali diaspora all around the world now have taken to this business enterprise," said Michael Weinstein, a Somalia expert at Purdue University in Indiana. He likened the racket to "syndicates where you buy shares, so to speak, and you get a cut of the ransom."
Weinstein said his interviews with ransom negotiators and Somalis indicate the piracy phenomenon has reached Canada, which is home to 200,000 Somalis.
John S. Burnett, a London-based author working on a book about hijackings off the Somali coast, said there is no doubt Somali pirates are part of "transnational crime syndicates." He said information from sources, including people involved in ransom negotiations and payouts, indicates the money goes as far as Canada and capitals in Europe.
"Places like Eyl are getting only a portion of the millions in ransom being siphoned off," he said. "The Somali diaspora is huge."
Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at Somalia's Interior and National Security Ministry, said evidence points to Somali expatriates in Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, but declined to give further details. He said there is "no doubt" the pirates have links outside Somalia.
Kenya's government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said the issue was under investigation. In Dubai, a police officer at the Interior Ministry denied claims that anyone was funding piracy. He asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The deals with "investors" appear to be fairly informal, with family or clan networks stretching overseas. The lack of a proper banking system in Somalia, which has not had an effective government in almost 20 years, makes it difficult to trace how much funding the pirates get from overseas or how it is channeled.
Somalia is a failed state with no banks, only a cash-based, informal transfer network called hawala. A hawala operator takes in money on one end, then instructs a relative, friend or another agent in another country to hand a like amount to someone else. The paperless system, based on trust and oral agreements, is commonly used in the Middle East, parts of Asia and Africa.
There is some concern that the system is used for overseas payments to and from the pirates — especially now that they are getting their ransoms in cash, sometimes dropped in burlap sacks from a buzzing helicopter.
The pirates acknowledge using foreign help.
"All I can tell you is we have people in Nairobi, Djibouti, we have people in Dubai and many other countries," said Gamase Hassan Said, a pirate in Eyl speaking by telephone.
Aden Yusuf, another pirate in Eyl, told The AP that foreigners in Dubai, Nairobi, Djibouti and elsewhere help pirates get sophisticated equipment, such as money-counting machines seen at foreign exchange bureaus, in exchange for a cut of the ransom.
Roger Middleton, an expert on East Africa at Chatham House think tank in London, said ransoms in the past have been "channeled to expatriate Somalis around the world." But pirates appear to be opting for direct cash payouts more often now — bypassing even the hawala tranfer system — because of concerns about scrutiny by governments, he said. In one instance at the beginning of this year, he said, the pirates wanted the money delivered through the Gulf but nobody was prepared to take it.
"That may be an indication that the (UAE) government was stepping up pressure," said Middleton, whose information comes from private security firms and people party to hostage negotiations.
In the Emirates, hawala operators have been ordered to register with the Central Bank and to report transfers larger than $550, but it is unclear how many actually do so.
The Somali pirates also rely on a local network of corrupt officials and villagers eager for money in a region with no real economy. Somali pirates generally dock hijacked vessels near the coast in the northern Somali region of Puntland as they negotiate ransoms. Rogue security and government officials there allow the pirates to use ports and move freely around towns while they restock ships, said Abdullahi Said Aw-Yusuf, a district commissioner in Eyl.
"This is the main reason why pirates are stationed in Puntland," Aw-Yusuf said.
Piracy has turned many tiny fishing villages off Somalia's coast into boomtowns, where pirates build sprawling homes, cruise in luxury cars and marry multiple wives. Often dressed in military fatigues, the pirates are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades. The weaponry is readily available throughout Somalia, where 20 years of anarchy means nearly everyone owns a gun and a bustling arms market operates in the capital.
The pirates have attacked more than 90 vessels this year and successfully seized more than 36.
AP reporters Salad Duhul in Mogadishu, Somalia, Barbara Surk in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tarek el Tablawy and Sebastian Abbot in Cairo, Egypt and Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5htgyOZuFA1NWa6u11XG9gwbozQRwD94VNK8O0
----------------------------------
COSCO cancels 2009 ship order
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
China Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), China’s largest shipping company, cancelled the plan to purchase some 120 vessels in 2009, a source from the company told Caijing. According to the original plan, three-quarters were dry bulk cargo ships and the remainders were oil tankers and container carriers. The ambitious purchase plan, which was proposed by COSCO’s various subsidiaries in late 2007 after a banner year, was put on hold in the first quarter and finally axed, the source said.
Given the depressed global shipping market, the cancellation came not as a total surprise. COSCO owns and operates more than 600 commercial vessels.
In December, the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks ocean shipping costs, fell more than 90 percent from its historic high at 11793 in May, to the lowest level since the start of the index in 1987.
Source: Caijing
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28196&Itemid=79
----------------------------------
Mombasa rescue centre under scrutiny
Written by Ben Sanga
December 10, 2008: Is Kenya well equipped to help deal with piracy on her waters through the Mombasa based Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC)?
This is a question that continues to be asked several years after the centre meant to help in maritime rescue was established and the ever increasing numbers of vessels being hijacked off the Somalia Coast.
Sources claim that over five vessels have been attacked by pirates in the Kenyan waters off the Indian Ocean with the recent cases being Singaporean vessel Kota Henning and Chinese fishing vessel Tonya 8 which were attacked in October and November respectively.
MRCC, the first in Africa to use Inmarsat communication equipment, is supposed to ensure that safety of life at sea is guaranteed and increase the chances that those who find themselves in distress reach the shore safely.
This search and rescue (SAR) centre was inaugurated in 2006 after final agreement for a combined Mombasa search and rescue region was signed by the governments of Kenya, the Seychelles and Tanzania in the year 2000.
The MRCC and two sub-centres, in the Seychelles and Tanzania, were expected to have the capacity to co-ordinate SAR operations in the Indian Ocean region and the eastern Atlantic.
Maritime experts hoped that the centre would fill the then huge gap in the effective search and rescue coverage between the SAR centres in Oman to the north and South Africa to the south.
Over 100 ships have been attacked along the Somali and Kenya waters this year alone, resulting to the seizure of 39 vessels and the capture of at least 350 merchant seamen for ransom.
Last year, pirates attacked 263 ships and held over 150 sailors hostage.
Such numbers raise pertinent questions over the effectiveness of MRCC in dealing with this menace that affected seaborne trade along the Suez Canal.
According to Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) Director General, Mrs Nancy Karigithu, the centre was performing its task as required in conjunction with the Kenya Navy.
“After receiving a distress signal we are supposed to call the Department of Defence (DOD), the DoD is then supposed to call the Kenya Navy to conduct the rescue,” she says.
This assertion which is also shared by other maritime experts has put the Kenya Navy in an awkward position in regard to the force’s effectiveness in safeguarding the country’s territorial waters.
Mr Ismail Said Mboya, a Maritime management and administration consultant at Maritime and Management institute of East Africa says that it was high time that the country constituted a coast guard under the KMA’s command dedicated in protecting the country’s coast.
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11670&Itemid=5860
----------------------------------
RCCL to continue sailing via Gulf of Aden
Marcus Hand, Singapore - Tuesday 9 December 2008
The Legend of the Seas sailed through the Gulf of Aden two weeks ago.
ROYAL Caribbean Cruises is set to continue sailing through the Gulf of Aden despite the recent surge in pirate attacks in the region.
Carlos Pedercini, Master of the Legend of the Seas, which transited the Gulf of Aden just a fortnight ago said that the company constantly reviewed the security situation and as long as it was satisfied it was secure there would not be any changes.
“We actually came from the Gulf of Aden and didn’t have any problems,” Capt Pedercini told reporters onboard the vessel in Singapore.
The Legend of the Seas sailed through the Gulf of Aden two weeks ago as part of a 27 day cruise repositioning the vessel from Italy to Singapore.
He said that with the ability to cruise at high speed and with security measures in place the chances of attack were kept to a minimum. The cruise ship took 21 hours to transit the Gulf of Aden, sailing full steam at 23 knots.
“Most ships that can make high speed are ok,” he said.
Somali pirates operating in the region had generally targeted slower moving vessels with a low freeboard, however in recent times grown more adventurous attacking almost any type of ship.
A week ago pirates attempted to attack the Oceania Cruises vessel Nautica while transiting the area.
Classic International Cruises Australia’s Athena was reported to have been surrounded by as many as 52 pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden in an attempted boarding on December 2, although the owners have tried to play down the incident as actually being fishing vessels that were “very friendly”.
The Legend of the Seas is scheduled to sail back through the Gulf of Aden in March next year once it has completed a series of regional cruises in Asia.
Capt Pedercini said that as the situation is right now they should be sailing through the Gulf of Aden. He praised international efforts to bring the piracy problem off Somalia under control.
“We are very glad to see the international maritime authorities taking this seriously.”
RCCL’s Legend of the Seas did make some changes to its itinerary due to security concerns though, dropping a plan call at Mumbai given the recent terrorist attacks in the India city and instead stayed an extra night in Dubai.
“We are continuously monitoring the security situation,” said Rama Rebbapragaba, RCCL regional vice president for Asia. The company is also monitoring the situation in Bangkok one its destinations for cruises in February and March next year.
http://lloydslist.com/ll/news/rccl-to-continue-sailing-via-gulf-of-aden/20017598298.htm
----------------------------------
SAL's latest heavy lift vessel sets sail
Vessel & ROV News - December 10, 2008
SAL in Germany says that following its naming ceremony on November 14th, its latest heavy lift vessel Trina, begun its maiden voyage to Asia.
Trina is the third of four new heavy lift vessels to be delivered to the joint venture between SAL and 'K' Line.
All of the Type 176 vessels have a speed of 20 knots and a combined crane capacity of 1,400 tonnes.
The last sister vessel will enter the market in early 2009.
http://www.oilpubs.com/oso/article.asp?v1=8086
----------------------------------
Piracy threat to Egypt's Suez revenues
by Rebecca Bundhun on Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Piracy could pose a substantial threat to Egypt’s revenues from the Suez Canal if more shipping companies start to take alternative, safer routes to avoid the risk of hijacking, according to a new report by consulting firm PFC Energy.
If piracy continues unabated and insurance rates continue to rise, companies are likely to divert their cargoes around the Cape of Good Hope, bypassing the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.
“A significant diversion of cargoes from the Suez Canal would also deprive Egypt of a vital source of revenue,” said Raja Kiwan, an analyst at PFC Energy.
Suez Canal transit fees totalled $4.6 million in gross revenues in 2007, accounting for over 20 percent of government receipts, and reached $4.57 billion by the end of October 2008, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
Indeed, several companies have already announced plans to divert their cargos, substantially increasing transport times and delivery costs, Kiwan noted.
He said that the combined impact of piracy and the global economic slowdown may well prompt the Egyptian government to abandon a toll increase next year.
The severity of the problem of piracy was brought to international attention last month when Somali pirates captured a Saudi tanker, the Sirius Star, which was transporting two million barrels of crude.
This brazen attack demonstrated the increasingly sophisticated nature of the methods used by Somalia’s pirates.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/540664-piracy-threat-to-egypts-suez-revenues
----------------------------------
De Gaulle Put Right?
December 9, 2008: The French nuclear aircraft carrier (CVN) Charles de Gaulle has completed a fifteen month, half billion dollar, refurbishment. All CVNs undergo this, usually timed to coincide with when it is necessary to replenish the nuclear power plant (in this case with 64 new fuel rods).
The de Gaulle took eleven years to build (1988-99) and was not ready for service until late 2000. It was downhill after that, with a long list of problems. The recently completed refurbishment was meant to address the most serious problems. It will be a year or so before it is clear if the de Gaulle is really good to go.
The refrub work required 2.5 million man hours (about half of supplied by the crew and navy technicians) from 1,700 workers. The worked involved stripping old paint and applying 11,000 square meters (40 tons) of new paint on the hull. The 7,800 meter flight deck was refinished. Over 80,000 meters of electrical cables were installed. Most of the mechanical systems were refurbished, and some were replaced. Electronic systems were upgraded, to include more satellite communications access and improved Internet capability. It's now easier to use VOIP (using the Internet for telephone calls.) The de Gaulle will return to service next year.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20081209.aspx
----------------------------------
Terror boat was almost nabbed off Mumbai
10 Dec 2008, 0042 hrs IST, Diwakar, TNN
NEW DELHI: Alertness by an Indian patrol vessel on the night of November 26 could have prevented the Mumbai carnage. Lashkar terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasav has told interrogators that just before the 10 jihadis abandoned the trawler 'Kuber' to take inflatable boats to dock at Mumbai, an Indian vessel - either from the Navy or the Coast Guard and seemingly on a routine patrol - passed by Kuber with a sailor scanning it through binoculars.
The scrutiny was close enough to cause the terrorists to take positions and alert their Lashkar bosses. The Lashkar commanders ordered the gang to stay still and avoid a confrontation with the patrol.
Soon, the vessel, perhaps taken in by the Indian ownership of Kuber, moved on. But in their haste to move out, the panicky jihadis forgot to destroy their satphone and GPS device.
This was an instruction that had been sternly drilled into the group by the Lashkar trainers in the camps where they were trained, in the safehouse at Azizabad near Karachi where they had been put up before being sent and, one last time, on board Al Hussaini, the Lashkar ship which they sailed on before capturing Kuber.
The satellite phone, with five logged calls to Lashkar brass, is a trove of information that can blast apart Pakistan's denial that the terrorists were launched from its territory and by a group which is an extension of its espionage agency, the ISI. India's agencies have been familiar with one of these logged numbers which has regularly popped up in the course of investigation into terrorist attacks. It belongs to Abu Al Qama, a known Lashkar mastermind of jihadi violence.
What should worry Lashkar and its mentors in Pakistan establishment is the GPS device in the Thuraya satellite phone - something that can pinpoint the location of the user. Such details are stored in the 'switch' or service provider's hub in Sharjah, and can drill holes in Lashkar's denials of its involvement. Put shortly, the satphone memory can map the location and movement of the instruments and their jihadi users.
The Sharjah-based Thuraya has been the jihadis' favourite because the satphone is not licenced to be sold here and, therefore, the calls, made or received, cannot be intercepted. For the details of other four logged numbers, cops have approached the Federal Bureau of Investigation who have enough leverage with the UAE authorities to get the details from the service provider. The GPS device that they used on the trawler has already established that they had set out from Kazghar creek to be picked up by the jihadi ship, Al Hussaini.
Indian cops are also depending on the FBI to trace the origin of calls made to mobile phones carried by the attackers through the Net, using Voice over Internet Protocol. This is going to be a tough task as the software to mask a user's location is freely available. Such calls pass through several proxy sites and the pathways are not easy to trace.
FBI, however, has proven expertise in the field and Indian cops are banking on it. "It is a test case for the US's promise to help us get to the bottom of mass murder conspiracy," said a senior intelligence source, obviously wary of the extent to which Washington would go in a probe that can affect its ties with Pakistan, its ally in the "war against terror".
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indian_patrol_ship_almost_caught_Kuber/articleshow/3815507.cms
----------------------------------
Waiting For Barak
December 9, 2008: On December 8th, the EU (European Union) activated an anti-piracy patrol off Somalia. The force consists of six warships and three maritime patrol aircraft flying out of Djibouti. The first priority will be escorting relief ships (most of them carrying food for the third of the Somali population that is in danger of starving to death.) The EU warships will escort the relief aid ships into and out of Somali ports. Pirates are particularly keen to steal the aid ships, because the food, and other supplies, can be sold in Somali markets, to those who can afford to pay. Then the ships and crews can be held for ransom. Most cargoes captured cannot be sold locally.
There are about a dozen other warships patrolling for pirates, but few of them are from countries that actually have laws that allow the sailors to arrest pirates. All are allowed to fire back if fired on by pirates, and most can open fire on pirates they actually catch attacking a ship. Since World War II, most countries have repealed their anti-piracy laws (France did so just last year), as a relic of a more barbaric age. No one told the pirates that the age of piracy was no longer with us.
Most countries confronting the Somali pirates at sea agree that the solution to the problem is on land, the Somali mainland, not at sea. But no one wants to go ashore and get stuck in a perpetual peacekeeping operation among the violent, ungovernable and warlike Somalis. Then again, someone may consult a history book and be reminded that peace was maintained off the Somali coast for centuries by fortified towns, that kept the sea lanes free of pirates, and traded with the Somalis who farmed and tended herds in the interior. The trading ports were run by foreigners and Somali warlords, who knew that their prosperity depended on keeping Somali pirates from setting up shop along the coast.
What worries the pirates most is that newly elected American president Barak Obama, who is of Kenyan ancestry, may be prevailed upon, by African states and campaign promises, to launch a peacekeeping operation into Somalia. After all, America was persuaded by Europeans to undertake similar missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, to protect European Moslems. Why not do the same to protect Somali Moslems. Moreover, Obama has kin in Kenya, a country that has long suffered from Somali violence. The problem with Somalia is that it would not be peacekeeping, but peacemaking, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Somalia also contains a growing number of Islamic terrorists, who are already using suicide and roadside bombs against those who disagree with establishing an Islamic dictatorship there. Somalia could become Obama's Iraq.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20081209.aspx
----------------------------------
Another eBay Bargain
December 9, 2008: Yet another submarine has shown up on eBay. This one is a retired Australian Oberon class boat. The city of Hastings, in Victoria state, got this Oberon (the former HMAS Otama) six years ago for use as a museum ship. But not enough money could be raised to carry out this plan. So the charitable group that owns the Otama is auctioning the boat off, in the hope that it will find a good home, and the money obtained will pay off some of the debts incurred in trying to build a museum facility to house the Otama.
The 27 Oberons were built in Britain during the 1960s, The first one of these 2,000 ton diesel-electric boats entered service with Royal Navy, while fourteen were exported (to Australia, Canada, Chile and Brazil). The last of them (the Otama) was retired in 2000.
All weapons and military equipment are removed, but otherwise the boat is afloat and could be restored to a seagoing state. It requires a military crew of 62, but a smaller crew (about 30 qualified submariners) would suffice for civilian use. The boat is 295 feet long and 26.5 feet wide. With the torpedoes and military electronics removed, there would be quite a bit more room available for the owners pleasure. The asking price in the auction is $2.1 million, and the boat is not expected to sell at this price.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/articles/20081209.aspx
----------------------------------
Iranian missiles for errant Eritrea
The deployment of Iranian ships and submarines, missiles and other weapons to Eritrea at the Horn of Africa is not far from the vital Strait of Hormuz. Iran's strategic projection continues.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
by Joseph Grieboski
Iranian ships and submarines have deployed an undisclosed number of Iranian troops and weapons at the Eritrean port town of Assab, according to opposition groups, foreign diplomats, and NGOs in the area.
The city of Assab sits at the Horn of Africa in the Arabian Sea just below the Strait of Hormuz. As such, Assab commands a strategic position as the world nervously eyes the precarious routes through which some 40 percent of seaborne oil traverses daily.
Local sources have reported that Iran recently sent soldiers and a large number of long-range and ballistic missiles. The military basing came after Iran signed an accord with Eritrea to revamp the Russian-built refinery used by the Eritrean Oil Company, also known as Assab Oil Company. As the world’s second largest import of gasoline, Iran is sensitive to a Western plan to obstruct its access to refined product as a part of broad sanctions provoked by Teheran’s nuclear activities. Iran needs nearby oil refining ability. Using protection of the Eritrean refinery as a pretext, Iran has set up its military operation there, and has been patrolling with unmanned surveillance drones.
In the meantime, the Iranian navy has test-fired a sea-to-sea missile during a six-day naval maneuver in the Sea of Oman. Teheran radio announced, "The surface-to-surface Nasr-2 missile was tested in the (Sea of) Oman operational region,” adding that its new, medium-range missile “was fired from a warship and hit its target at a distance of 30 km (19 miles) and destroyed it."
The latest large-scale naval maneuver covered 50,000 square miles (129,500 sq. kilometers) of Iranian territorial waters and involved about 60 warships. Iran regularly holds war games in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. With the addition of a new naval base at Jask at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, and new basing at Assab in Eritrea, Iran can exercise a decisive military presence on multiple shores astride the pivotal oil sea lanes.
Iran’s new basing rights trace to last May when Eritrean President Isayas Afwerki visited Iran for a meeting with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. At a press conference after the meeting, Ahmadinejad declared that the two countries share common views on regional issues and on ways to resist hegemony. "We've held fruitful talks on different subjects relevant to bilateral ties, mutual investment in the agriculture, industry and energy sectors, and regional and international cooperation," he said.
Ahmadinejad stated that Iran saw “no limits to the expansion of cooperation and relations with Eritrea,” while Isayas hailed Iranian support for Eritrean people. Isayas also commented that both countries will defend rights of each other and of other independent nations. “I believe regional and international cooperation would guarantee regional peace and stability.”
President Isayas has granted Iran complete and exclusive control over the Eritrean Oil Refinary with the mandate to revamp, manage, and exercise complete authority over production and maintenance of the facility. Iran will refine its crude oil in Assab to cover shortages it faces at home, which will benefit Eritrea by not having to import expensive refined products.
The Eritrean Democratic Party, an opposition party, pointed to trepidation within the Eritrean regime, indicating that some high-ranking members are saying that the president is playing with fire with Iran and that the consequences for Eritrea could be grave.
In September, Iran and Eritrea signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) supporting and encouraging foreign investment. The agreement was inked by Iranian Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Shamseddin Hosseini and his Eritrean counterpart Berhane Abrehe.
Opposition groups in Eritrea are reporting that President Isayas, with the cooperation of some Somali Islamist groups, is going beyond mere bilateral oil supplies, and colluding to control the Bab El Mandeb Straights in case of escalation of conflict with the United States and Israel. Eritrea and the United States backed opposite sides in the war in Somalia, which erupted at the end of 2006.
The ominous expansion of the Iranian military comes at a time when the United States has moved additional naval forces off the coast of Somalia in response to piracy and what appears to be the looming defeat of its U.S.-backed Transitional Federal Government.
Joseph Grieboski writes for The Cutting Edge News and is President of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy and Secretary General, Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom.
http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=17027
----------------------------------
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Firm may sue Nigeria Customs Service to court for contempt
By David Ogah
THERE are strong indications that a Nigerian indigenous shipping company, Morlap Shipping Group may drag the Nigeria Customs Service to court over alleged contempt of court.
A Port-Harcourt high court had recently ordered that MT Morlap Trader, a tanker vessel belonging to the company, be released without delay.
But authoritative Customs sources at the Customs Headquarters in Abuja said over the weekend that the failure was as a result of the inability of the Customs high command to give out directive on the release and payment of fines as awarded by the court.
The high court in Port-Harcourt had slammed a fine of N100,000 against the Customs Service for detaining the vessel.
The leading counsel to Morlap Shipping Company Limited, owner of the detained vessel, Mr. Mike Ugbokwe (SAN), said the Nigeria Customs Service Board had been petitioned over the issue, adding that no action had been taken to secure the release of the vessel. The firm had few days ago written the Customs board intimating it of a legal action as a last resort on the matter.
He said the future of the Nigerian shipping industry, especially the cabotage regime was at stake should Customs officials continue to disregard rule of law, which President Yar'Adua was trying to protect.
Ugbokwe explained that it was wrong for a servant to deviate from the position of his master who have regard for rule of law, saying that the Customs boss had no regard for rule of law.
Said he: "Maritime shipped more goods into the country than the aviation sector, which government had given waiver. They don't pay Customs duty."
The chairman of the shipping company, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, said that his company had been incurring a debt of over $250,000 monthly to maintain the vessel. He recalled that Federal Government used the ship to launch cabotage trade in 2002 at no cost.
It would be recalled that the Port Harcourt High court two weeks ago ordered the immediate release of the vessel.
Justice Isu Okechukwu of the Port Harcourt high court also dismissed the appeal of the Nigeria Customs Service requesting a stay of execution of the first court ruling which favoured the release of the vessel.
Customs had impounded MT Morlap Trader in February 2008 and dragged the owners to the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt for non-payment of import duty on the ship.
But upon the provision of a bank guarantee deposited with the court by Morlap Group to enable its vessel to continue trading pending the determination of the case by the court, Justice Okechukwu issued an order that the Nigeria Customs Service should immediately release the vessel.
Customs, however, declined to comply with the order, noting that it wanted to apply for a stay of execution of the order.
MT Morlap Trader was the vessel upon which the cabotage regime was launched by Federal Government in 2004 at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa. The company has lost over N200 million to the detention of its ship by the Customs authorities.
Meanwhile, Maritime Rights Advocacy Centre (MARIAC), a non-governmental organisation has condemned the arrests and detention of indigenously owned vessels under the guise that duties were not paid on them. The group said the Nigerian Customs has failed to imbibe the spirit of rule of law of the current administration.
"We condemn the unnecessary arrest and detention of indigenously-owned tanker vessel; MT Morlap Trader by the Customs, which expectedly generated much condemnations from the stakeholders and general public.
"We say it is not only contradictory but counter-productive because the government cabotage policy is encouraging Nigerians to embrace and invest in indigenous shipping business. NIMASA is pre-occupied with steps to actualise the cabotage implementation, agencies like Customs is busy frustrating indigenous ship owners and the genuine government intentions in the cabotage regime", said Mr. Afolabi Gbajumo, the group's president.
He added: "We strongly demand that the Federal Government and the National Assembly should, as a matter of urgency, give waivers Customs duties to indigenous ship owners who operate under the legitimacy of the cabotage policy, the same way waivers are given to their counterpart in the aviation industry. Our NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) says what is good for the goose is good for the gander".
Gbajumo also renewed the group's call for the stoppage of seven per cent surcharge on imported goods for port development. The surcharge is being collected by the Customs. They also called for the refund of all such monies collected from importers in the past.
"We should all as a matter of urgent patriotic commitment under the rule of law, due process, human concern ensure that the Nigerian Customs, Federal Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are made to give accurate calculations and immediately refund the backlogs of the illegal seven per cent charge back to the payers. It is the legitimate rights of all the payers who were deceived by Customs to get refund. Since the Customs itself had confessed and admitted voluntarily at the high organ of the Senate that seven per cent surcharges were illegal as 'there was no law backing the collection' using the words of the Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Onaolapo Okeniyi".
Continuing, the human rights activist said: "We know unequivocally that we are under a Presidency that often preaches rule of law. And since law is totally against unlawful collections in whatever forms, then it behoves a matter of mandatory justice on the Federal Government and all of us to take up the patriotic responsibility of repaying those monies back to the payers. They have suffered untold hardships from the unnecessary payments of the illegal charges. Therefore, the refund will also redeem our nation's image abroad in seeking more Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) for economic growth of Nigeria.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/maritime/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=101208&ptitle=Firm%20may%20sue%20Nigeria%20Customs%20Service%20to%20court%20for%20contempt
----------------------------------
DECEMBER 9, 2008, 9:56 P.M. ET
Pirate Attacks Keep Law Firm Buzzing
By ASHBY JONES
Piracy off Somalia's coast has plagued shipping companies for years, but the number and boldness of attacks has increased in recent months. While that has given fits to shipowners, cruise operators and navies, it also has kept a relatively obscure set of lawyers busy.
Among the most prominent is London maritime firm Holman Fenwick Willan. Partner Toby Stephens says lawyers at the firm have been awakened "at all hours" by ship owners calling the firm's 24-hour hot line. "They're often quite panicked, and understandably so," he says.
Over the past three months, the rise in piracy has kept about a half-dozen lawyers at Holman Fenwick working nearly full-time for clients with potentially dozens of lives and tens of millions of dollars at stake in hijackings. To some degree, the work has helped Holman Fenwick offset other maritime practices hurt by the global economic slowdown.
Through the end of last month, the waters off Somalia had been the site of 96 pirate attacks this year, 40 of which had led to pirates boarding a ship, taking control and demanding a ransom, according to the International Maritime Bureau in London. World-wide there were 83 reported pirate attacks in the third quarter, up from 53 and 63 in the first and second quarters, respectively, the bureau says. In recent months, pirates have broadened their targets to include bigger vessels, including oil tankers and, so far unsuccessfully, cruise ships. In most cases ransom demands have been in the $1 million-$2 million range. But lawyers say hijackers have demanded as much as $25 million for the release of the Sirius Star, a Saudi oil tanker captured 450 miles off the Somali coast carrying cargo valued at more than $100 million.
On Tuesday several cruise-ship operators said they would shift or cancel tours or reroute passengers by plane to avoid the Gulf of Aden off Somalia. Also, the European Union said it would station armed guards on cargo ships in the area.
Mr. Stephens says his firm is working on "over a dozen" of the roughly 20 Somalia-area attacks in which the ships haven't been freed.
"This year we've seen a definite uptick in piracy work," says James Huckle, who is in charge of business development for the firm.
Business in Holman Fenwick's casualty practice, usually dealing with shipping collisions, and its ship-financing practice have slipped as the world economy has slowed. Mr. Huckle says piracy cases have helped "counterbalance" that downturn but he is unable to provide specific figures.
Stephen Askins, a maritime lawyer at London's Ince & Co. says he is handling "a few" piracy cases, but that Holman Fenwick "is really leading the way" in representing shipowners in piracy matters.
Piracy expertise at Holman Fenwick, which was founded in 1883, grew out of the firm's history representing clients following shipwrecks and collisions. The firm represented the salvage companies that cleaned up after the oil tanker Prestige broke up off the coast of Spain in 2002. The firm also represents the owners and insurers of the MSC Napoli, a container ship severely damaged in an English Channel storm last year. In addition to about 290 lawyers, the firm employs about 30 nonlawyer experts, such as former ship captains, marine engineers and naval architects.
A firm's initial role after a hijacking often is to ease a client's fears. "No one's been hurt, and the ransoms have so far been small enough for shipowners to pay," says Duncan McDonald, a lawyer at London-based Stephenson Harwood. His firm represents owners of two ships hijacked and released earlier this year.
Then, a firm moves to determining where a ship is registered and the location of the hijacking. These factors affect the laws that will govern the case and the haggling over liability that often follows. A U.N. resolution passed in June allows a navy to enter Somalia's territorial waters to repress an attack.
Shipowners and insurance underwriters are reluctant to speak publicly about their hijacking situations. But the managing director of a large insurance syndicate in London says that when a ship partly underwritten by his firm was hijacked several weeks ago, his first question to lawyers at Holman Fenwick was whether the payment of ransom was even legal. It was under U.K. law, Mr. Stephens says, which typically applies because that's where insurance underwriters are usually based. If a ransom payment is illegal, the firm might have to negotiate with the country exercising jurisdiction.
The insurance-syndicate executive says the negotiations, which are continuing, have been stressful. "I know we're in good hands...but there are still times when you feel like you have no control at all," he says.
Holman Fenwick also assists clients in retaining private security consultants -- many of whom are former special-forces personnel -- to negotiate with the hijackers.
The bulk of Holman Fenwick's work comes once a ship is freed, as the firm assists clients who paid a ransom try to recover prorated amounts from cargo owners and others who had an interest in the voyage. Though the law on dividing financial liability generally is settled, these negotiations can drag on for months.
There's one job lawyers say they won't handle. "We won't get in that speedboat and deliver the suitcase of money," says Mr. Stephens. "I don't think anyone here agreed to do that when they signed on at the firm."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122886821440893125.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
----------------------------------
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Quick Math For Anti-Piracy Operations
Observing the first phase of Operation Atalanta, I've run through some of the numbers to get a feel for the economic price taxpayers in the EU will be incurring to stem the tide of piracy in the Horn of Africa. Here's what I came up with:
Each group of ships involved will spend approximately 120 days on station and another 15 days transiting to and from the region. With 10 frigates, three smaller combatants, one support ship and a small staff involved, I estimate there are about 1750 sailors in the force. Picking an average cost rate of $40k per year in pay and another $10 per day in food, the personnel costs run approximately $28.4 million for each phase, or $85.1 million for the entire year-long operation.
Then, looking at fuel costs, a group this size will run through around 1,400 barrels of fuel per day while transiting and perhaps 800 barrels per day on station, which at $125 per barrel yields a cost of $14.6 million per phase and $43.9 million for the entire operation.
So, not even considering maintenance, ordnance, flight operations, logistics and port and canal costs, the starting point to estimate the cost of the whole operation should be around $129 million. Other costs associated with a heightened operational tempo could increase the cost by another $20 million or more.
As of the first part of October this year, pirates have collected an estimated $30 million in ransoms in 2008.
Posted by Yankee Sailor at 5:30 PM
http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/
----------------------------------
Weigh boxes at dock gate, urge industry leaders
Janet Porter - Tuesday 9 December 2008
The Hyundai Fortune was rocked by an explosion in 2006.
DRAMATIC improvements in container shipping safety would be achieved by weighing every box at the dock gate, industry leaders said today as they unveiled best practice guidelines.
Ensuring that container weights are accurately declared would eliminate many of the accidents that have dogged the industry in recent years and go some way towards satisfying regulators who are starting to take a closer look at industry standards.
The International Chamber of Shipping and the World Shipping Council produced the document, that sets out recommended procedures for each stage of a container move, following failings that were highlighted during the investigation into a container stack collapse on the shortsea ship Annabella in 2007.
The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch was particularly critical about the lack of a code of practice for container shipping and urged the ICS to remedy this situation.
Container shipping came under further scrutiny when MSC Napoli was grounded early last year, but that accident also provided a unique opportunity to conduct a forensic examination of a containership and its cargo. Investigators discovered that around a fifth of all containers MSC Napoli had been carrying were either badly packed, inaccurately labelled, or the wrong weight.
Another high profile incident when the 5,551 teu Hyundai Fortune was rocked by an explosion in 2006 and then burned for days also contributed to industry-wide recognition that procedures had to be tightened up. Although no conclusive proof was ever found, it is widely assumed that an undeclared consignment of fireworks blew up, almost destroying the ship.
London-headquartered ICS, the international shipowner trade association, and Washington-based WSC that represents global container lines, formally launched Safe Transport of Containers by Sea, Guidelines on Industry Best Practices, at the International Maritime Organization’s maritime safety committee meeting last week.
Eventually, the IMO is expected to make some of the recommendations in the ICS/WSC guide mandatory. By publishing its own advice, the shipping industry hopes to demonstrate a pro-active approach to safety and so be able to “control the shape of legislation,” said ICS marine director Peter Hinchliffe.
The £80 guide sets out existing regulations covering the transport of containers and then provides sector-specific guidance for key players involved in the shipment of containerised cargoes, with chapters on the design, maintenance and repair of containers; booking and assignment; shipping line stowage co-ordination; container stuffing; marine terminal operations; responsibilities of the master and crew; and information technology.
Although the recommendations cannot be legally enforced, the guidelines’ sponsors hope the advice will be educational and so raise safety standards.
“We believe there are commercial incentives for lines to operate safely,” said ICS secretary general Tony Mason.
The biggest problem, though, is shipper ignorance of the risks they are taking with the lives of others by not stuffing and labelling containers properly, or weighing them accurately.
Mr Hinchliffe is urging ports to weigh all containers entering their gates to verify that the declared weight was correct.
“We recognise that this is not achievable at all terminals at present, but we want this to become the international expectation,” he said.
Over-heavy or underweight containers should not be loaded onto the ship, a sanction that would soon persuade shippers “to take the subject more seriously”.
Although mis-declared weights are only part of the problem, experts nevertheless believe action on accurate measurement would be a major step forward.
With the IMO powerless to enforce rules at the dock gate, governments should be encouraged to apply national laws on container weights, said Mr Hinchliffe.
The full scale of substandard containers is not known, although anecdotal evidence suggests deficiencies are widespread.
In some cases, deliberate malpractice has been uncovered, but in most instances, the problem is thought to be lack of awareness about why safe packing and correct documentation matter.
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/weigh-boxes-at-dock-gate-urge-industry-leaders/20017598355.htm
----------------------------------
Witnesses: Ethiopians troops pouring into Somalia
By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR – 20 hours ago
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Ethiopian troops are pouring into neighboring Somalia to fight radical Islamists who have taken over much of the country, raising fears of more violence in a country fighting a deadly insurgency and piracy, witnesses and the Somali government said Tuesday.
The Ethiopians' advance comes just weeks before they are scheduled to withdraw after an unpopular, two-year presence here. The Ethiopians are integral to protecting the Western-backed government, and their planned withdrawal at the end of the month will likely herald the administration's collapse.
Dahir Dhere, a Somali military spokesman, said the Ethiopians are "helping the Somali people and they will get rid of al-Shabab," referring to the extremist Islamic group that is advancing steadily toward the capital, Mogadishu.
The phone of Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Wahde Belay rang unanswered.
Somalia has been in chaos for nearly two decades, and the country's Western-backed transitional government has failed to assert any real control since it was formed in 2004. Ethiopia — the region's military powerhouse — sent thousands of troops here in late 2006 to help oust the Islamic extremists, who soon launched an Iraq-style insurgency.
The Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies have come under near-daily attack from the militants.
The Associated Press interviewed nearly a dozen residents of towns near the Somali-Ethiopian border, who say troops from Ethiopia have been streaming into the country in recent days.
In Balan Bal, another town on the countries' border, hundreds of Ethiopian troops riding 14 military vehicles entered the city Monday, said resident Ahmed Sheik Roble.
"The Ethiopian troops took positions at a former military base and a police station," he said. "Some of the troops started to dig trenches while others started to patrol the city."
The United States fears that Somalia could be a terrorist breeding ground, and accuses al-Shabab of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who allegedly blew up the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Ethiopia recently announced it would withdraw its troops by the end of this month, leaving Somalia's government vulnerable to insurgents, who have captured most of southern Somalia and even move freely in the capital.
The Shabab declared an Islamic state in a region of southern Somalia on Sunday, establishing posts including a governor, security official and chief judge, according to the U.S-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist sites. The declaration is the latest sign of the Shabab's steady advance.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g7OaI4_kjeHA-o4UhlmP7vlWmrrwD94V83180
----------------------------------
Kenol warns on oil imports as piracy takes a toll on shipping
Updated 18 hr(s) 41 min(s) ago
By Macharia Kamau
Gains made in bringing down oil prices now risk being overturned by the piracy dogging the Gulf of Aden, according to a leading oil marketer.
In a faxed statement to newsrooms, Kenya Oil (Kenol) Company, which holds the contracts for importing oil from the Middle East to the local and regional markets, warned the frequent hijacking of ships were likely to affect imports.
Kenol ratcheted up fears of a possible shortage, saying that ships are taking longer to arrive in Mombasa port, as they use different routes to avoid the dangerous waters near the Somalia coastline, where pirates have been wreaking havoc on shipping.
The pirates recently hijacked an oil tanker and demanded a ransom to release the ship and its crew.
The area is fast becoming one of the most heavily militarised waters in the world, as Russia and Nato send warships to protect ships.
"The vessels are now being delayed by an average of three to five days, and in addition the importers are suffering higher freight and insurance charges, thus affecting the costs of the various products imported," said Mr Charles Njogu public relations manager Kenol.
He said that the company was among those suffering delayed deliveries as one of its chattered vessels, MT CE Pacific, has been delayed by three days from its scheduled arrival date.
Kenol, which last month won the tender to import the crude oil consignment for January next year, now says that the increase in piracy off the coast of Somalia has made vessel reluctant to deliver products along the regional coastline, while those plying the route arrive in Mombasa much later than their scheduled dates, as they take detours.
"Vessels willing to deliver are charging premium rates to cover their risks," he said.
Njogu warned that the unpredictability of the situation, and consequent delays would affect supply arrangements particularly of petroleum products in the future.
He noted that the irregular supplies could affect other "industries involved in imports and exports at a time when the country and the region are witnessing an increasing demand ion petroleum products arising from the projected growth in the economies."
Experts warn if the crisis in Somalia is not addressed, neighbouring nations will suffer directly.
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144001326&cid=14
----------------------------------
Regards
Snooper
NNNN
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment