Please Note
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa Pirates !!!
Regards
Snooper
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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.
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Further tales from our long haired solo sailor !
Photo : Jen Edney,
Caption : Well, that be ME !!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Arrived East London
Yes, Zac is in East London. Arriving at 1030B.
Regards
Alex
Monday, January 12, 2009
A Good Passage
Latest Position: 01/12/09 15:39Z 32 33.485S 29 16.052E (75 miles out of East London)
Today was a good day though I have had only small 30 minute power naps since I left Durban 32 hours ago. The weather is as good as I could have hoped for with light winds to 15 knots and the free power of the Agulhas Current speeding me along. The seas are choppy and confused which makes for an uncomfortable passage. There have been quite a few ships but interestingly, they pass in between me and the shore. They must know what they are doing but for as for me, I prefer to stay out!
I have some good food on board for this short leg though I have not been very hungry with all of the bashing around Intrepid is doing. The South African beef jerky is awesome. They have whole stores full of the stuff. I like it better even than the American jerky that I am used to.
At this rate, I should make it in to East London in the early morning. I have slowed the boat down by spilling air so that my approach is closer to 4:30 in the morning when the sun begins to rise. I'll be glad for a good night's sleep and to visit some family friends in port.
Cheers,
Zac
posted by Zac at 8:58 AM
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Visit www.zacsutherland.com
YouTube Videos http://www.youtube.com/zacsvideos
Blog http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
Email zacsworldadventure@yahoo.com
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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.
Q&A - 12 01 09
Q: Hi Mike! Congratulations on crossing the Equator! I've thoroughly enjoyed following your journey thus far. One question: Do you wear a harness when you are up on deck, in case of surprise waves, etc. that could knock you in for "the swim that needs no towel"? Have a great day! Warmly, Jeremy in America
A: I wear a harness whenever I deem it necessary. I’ll wear it on the foredeck at all times and when sailing at night at all times. During the daytime I take into account the current weather conditions and if I feel that it’s safe enough then I won't wear a harness. But at the first sign that it’s becoming moderate or rough then I’ll definitely strap on.
Q: When you crossed the Equator did you drink the whole bottle of champs or was it shared with King Neptune!!??
A: I shared it with King Neptune!
Q: Love reading your blog, sounds like a great adventure you’re having. Question for you: What’s the longest you’ve slept since getting back on the water. From johnboi
A: I divide up my sleep pattern into small chunks so I’m always readily available to tend to Totallymoney.com at a moment’s notice, should she need me! The most amount of sleep I’ve had in one go is an hour and I usually sleep in thirty-minute bites.
Visit : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/
Blog : http://www.totallymoney.com/sailmike/?cat=5
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Are pirates abusing hostages on seized ship?
January 12 2009 at 03:02PM
Cairo - An Egyptian man being held hostage on a pirated ship off the coast of Somalia for nearly two weeks has accused the pirates of mistreating their captives and appealed for help, Egypt's leading independent newspaper reported on Monday.
Ibrahim Etman, one of 28 Egyptian crew aboard the cargo ship Blue Star when it was seized by pirates on January 1, had phoned his daughter to ask for help, she told the daily Al-Masry al-Youm.
Mona Ibrahim Etman told the daily the pirates began mistreating the hostages when the owners of the ship refused to pay a $75 000 ransom, ceased negotiating, and stopped answering the pirates' phone calls.
According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, about 15 heavily-armed pirates took control of the Blue Star as it sailed east from the Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Shipping companies have begun diverting maritime traffic away from the Suez Canal in response to the recent escalation in pirate attacks south of the Red Sea.
In response to the decline in canal traffic, Egypt announced on January 5 it would indefinitely freeze transit fees for ships passing through the canal.
Egypt depends heavily on the Suez Canal for revenue. According to official figures, Egypt earned $5,11-billion from the Suez Canal in 2008. - Sapa-dpa
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20090112143505355C404144
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Navy asbestos puts thousands at risk
Ben Doherty | January 7, 2009
AUSTRALIAN sailors are being exposed to deadly asbestos fibres because the navy continues to use illegal asbestos-contaminated parts, years after they were outlawed.
Thousands of sailors and civilian contractors are likely to have come into contact with the potentially lethal carcinogen, a report seen by defence chiefs says, and the Defence Force could face fines of more than $100 million for breaches of work safety laws.
And that figure could be millions of dollars higher if sailors, as predicted, contract lung cancer or other diseases as a result of their exposure.
A risk assessment report prepared by the defence contractor SYPAQ Systems, obtained under freedom-of-information laws, found "thousands of personnel" could have been exposed to chrysotile asbestos, a known cancer-causing agent.
"The risk to the safety of personnel … is significant and must be addressed … The likelihood that [exposures to asbestos] will occur is almost certain and the consequences are potentially catastrophic," the report said.
Reports show nearly 250,000 parts held in naval stores are suspected of containing asbestos. And hundreds of those parts, including gaskets, hoses, even compressed asbestos sheeting, are still being issued to naval ships and bases in breach of state and federal laws.
"It can be assumed there have been over 350 issues of 775 asbestos items to operational units and ship repair organisations since 31 December 2003 (when asbestos use was prohibited)," the SYPAQ report found.
A spokesman said defence did not accept SYPAQ's finding that "thousands" had been exposed and said the potential fines figure of $100 million was "purely speculative". He conceded, though, that asbestos parts were issued in breach of bans.
A furious Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, condemned the ADF's handling of its asbestos problem, calling it unacceptable.
"We wouldn't let a major company get away with it and we should be just as tough on ourselves. I expect defence to change its culture of endless exemptions and waivers," he said.
Attempts to speak to SYPAQ Systems, the author of the report, were unsuccessful.
The navy first conceded sailors' lives were being endangered in May, when it issued an all-ship-all-shore warning identifying a fraction of the contaminated items still in use.
"To date 45 items have been confirmed as containing asbestos. All units, ships and establishments are to check if stockholdings are held for the items listed below … The asbestos eradication program is ongoing and there is likely to be additional candidates identified," the Defence Materiel Organisation alert warned.
The use of and importation of asbestos-containing materials was made illegal in 2001 in Australia, with the prohibition coming into force on January 1, 2004.
But the Defence Force won an exemption to continue using chrysotile asbestos parts until 2007, on two strict provisos: that the parts were "mission-critical" and no non-asbestos replacements could be found.
In December that exemption was controversially extended again until 2010 by the Government's safety and compensation council, despite fierce expert opposition, and even grave reservations from within defence.
Mal Pearce, the director-general of defence's occupational health, safety and compensation branch, raised concerns that defence was not trying hard enough to rid itself of the deadly substance.
"The commission had for some years been very flexible with defence, during which time defence had given repeated assurances that it would fix the problem of chrysotile eradication … Some commissioners pointed out that a national prohibition on asbestos had existed since 2001."
It is likely that all the navy's use of asbestos parts falls outside the Defence Force exemption, and is illegal.
Only 318 asbestos items were approved for defence use last December, and that number has since been reduced to 209. Approved are a number of spare parts for the Caribou transport aircraft, F-111 strike bomber, and Mk127 Lead-in Fighter fleets, and a small number of gaskets for ground equipment and vehicles.
The SYPAQ Systems report found that the issue of "several hundred confirmed asbestos items" to operational naval units was "in direct contravention of state and federal laws".
Defence could face fines in the order of $115 million if found guilty of breaching the federal Occupational Health and Safety Act by exposing employees to serious harm or death, the report said.
As well, civilians and defence employees who develop lung cancer or other diseases could sue for damages and compensation. The average claim is estimated at $360,000.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/navy-asbestos-puts-sailors-at-risk/2009/01/06/1231004053491.html
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Indo-Russian naval exercise in Arabian Sea from Jan 26
New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) In an attempt to boost anti-submarine warfare and anti-piracy operational skills, the Indian Navy will jointly exercise with its Russian counterparts during the Indra series of biennial wargames in the Arabian sea from January 26.
India will send its mainline warships, including destroyers, frigates and submarines, to the five-day wargame and Russia will be represented by six warships led by nuclear-powered missile cruiser "Pyotr Veliky" (Peter-the-Great), Defence Ministry sources said here today.
The warships from India would be from the Western Naval Command and the Russian ships from its Northern Fleet, sources said.
Pyotr Veliky, popularly known as "buster of aircraft carriers", would be joined by the Russian Navy's anti-submarine squadron from its Pacific Fleet for the bilateral exercise and the ships would sail from the South African coast, where they are currently anchored.
The exercise, fourth since 2003, would also focus on cooperation in anti-piracy operations, which India is currently carrying out with greater vigour in the Gulf of Aden waters since October last.
Other areas of interest for the two navies this time around would be maritime law, counter terrorism and drug smuggling. Indra-2009 would involve a number of live-fire drills, sources added. PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/04F525DC502CE8646525753C00584FCF?OpenDocument
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Car carrier develops new trades into Africa
Ro-ro carrier Höegh Autoliners is developing new trades into Africa.
These are a monthly service from Middle East and India to Southern Africa and West Africa (known as the MIAF trade) and a monthly service from Far East, Middle East and India to East Africa (called the FEME trade).
According to Hoegh’s Africa MD, Per Folkesson, a combination of the MIAF and FEME trades offer connection possibilities to Southern and Western Africa from the Far East.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/13/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7162
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Winding up of Sails ‘extremely difficult’
Following the official liquidation of SA Independent Liner Services (Sails) on December 1, the post-liquidation process appears more difficult than meets the eye.
Darusha Moodliar, an insolvency specialist and director of Cape Town-based Sanek Trust Recovery Services, readily admits the Sails winding up is one of the most difficult she has had to deal with in 22 years of practice.
“This was not easy, lots of cross-border insolvencies, maritime laws and the fact that some debtors are based overseas.”
“The Master of the Cape High Court has convened a meeting in Cape Town on January 29 to gather creditors’ claims, but the prospect of a dividend to them appears unlikely at this stage.”
Story By : Ray Smuts
Date :1/13/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7163
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Non-Lethal Weapon to Stop Small Boats
1/12/2009 12:44:26 AM
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Defense’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) recently conducted a demonstration of a developmental non-lethal weapon designed to stop suspicious small boats. The program, referred to as Boat Trap, involves dropping an entangling net from a helicopter into the path of a boat. The net entangles in the boat’s propeller, forcing the vessel to a safe stop.
According to Darrel Webb, Maritime Project Engineer at the JNLWD, potential applications of the Boat Trap device include port security, protecting large vessels by reducing vulnerability to terrorists’ use of speed boats, and drug interdiction activities.
“Non-compliant small boat threats have elevated the importance of less-than-lethal technology to stop non-compliant vessels,” said Commander Eric Riepe, the Policy Division Chief for the Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement. “Currently, the Boat Trap appears to have potential in stopping non-compliant vessels while executing Coast Guard law-enforcement missions.”
The Coast Guard held the Boat Trap demonstration at Marathon Coast Guard Station in Marathon, Florida, in December. The demonstration included a series of four drops of the Boat Trap device from a helicopter into the path of a 33 ft Eduardono Go-Fast boat with twin 200 hp Yamaha outboard engines traveling at 30-40 knots. The demonstration mimicked real-life scenarios where the helicopter has no communication with the boat and the operator must successfully time the drop in the right spot and from the correct altitude. During the demonstration, the net successfully entangled the boat’s propellers.
The JNLWD is now working with the manufacturer to develop the documentation and drawings required to move the program to the next stage of the DoD’s formal acquisition process.
http://sname.marinelink.com/snamestory.aspx?stid=214108
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Photo : Alex Van Heerden
Russian nuclear-powered warship calls at Cape Town
17:59
12/ 01/ 2009
MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered missile cruiser has sailed into the port of Cape Town, a Russian Navy spokesman said on Monday.
Six Russian warships, led by the Northern Fleet's Pyotr Veliky, will participate in a joint naval exercise with the Indian navy this month.
"The ship received special permission from the Pretoria authorities to make the call," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said, adding that the visit would last through January 14.
He said that the ship was to have docked in port on January 9 to replenish supplies, but South Africa's nuclear energy administration refused to grant permission.
A naval task force led by the cruiser recently participated in joint exercises with the Venezuelan Navy in the Caribbean.
The Pyotr Veliky will join up with warships from the Pacific Fleet for the INDRA-2009 exercise. The Admiral Vinogradov, an Udaloy class destroyer, a salvage tug and two fuel tankers are already in the Indian Ocean, having left Russia's Far East a month ago.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090112/119451067.html
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Help Wanted: 'Human Terrain' Teams for Africa
By Nathan Hodge January 12, 2009 | 10:48:22 AM
[PHOTO: U.S. Department of Defense]
The Army's Human Terrain System, which employs anthropologists social scientists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has seen no shortage of controversy. Three of its social scientists have been killed; one human terrain contractor faces a murder charge; another was indicted for espionage.
Now it looks like the human terrain teams -- or something very much like them -- are coming to Africa. Research and risk management firm Archimedes Global, Inc. recently sent out help-wanted ads for a new "socio-cultural cell" within U.S. Africa Command, the new regional military headquarters. Within two months of the contract start, the company will deploy a six-contractor team to eastern Africa.
The job description states:
USAFRICOM requires approximately 24 personnel to support the base effort. On day one of the contract, USAFRICOM requires six (6) contractor personnel to make up the first Socio-Cultural Cell and an additional six (6) contractor personnel will be required to make up the Social Scientist Research Center (SSRC).
According to the job ad, the teams will work support AFRICOM's Special Analysis Branch, which among other things will provide "operational multi-layered analysis and Joint Intelligence Preparations of the Operational Environment." Cells will include personnel with expertise in "human terrain, all-source and Geo-spatial analysis." A second socio-cultural cell will stand up within six months.
It's no secret that AFRICOM is looking to create something similar to the Army's human terrain program, managed by defense contractor BAE Systems. In a speech at the U.K. Royal United Services Institute back in September, Gen. William "Kip" Ward, the head of AFRICOM, said:
A lot of activity goes on in the continent through our non-government organizations. Academia is involved. I showed you early on this thing about knowledge development. When I was in previous assignments, someone came to me and would talk about, well, 'Ward, you need to get a cultural anthropologist on your team.' I said, what! A cultural what? Anthropologist? To do what? Get out of here. Or, 'Ward, you need to have someone to help you understand the human dimension. You need some human terrain analysis.' I said, 'what? Get out of here.' But it's important, and where do those skills, talents reside -- academia, places like RUSI.
Steve Fondacaro and Montgomery McFate, the Army's top human terrain gurus, have said from the beginning that "phase zero" conflicts -- before the shooting wars start -- are the places where social science and anthropology might be the most useful; Fondacaro has visited AFRICOM as a preliminary step towards setting up human terrain teams there. Interestingly, though, the AFRICOM job description is for a "socio-cultural cell," not a human terrain team. Is there some re-branding at work here? Or might the two projects work side-by-side?
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/help-wanted-hum.html
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Open Wi-Fi Aids Terrorists, Mumbai Cops Say
By Noah Shachtman January 12, 2009 | 12:51:55 PM
Open wi-fi is a terrorist tool and has to be shut down, right this second. That's the conclusion, at least, of the Mumbai police. Starting today, the Times of India reports, "several police teams, armed with laptops and internet-enabled mobile phones, will randomly visit homes to detect unprotected networks."
"If a particular place's wi-fi is not password-protected or secured then the policemen at the spot has the authority to issue notice to the owner of the wi-fi connection directing him to secure the connection," deputy commissioner of police Sanjay Mohite tells The Hindu. Repeat wi-fi offenders may receive "notices under the Criminal Procedure Code," another senior officer warns the Times.
Mohite notes that e-mails taking credit for terror attacks in New Delhi and Ahmedabad were sent through open wireless networks. "Unprotected IP addresses can be misused for cyber crimes,'' he says. Other Indian cities now require cyber cafes to install surveillance cameras, and to collect identification from all customers.
But plugging up all those perceived security sieves in Mumbai is going to take some work. A quick Sheriff's Brigade survey on Sunday showed that 80 percent of wi-fi networks in South Mumbai were left unlocked. And it's not like terrorists are all that 802.11-dependent, of course. An e-mail also took credit for December's massacre in Mumbai. Whether that came from an open wi-fi connection or not is unclear -- the mailer used an anonymizer service, to cover his electronic tracks.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/open-wi-fi-is-f.html#more
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13/01/2009 06:10 OSLO, Jan 13 (AFP)
Norwegian ship attacked off Nigeria: report
The Norwegian cable ship Viking Forcados was attacked by pirates off the coast of Nigeria on Tuesday but none of the 52 crew was injured despite gunfire, Norway's NTB news agency reported.
"All of the pirates have left the ship. There were gunshots during the attack. The 52 members of the crew, made up of Norwegians and Nigerians, are safe and sound and there have been no injuries," Bjoern Jarle Aamlid of the southern Norwegian sea rescue centre HRS was quoted as saying.
"The boat is now heading for a safe mooring. There has been material damage," he added.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=090113061006.qwf921gj.php
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Top Officer Urges Limit on Mission of Military
By THOM SHANKER
Published: January 12, 2009
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that senior officers must work to prevent the militarization of American foreign policy, and he urged generals and admirals to tell civilian leaders when they believed the armed forces should not take the lead in carrying out policies overseas.
Adm. Mike Mullen, who as chairman is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, also called for more money and personnel to be devoted to the civilian agencies responsible for diplomacy and overseas economic development.
The military is engaged in deep soul-searching over the proper role of the armed forces in foreign policy. The debate has been inspired by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have forced the military to take on responsibilities far beyond combat, including tasks like economic reconstruction and political development that are often described as “nation building.”
“Our military is flexible, well funded, designed to take risk,” Admiral Mullen said in a speech at an evening ceremony of the Nixon Center, a Washington policy institute. “We respond well to orders from civilian authorities.”
Because of those traits, Admiral Mullen said, the military receives vast resources — and then is asked to do even more.
“I believe we should be more willing to break this cycle, and say when armed forces may not always be the best choice to take the lead,” he said. “We must be just as bold in providing options when they don’t involve our participation or our leadership, or even when those options aren’t popular.”
American national security and foreign policy requires “a whole-of-government approach to solving modern problems,” Admiral Mullen said. “And we need to reallocate roles and resources in a way that places our military as an equal among many in government — as an enabler, a true partner.”
Admiral Mullen’s tour as chairman will continue into the new administration, and President-elect Barack Obama has asked the current defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, to stay on. Admiral Mullen’s speech was wholly in sync with remarks made by Mr. Gates, who has delivered a series of talks, remarkable for a Pentagon chief, calling for more resources for civilian agencies responsible for American “soft power,” including the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce and Agriculture.
Admiral Mullen acknowledged that the nation had “reached for the military hammer in the toolbox of foreign policy fairly often.” But he underscored a lesson learned during his time in uniform, dating to the Vietnam War, which he described as “an acute understanding of the finite application of force abroad — as well as its impact at home.”
Admiral Mullen also offered a rule for proper behavior among senior military officers, both in active duty and retirement. He commended those senior military leaders who “provide strong opinions to leaders in private, when it counts,” but he said generals and admirals should “maintain purity from partisanship once their time in service is over.”
In the spring of 2006, as the war in Iraq risked spiraling into civil war, a group of retired officers openly called for firing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in what became known as “the generals’ revolt.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/washington/13military.html?ref=world
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Australia Facing Shark ‘Plague’ After Three Attacks in Two Days
By Gemma Daley
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australia is in the middle of a shark “plague” and beachgoers have been told to swim in groups after three attacks in two days and increased sightings in aerial surveys.
Surfwatch Australia, which conducts daily observation flights across beaches on the east coast, is seeing twice the number of hammerhead, bull and white pointer sharks than five years ago, managing director Michael Brown said.
An abundance of nutrient rich waters, following storms three years ago, has boosted the volume of bait fish near the coast, increasing the number of sharks in the midst of a “feeding frenzy,” Brown said. A 25-year-old man was attacked yesterday while snorkeling about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Sydney. On Jan. 11, a 13-year-old girl was bitten by a 5-meter shark off the coast of Tasmania state and a 31-year-old male was assailed off the New South Wales north coast.
“A plague of sharks has been attracted to the shore and they are in the middle of a feeding frenzy,” Brown said from Ingleside, 28 kilometers north of Sydney. “That means not only are there more of them, they’re bigger as well.”
New South Wales Primary Industry Minister Ian Macdonald today warned beachgoers to remain in patrolled areas, stay close to the shore and in groups and not to swim either in the dark or in known fishing areas.
“We have a beach meshing program to protect beachgoers,” McDonald said in an e-mail. It “is highly successful but there are no 100 percent guarantees.”
50 Years, 60 Deaths
In the past 50 years, there have been 60 human fatalities off Australia’s 27,000 kilometers of coast as a result of shark attacks, an average of about 1.2 a year, according to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, which operates the Sydney Zoo. That compares with an average rate of 1.8 deaths a year from bee stings.
“There are an average of 15 attacks per year and one or two people killed,” John West, curator of the zoo’s Shark Attack File, said from Sydney. “In terms of the causes of death, shark attacks are low on the list and well behind things like drownings and rock fishing.”
A 51-year-old man was fatally attacked by a shark while snorkeling for crabs in Western Australia state last month. A 16- year-old was killed by a shark off Australia’s east coast last April.
“They don’t target humans. They’re hungry and they’re close and they’re in larger numbers than we have seen in a generation,” Brown said. “People should avoid swimming early in the morning or later in the cool of the afternoon, as sharks will avoid being in shallow, warm water in the heat of the day.”
Cousin Rescue
In yesterday’s incident near Sydney, the unidentified man flagged down a boat after being bitten. He was taken to the beach and emergency personnel transported him to the hospital.
Hannah Mighall, 13, was rescued by her cousin, Syb Mundy, after she was attacked by a shark off Tasmania, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported yesterday. In the other incident, a man was bitten while surfing south of Tweed Heads near the border between New South Wales and Queensland states. He suffered injuries to his thigh after being attacked 70 meters offshore, NSW police said in a statement.
There have been more than 135 deaths from unprovoked shark attacks in Australia, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File. That compares with more than 50 in the U.S. and more than 20 in South Africa.
Several species, including the great white, tiger shark and bull shark are dangerous to humans. None are thought to target people and specialists say attacks occur when the animal confuses swimmers, surfers and divers with its usual prey. There are 165 shark species in Australian waters.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 12, 2009 20:44 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=an4reKqp6cEM&refer=asia
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Waves hinder search for 230 on Indonesian ferry
1/12/2009 10:40:04 AM
Comments (0)
By Irwan Firdaus
Associated Press
PAREPARE, Indonesia -- Huge waves and driving rain hindered rescuers Monday as they searched for more than 230 people missing and feared dead after a ferry packed with passengers and cargo capsized in a cyclone off Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
At least 33 people have been rescued so far and one body found.
Many passengers were sleeping when the 700-ton (635-metric ton) Teratai Prima was struck by tropical cyclone Charlotte before dawn Sunday, officials and witnesses said. It sank about 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast of western Sulawesi.
"People were screaming, 'Help, help!"' said survivor Sampara Daeng Gassing, 35, who clung to a tire for two hours in the pounding storm but lost his 9-year-old son and father-in-law.
"I lost hold of my son and my father-in-law when a big wave hit me," Gassing said, weeping.
The ferry was slammed by 13-foot-high (4-meter-high) waves, said Gassing, who arrived Monday with other survivors in the port of Parepare -- where the ferry journey began. He said he awoke about 10 minutes before it went down. The boat had been traveling to Samarinda on the Indonesian half of Borneo island.
The captain -- who also survived -- was being investigated for allegedly ignoring warnings from the Indonesian weather agency that conditions on the crossing were too dangerous, Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal said.
Fishing boats and a cargo ship picked up 33 drifting survivors, including five crew members, said Capt. Mansur, a navy officer in the port of Majene who also uses one name.
The military deployed four warships, several airplanes and a helicopter at daybreak Monday and found the body of a woman drifting in the Makassar Strait, said Col. Jaka Santosa, who was heading the rescue operation.
About 250 passengers and 17 crew were believed aboard the ship originally, Djamal said. However, passengers lists for such ferries in Indonesia are typically inaccurate, as tickets are frequently sold on board without being properly tallied.
The boat sank so quickly that the crew "had no chance to ask the passengers to wear life jackets," Djamal said, citing the captain's account. "Many passengers were asleep."
The accident was most probably caused by extreme weather, rather than technical problems, the National Transportation Safety Committee concluded after initial inquiries, Djamal said.
The Teratai Prima, built in 1999, was inspected on Dec. 9 and found to be in good condition, said Abdul Gani, the Transport Ministry's top official for sea transport. It was carrying 18 tons of cargo.
Boats are a major form of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and a population of 235 million. Poor enforcement of safety regulations and overcrowding causes accidents that claim hundreds of lives each year.
In December 2006, a crowded Indonesian ferry broke apart and sank in the Java Sea during a violent storm, killing more than 400 people.
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=50&a=379691
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Port of Singapore edges out Shanghai for world’s number one
Singapore remained the world’s top container port in 2008 with volumes just shy of 30m teu but tough times lie ahead, reports Lloyds List.
“In 2008, Singapore maintained its leadership position in container throughput — having handled close to 30-million TEUs,” said Raymond Lim, Singapore Minister for Transport
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/13/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7169
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US Ports ID program
By CHRIS GAUTREAU
Advocate business writer
Published: Jan 13, 2009 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
While acknowledging some problems are likely, local Coast Guard officials say they’re confident the Baton Rouge area is as prepared as possible for the launch of a new port security system.
Officials also confirmed that contingencies are in place for thousands of workers who enrolled in the program but didn’t get their Transportation Worker Identification Credential in time for today’s start.
Under antiterrorism laws passed last year, anyone entering U.S. ports or maritime facilities — even the guys who fill the vending machines — must have the TWIC identification card or be under constant escort while on those facilities.
The cards carry personal identification data scanned by computer.
“There’s going to be a period of adjustment,” said Chief Matt Valenti of the Baton Rouge Coast Guard office. “There’s going to be a few long lines. There might be a little slowdown at some front gates. But I’m sure within a couple of days, a week tops, it’s going to start running smoothly.”
Valenti’s office is in charge of TWIC enforcement at 71 sites along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, including area petrochemical plants and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge.
The port’s executive director, Jay Hardman, said Monday that extra security and port personnel will be on hand and that tenants are ready to provide escorts if needed.
“I don’t think we can be much better prepared,” he said.
According to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, nearly 780,000 people nationwide have enrolled for TWIC cards, including more than 40,200 in Baton Rouge.
Under the system, applicants must pass a background check and return to enrollment centers to “activate” their cards.
Homeland Security’s data shows that in Baton Rouge, about 16,000 enrollees have yet to activate their cards.
Valenti said Monday, however, the Coast Guard will grant a 30-day grace period for card activations.
As long as enrollees have paperwork showing they’ve passed the background check, they’ll be allowed to enter facilities that require TWIC.
Valenti said the contingency should cover all but about 3,000 enrollees.
“That’s a big number, but that 3,000 will be spread out over 71 facilities,” he said. “So, escorting probably will be pretty easily obtained.”
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/37484859.html?showAll=y&c=y
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KENYA SLAMS SIRIUS STAR PAYMENT
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
KENYA has strongly criticised the payment of a US$3m ransom to Somali pirates last Friday to secure the release of the Saudi Arabian-owned VLCC Sirius Star. The country's Foreign Minister, Moses Wetangula, his country would pay nothing to free a Ukrainian-owned ro-ro Faina, still held off the Somali coast with it crew and cargo of tanks and other weapons bound for Kenya.
"I wish to register our displeasure on the payment of ransom last week where the oil tanker was released. Paying encourages criminal acts and we do not support such initiatives," Mr Wetangula is reported as telling reporters.
He continued: “However long it takes, Kenya is not willing to pay ransom and will not pay any ransom. It is not perishable cargo, those guys can keep those tanks and weapons on that ship as long as they wish. We will not pay ransom. We will eventually get them. I have no doubt.”
http://www.mgn.com/news/dailystorydetails.cfm?storyid=9537
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Pirates release seamen held since 2008
January 13 2009 at 10:04AM
Manila - Somali pirates have released a Japanese-operated cargo ship with 21 Filipino crew members aboard, a Philippine foreign official said on Tuesday.
Foreign Under-Secretary Esteban Conejos said Somali pirates freed the bulk carrier MV African Sanderling on Sunday. The vessel was seized in October last year.
Conejos said the 21 Filipino seamen were in good health and their papers were being processed so they could go home.
"The pirates took good care of them," he said.
Conejos said Somali pirates still hold more than two dozen Filipino crewmen aboard ships seized off the coast of Somalia last year.
The Philippines supplies about one-third of the world's sailors. - Sapa-dpa
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20090113095926162C141443
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Oil workers will not be released until leader of Nigeria’s main militant group is freed, say captors
Nigeria - British hostages ‘alive and well’ despite four-month ordeal
Published: 13/01/2009
Two Britons who have been held hostage for four months are “alive and well” but will not be released until the leader of Nigeria’s main militant group is freed, the organisation said yesterday.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta released pictures of Matthew Maguire, of Merseyside, and Robin Hughes, who are believed to have been among 27 oil workers, including five expatriates, kidnapped when their vessel was hijacked on September 9. The other hostages were later released.
The group said the Britons would not be released until the Nigerian government frees their leader, Henry Okah, who is currently being tried for arms trafficking.
The statement said: “We intend to hold on to them for as long as a very sick and dying Henry Okah is held hostage by the Nigerian state. Since their fate is now tied to his, God forbid that Henry Okah should die in detention.”
It added they were “alive and well” and the militants would continue to kidnap “high-value oil workers from western Europe and North America” in 2009 to keep pressure on the government to empower the inhabitants of Nigeria’s oil-rich states.
In the pictures, the pair look dishevelled but did not appear to have been injured.
When the other hostages were released, the militants said it was holding on to the Britons as “leverage”.
The militants are behind nearly three years of rising violence in the southern Niger Delta. They claim their impoverished areas have not benefited from five decades of oil production and want more federally-held oil funds sent to southern oil states.
The Nigerian government has denounced the militants as criminals.
Nigeria, which is routinely ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, is Africa’s top oil producer but attacks on the industry’s infrastructure have reduced production by almost a quarter.
Mr Maguire, a 34-year-old diver, was taken from a boat taking him to work on a rig.
The photos were the first his family have seen since he was abducted in September.
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1025202?UserKey=
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Paying ransom encourages piracy
Tony Bender, The Dickinson Press
Published Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sometimes I find hope in strange places. Last week, I found it in the waters of the Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates had been holding a Saudi oil tanker hostage since November.
First of all, I find the resurgence of piracy unsettling — and indicator that we are living in strange and disconcerting times. I mean how often do you find yourself in support of Saudi oil sheiks? That in itself left me a bit queasy. It was a little like Bonnie and Clyde robbing Pretty Boy Floyd. It’s interesting to watch but you aren’t terribly invested in who wins or loses.
But having pirates holding a supertanker loaded with 2 million barrels of oil is no small quandary. For one thing, it represents more than a third of one day’s consumption of OPEC oil or the amount of Brylcreen in Wayne Newton’s hair.
When the news broke that a $3 million ransom had been paid, it ticked me off. After all, it would just encourage more piracy. For instance, if our largest financial institutions robbed us blind and squandered stockholders’ money on exorbitant salaries and lavish retreats with rum and saucy wenches, you wouldn’t just give them more money would you? What kind of message would that send?
You start paying pirates ransom and the next thing you know Johnny Depp is ransacking Forrest Gump’s shrimp boat. It will be anarchy. Pretty soon everyone will have a tattoo. Don’t laugh. It could happen.
Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand, was upset because the pirates were not asking for enough ransom. Originally they were asking for $6 million or $7 million, and Limbaugh felt even that was too low — they were devaluing the market. You have to admire his commitment to the free market system.
Then came the news that five of the pirates (and presumably their parrots) drowned in a storm with their share of the ransom. Three survived because their peg legs gave them buoyancy. You think it’s easy swimming with one leg and a patch over one eye? Mostly, you just swim in circles. The sharks got dizzy just watching.
I’ll admit it. It felt good to know five of them had perished. Real good. It was Old Testament style justice, and hey, what can I say; I’m old school that way. I am in favor of a little smiting from time to time. There’s nothing like a good keel-hauling to send a message. In this case, it felt like justice was done — like the hand of God had reached out and smacked them a good one. But such satisfaction — bordering on giddiness — left me feeling a little conflicted, though. It seemed so unenlightened. I just didn’t feel good about feeling so good about it.
Then I considered the facts. According to the French military, 165 ships were attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year. You can trust the numbers. Everyone knows the French are really good at counting defeats. It’s just a matter of time before they surrender to the Somalis. It’s not that there aren’t tough French guys, it’s just that they don’t get them in the military. All the mean ones are waiters.
Pirate attacks are up by more than 100 from the previous years. It seems the pirates are winning everywhere except Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Russian warships are monitoring a Ukrainian boat containing T-72 battle tanks that pirates hijacked in September. Are you kidding me? U.S. and Soviet arms dealers have already equipped every 7-year-old in the third world with rocket launchers, missiles and G.I. Joe action figures, and now they have tanks!
In the immortal words of Barney Fife, “You’ve got to nip it in the bud. Nip it!” And there is comedian Dennis Miller who said once in support of the death penalty, “Folks, there comes a time when you have to cull the herd.” How can you argue with Miller and Fife? So, if the U.S. Navy parks a battleship out there and starts blowing Somali pirate ships into toothpicks, it’s OK by me.
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/articles/index.cfm?id=19160§ion=Opinion
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Chinese port breaks 5-m TEU mark
Container volumes at the Chinese port of Xiamen came to five million TEU by December 27, up 10.3% over the same period a year ago, news agency Xinhua reported.
From 2006 to 2008, Xiamen invested R11.28-billion on building new deep water berths and channels to enhance port facilities. The port has 37 berths that can handle 50 000-tonne vessels, 21 that can deal with those of 100 000 tonnes. The largest berth can accommodate ships of 150 000 tonnes. The port's sailing channel has a depth of 14 metres.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/13/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7167
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US container volumes fall to 2004 levels
Volume at US container ports fell for a 17-th month in December ending the slowest year since 2004, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight , reports Shipping Gazette.
Volume for the year was estimated at 15.3 million TEU, compared with 16.5 million TEU in 2007, a decline of 7.1% and the lowest total since 2004, when 14 million TEU moved through US ports.
Story By : Alan Peat
Date :1/13/2009
http://www.cargoinfo.co.za/newsdetails.asp?&newsid=7166
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Weekly Piracy Report 30 December 2008 - 5 January 2009
Suspicious crafts
None reported
Recently reported incidents
28.12.2008: 1950 LT: Posn: 12:01.9S - 077:11.1W, Callao anchorage, Peru.
Ten robbers boarded a bulk carrier at anchor. They took hostage one duty crew and tied his hands and legs. Robbers stole ship's stores and property and escaped. Port control informed. A coast guard boat came and patrolled the area.
26.12.2008: Posn: 12:53.5S – 38:41.15W Bahia de Todos Os Santos, Itaparica marina, Brazil.
Two armed robbers boarded a yacht at anchor and assaulted the two crew members.
Robbers stole ship’s properties, cash and crew properties before escaping. The two
injured crew were given shore medical treatment. Authorities are investigating.
03.01.2009: 0305 LT: Posn: 03:49.6N – 077:09.4W, Buenaventura anchorage, Colombia.
One robber was sighted near the forward cargo compartment on a bulk carrier at anchor. Master raised alarm and mustered ship’s crew. Master reported to the coast guard. Later the man jumped overboard and escaped. Coast guard boarded for investigation.
04.01.2009: 05:40 UTC: Posn: 13:3.0N – 048:42.5E, Gulf of Aden.
Six pirates in one white coloured speed boat attempted to board a bulk carrier underway. Three of these pirates were armed with machine guns and opened fire on the vessel. Master carried out evasive manoeuvres and contacted a coalition warship. Within 15 minutes a helicopter arrived at the location. The speed boats moved away on seeing the helicopter. No injuries to the crew and no damages to the ship.
02.01.2009: 0807 UTC: Posn: 13:42N - 050:39E, Gulf of Aden.
Pirates in three skiffs attacked a tanker underway. They fired upon the tanker and attempted to board. Master raised alarm, contacted coalition warships, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. A coalition helicopter arrived and the pirates aborted the attempt.
02.01.2009: 0427 UTC: Posn: 13:11N - 047:32.5E, Gulf of Aden.
Pirates in speed boats approached a tanker underway. One speed boat was spotted four nm and the other two were drifting seven nm ahead of the tanker. Master raised alarm, increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and crew activated anti-piracy measures. The first speed boat came within two meters of the stbd quarter and fired upon the tanker. Master saw five pirates armed with machine guns. Coalition warships contacted. Pirates aborted the attempt after five minutes.
01.01.2009: 0747 LT: Posn: 13:55N - 047:58E, Gulf of Aden.
Armed pirates attacked and hijacked a general cargo ship underway. 28 crewmembers taken hostage.
01.01.2009: 1230 UTC: Posn: 13:53N - 049:29E, Gulf of Aden.
Four pirates in a speed boat attacked a bulk carrier underway. They fired upon the ship with automatic weapons and attempted to board. Master raised alarm, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. Pirates aborted the attempted attack.
01.01.2009: 0337 UTC: Posn: 13:05N – 047:03E: Gulf of Aden.
Two skiffs approached a tanker underway and opened fire with automatic weapons. Master increased speed and made evasive manoeuvres, and sent a distress message via VHF radio. A warship and a helicopter were sent to assist the tanker. Upon seeing the warship and helicopter the skiff moved away.
31.12.2008: Posn: 13:8.0N – 47:27.0E: 1330 UTC: Gulf of Aden.
A bulk carrier underway was chased and fired upon by pirates in speed boat. Naval warships informed and attack was prevented. Further report is awaited.
Weekly Piracy Report 6 January 2009 - 12 January 2009
Suspicious crafts
None reported
Recently reported incidents
09.01.2009: 0130 UTC: Posn: 12:01.81S - 077:12.15W, Callao anchorage No.1, Peru.
Duty A/B onboard a container ship at anchor spotted armed robbers lowering ship's stores. Two of the robbers tried to attack the duty A/B but he managed to run and inform the bridge. Robbers escaped in a motor boat upon hearing the alarm.
06.01.2009: 1945 LT: Posn: 12:01.5S - 077:13.1W, off Callao, Peru.
Five robbers boarded a bulk carrier at anchor. Duty crew noticed the robbers trying to break the forepeak store hatch and raised the alarm. On hearing the alarm, robbers jumped into the water and escaped. Nothing stolen. Port control informed and a patrol boat came and searched the area.
03.01.2009: 0500 LT: Posn: 12:55N - 045:10E, Gulf of Aden.
Armed pirates in four boats attacked and hijacked a product tanker underway. Information indicates the vessel has been taken to Eyl. 15 crewmembers taken hostage. Further details are awaited.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=308:weekly-piracy-report&catid=32:weekly-piracy-report&Itemid=10
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Sirius Star crewman's family tell of relief at his release
The family of a British crewman held hostage by pirates on a hijacked oil tanker Sirius Star have spoken of their joy at his release.
Last Updated: 2:30PM GMT 12 Jan 2009
Peter French, a chief engineer, was among 25 crew members of the Sirius Star released on Friday after a £2 million ransom was reported to have been paid by the ship's owners.
The vessel was held by pirates for two months after being captured 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia last November.
Speaking for the first time about her family's ordeal, Mr French's wife Hazel, from County Durham, said she was looking forward to his return and thanked family and friends for their support.
She said Mr French was in good spirits and would hopefully be home soon.
In a statement released by Durham Police, she said: "The family of Peter French would like to say how elated and relieved they are at the release of the ship.
"This has been a very difficult time for everyone, especially at Christmas and the New Year but we are now looking forward to his return home.
"I have spoken to Peter and he is in good spirits and looking forward to time at home with his family and a little relaxation.
"Hopefully it will not be too long before he is back.
"We would like to say thank you to everyone, both family and friends, who have been such a huge support to us over the last two months."
Mr French and James Grady, from Renfrewshire, were among 25 people being held on the vessel near the coastal town of Haradhere.
The 1,080ft (330m) ship was fully laden with two million barrels of oil when pirates boarded it and is the largest vessel ever to be hijacked in a region which has become notorious for piracy.
The US navy released photos of a parachute dropping a package on to the deck of the Sirius Star, and said the package was likely to be the ransom delivery.
But five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather. Three other pirates survived but also lost their share of the ransom.
The Sirius Star had been held near the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, which was loaded with 33 Soviet-designed battle tanks and crates of small arms.
Pirates have demanded a 20 million US dollar (£13 million) ransom for the release of the ship.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4222526/Sirius-Star-crewmans-family-tell-of-relief-at-his-release.html
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Australian warship could be sent to Indian Ocean in piracy purge
Samantha Maiden, Online political editor | January 12, 2009
AN AUSTRALIAN warship could soon be sent to patrol pirate-infested waters in the seas off Somalia as part of a new multinational counter-piracy task force.
As the Australian Government farewelled HMAS Warramunga today to conduct maritime security operations in the Central and Southern Persian Gulf as part of Task Force 152, a new role in an anti-piracy task force is under active consideration.
HMAS Warramunga’s 185-strong team departed today on a six-month deployment to the Middle East where it will seek to "disrupt violent extremists’ use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material."
"Warramunga is well prepared and mission ready for the important job before them. The crew are a true reflection of the commitment and dedication of the Australian Defence Force," Parliamentary secretary Gary Gray said.
"I would like to thank the families and friends of the personnel deploying to the Gulf for their ongoing support and wish those deployed on Operation SLIPPER continued success and ongoing safety."
If the government agrees to proceed with the anti-piracy mission, the navy would join Task Force 151 which has been established to tackle the growing threat of Somali pirates to trade in the region.
The new anti-piracy operation, which was formed on January 1, has already indicated it would welcome the support of Australia to the mission.
Earlier this month, Defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston also confirmed a potetnial role for an Australian warships in Task Force 151.
"Task Force 152 is one. There is also the possibility of perhaps going further and getting involved in some of the important counter-piracy work that is coming on in the north Indian Ocean," he told sailors aboard the Anzac class frigate HMAS Parramatta last week.
"That is something we will be looking at quite carefully in the months ahead, developing a proposal for government's consideration."
Australian Strategic Policy Unit research director Anthony Bergin said yesterday there were strong arguments for joining the anti-piracy operations.
"I guess the point I would make is that at a political level its useful for Australia to be contributing to maritime security in the Indian ocean. It's obviously part of our strategic interest,'' he said.
"China is also going to be involved in Indian ocean anti-patrols. It's good that Australia's got a vital strategic interest in protecting maritime trade, even if it might not be Australian-flagged vessels."
However, he warned the rules of engagement for the Australian navy in such operations were not clear.
"There are a very confused rules of engagement for these operations. You've had some countries return pirates back to Somalia. You've had the Indian navy basically shooting up some of these vessels.You've had the French taking pirates back to France. It's not clear what rules of engagement the Australian vessel would be operating under.''
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24902690-601,00.html
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Amphibious ship Nashville off for final deployment
By Cindy Clayton
Louis Hansen
The Virginian-Pilot
January 12, 2009
NORFOLK
The amphibious transport ship Nashville will leave on its last deployment this week before being decommissioned.
The ship leaves Norfolk at 9 a.m. Thursday to participate in the Africa Partnership Station, according to a Navy news release.
The partnership is an international security initiative designed to improve maritime safety in West and Central Africa, the release says. It isn’t designed to combat piracy, but to help African nations build professional skills and ensure the safety of their waters.
The Nashville has a crew of more than 400 sailors and can carry more than 900 Marines, the release says. Austin-class amphibious ships, such as the Nashville, are being replaced by San Antonio class ships.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/01/amphibious-ship-nashville-leaving-final-deployment-week
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Shipowners warned of pressure to accept additional risks of piracy
By Robert Wright in London
Published: January 13 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 13 2009 02:00
Shipowners could be pressed into shouldering more of the risks of piracy during the industry's current slump, says a leading maritime insurer.
In its latest letter to members, the London Protection and Indemnity (P&I)Club, one of the sector's many mutual insurers, warned that charterers could demand that shipowners accept contract terms forcing them to sail through areas where the risk of pirate attack is high.
They could also try to force owners to accept all the financial risks if a vessel is captured, the letter said.
Owners could be desperate enough to accept such terms. Average charter rates for ships that carry coal, iron ore and other bulk commodities have fallen more than 90 per cent from their peak in May and June of last year and fewer cargoes are being shipped.
The past year has seen a surge in attacks by pirates based in Somalia. According to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors piracy, there were more than 110 attacks on ships off the Somali coast during 2008, and more than 40 were hijacked. About 230 seafarers and 12 vessels are still being held.
The highest-profile victim, the Saudi-owned Sirius Star, the largest vessel seized by pirates, was released on Friday after nearly two months in captivity.
Many owners have diverted sailings via the Cape of Good Hope rather than using the Suez Canal and operating in the Gulf of Aden, where most vessels have been seized.
However, the P&I Club warned that charterers were insisting that shipowners not take such steps, which raise costs by increasing fuel consumption and the time a vessel spends at sea.
"Given the prevailing market conditions, it might be expected that charterers will seek to impose onerous terms on owners, which may serve to encourage masters to expose their ships to an increased risk of piracy," P&I's Club News warned.
"In particular, members should be wary of terms that might expose them to claims for delay, or other liabilities."
Stephen Roberts, a claims director for the club, said the balance of power between shipowners and charterers when negotiating contracts had swung in favour of the charterer.
"If the owners want to find employment for their ships, they're having to accept whatever the charterers offer," he said.
On at least one occasion, owners had been told a vessel would need to go through the Gulf of Aden but terms protecting the owner from some of the financial risks of hijacking were removed, Mr Roberts said.
Naval vessels have been deployed to the Gulf of Aden and attacks have reduced sharply since their arrival.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cbf726ac-e112-11dd-b0e8-000077b07658.html
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Indian Defence services wrap up war exercises
Gautam Datt
First Published : 13 Jan 2009 03:59:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 13 Jan 2009 07:36:23 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The three Defence services have wrapped up one of the biggest war games on the Western sea front where they practiced new concepts of synergised operations. The exercise, called Triveni, took place around Lakshadweep islands. It was officially declared closed on Sunday after a week-long operational phase. At the centre of the drills was the heavy naval deployment with the Air Force and Army working around it.
The officials said the tri-service exercises have been taking place almost every year but this, by far, was the biggest mobilisation of naval assets in recent times. Almost the entire Western fleet was at the job and even platforms from the Eastern fleet were deployed. The most notable was the participation of newly acquired Landing Platform Dock (LPD) INS Jalashwa. The focus of the drills was practicing a scenario where an Indian island has been taken over by the enemy and it has to be defended by an offensive action.
The amphibious assault capabilities were displayed with the help of the warship that was earlier part of the US naval fleet. India had recently come out with its amphibious war doctrine and Triveni was the forum where it was practiced.
The aerial support was provided by the Su-30 MKI fighter jets. Navy’s own aerial assets like helicopters and surveillance aircraft were used to test their capabilities and response timings.
The timings of naval mobilisation might have caused anxiety to Pakistan as the mobilisation took place soon after the Mumbai attacks. The officials, however, maintained that the exercises of such magnitude are planned much in advance. There have been several smaller editions of tri-service exercises in the past. The lessons learnt and refinement of procedures would now move to discussion tables of military leaders.
The de-briefs would be studied to find out the level of preparedness. After the Mumbai attacks, focus has been shifted to maritime security.
Apprehensions have been raised about possible scenarios where terror groups can take over uninhabited islands in the Indian territory to use it as a base for launching attacks. The security agencies have already been told to keep vigil on the security around the islands. It is a challenging task as the number of islands in the Indian waters add up to over one thousand.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Defence+services+wrap+up+war+exercises&artid=nfvUz6r7k0s=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=&SEO=lakshwadeep,%20defence,%20exercises
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Has India's military diplomacy come of age?
Sunday, 01.11.2009, 09:56pm (GMT-7)
The Sino-Indian 'Hand-in-Hand 2008' military exercise that concluded recently at Belgaum in Karnataka may have hit headlines, but is no revelation to those who have observed India's military diplomacy in recent times.
China apart, India has engaged many countries this year alone, under the rubric of military diplomacy. While the Navy led the show, with many bilateral and multilateral exercises, the Air Force and the Army too engaged themselves in significant joint exercises.
This new found confidence and proliferation in India's military diplomacy leads to the question if India's military diplomacy has come of age. The credit for new military diplomacy goes to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who introduced new political perspectives, seeking a commensurate military role for India in Asian international relations, in keeping with its rising economic and political profile.
As the Minster of State for Defense Pallam Raju said at this year's Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore, "one of the long-term challenges for India was its willingness and ability to contribute to public good." Hence, in the past few years, India has entered into defense cooperation agreements with most great powers, including China, as also with smaller countries like Malaysia and Singapore, and even Mauritius.
The Manmohan Singh doctrine has also been backed by the strategic consensus, in tackling common security threats through cooperative security along with other countries. Indian strategic thinkers have been quick to realize the potential of the cooperative security mechanisms, that offer cost effective security and a win-win scenario for every country, through a non-zero sum game approach.
The tangible gains are already visible. First, military diplomacy has helped in reducing tensions with China and allowed the two countries to explore the potentialities of a partnership in the emerging Asian security architecture.
One can raise the issue of Pakistan, but that country is yet to acknowledge the utility of military diplomacy. Second, it has allowed India to share its own experience and knowledge with other countries and learn from their experiences.
Witness for example, this year's inaugural Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) gathering at New Delhi, which allowed the Indian Navy different perspectives on contemporary maritime security.
It has enabled India to ensure enhanced policing of the adjacent waters in the Indian Ocean region, through sharing of intelligence with other countries. India's capability to curb piracy and other subversive activities in the region has definitely increased as witnessed in the recent sinking of pirate ships in the Gulf of Aden by the Indian Navy.
India's military diplomacy is, however, not a fairy tale story. First, the basket of military diplomacy is still limited to a few countries, as also limited in numbers. While India's late start is certainly responsible for that, there has also been some domestic ideological opposition to military exchanges with countries like the US.
Often, they fail to factor in strategic advantages that accrue from such collaboration. India is not able to harness military diplomacy due to the demand-supply disequilibrium with military modernization.
While countries like China have made considerable investments in military modernization, India lags behind. India still does not have diplomatic presence in many of the continental countries in Africa as well as littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region.
Also, its trade linkages with these countries are very shallow so as to create 'stakes' for these countries. Much of the military diplomatic activities are, therefore, born out of agreements reached with individual countries, rather than being part of a grand strategy. Often external factors tend to neutralize India's military diplomacy.
Witness for example, the recent spate of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, which could be attributed to utter lawlessness in Somalia. There are significant players competing with India with more resources and lucrative terms of engagement.
China, for example, has institutionalized military diplomacy not only in the Indian Ocean but also on the continents of Africa and Latin America. ASEAN has institutionalized dialogue platforms to engage the militaries of significant countries that matter to the group.
With so many challenges, India's military diplomacy is yet to catch up with its rising power status. With the security situation in South Asia as well as the larger neighborhood constantly fluctuating, India should focus on re-inventing the basket of military diplomacy.
It could probably learn from the Chinese experience that is based on the judicious balance of military diplomacy and military modernization, synergy with political and economic diplomacy and above all, securing its periphery through the cooperative security route.
The writer is with the Indian Defense Accounts Service
http://indiapost.com/article/perspective/5142/
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Aust, Indonesia sign defence deal
Posted Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:00pm AEDT
The chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, has met with his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta to sign a joint statement on defence cooperation.
The statement is an outcome of the Indonesian Defence Minister's visit to Australia and was agreed with Federal Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon in March last year.
The statement reaffirms both countries' commitment to taking a cooperative approach to security issues under the Lombok Treaty.
"Australia is committed to working with Indonesia as a partner to build a secure and peaceful region," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
"The signing of the joint statement demonstrates the strength of the relationship between our two countries and provides a clear direction for future cooperation."
The joint statement focuses Australia's defence engagement with Indonesia in areas of counter-terrorism, maritime security, intelligence, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and peacekeeping.
The statement also outlines activities for future defence engagement, including military training and postgraduate education, study visits and exchanges, combined exercises and maritime surveillance and patrol.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/12/2464136.htm?section=world
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Norwegian Oil Company Enters Occupied Western Sahara Waters
tirsdag 13. januar 2009
A huge Norwegian research vessel has in secret travelled to the coast of occupied Western Sahara. This weekend the Norwegian company Fugro-Geoteam started a controversial operation to carry out oil exploration, in defiance of the advice of the UN and the Norwegian government.
By Erik Hagen
Norwatch
Norwatch has discovered that the Norwegian seismic survey company Fugro-Geoteam is now taking part in an operation in occupied Western Sahara. The undertaking is being carried out for Moroccan authorities that are exploring for oil offshore the coast of the occupied territory. The company has confirmed the engagement but does not wish to release details or comments.
Morocco does not have the right to look for oil and gas in Western Sahara, so long as it is in the disregard of the wishes and interests of the people of occupied Western Sahara, the Sahrawis. UN legal experts established this in 2002 .
The Norwegian government also takes a critical stance to the operation in Western Sahara and advises companies from engaging there. In 2005 the Norwegian Government Pension Fund expelled the American energy company Kerr-McGee from its portfolio because of oil activity in Western Sahara and referred to the American engagement as “a particularly serious violation of fundamental ethical norms”.
But this hasn’t stopped Fugro-Geoteam from proceeding with oil exploration in exactly the same oil block as the one in which Kerr-McGee worked.
Norwatch first received confirmation of the operation from Spanish authorities, and when Norwatch made Fugro-Geoteam aware that a story would be published about the engagement, they confirmed their involvement. But they still will not comment.
The exploration started on the weekend
When the Pension-Fund- blacklisted company Kerr-McGee left Western Sahara after strong criticism from a range of investors, its smaller partner, Dallas-based Kosmos Energy, took over. Kosmos plans to drill in Western Sahara in a few years, in spite of both UN statements and protests from the government in exile. The president of Western Sahara’s exiled government has called Morocco’s oil plans a violation of the truce in the area. Several observers call the Moroccan plans a threat to security in the region.
For a long time, therefore, it has been unclear whether little Kosmos Energy wished to continue the exploration in the occupied territory. This can now be confirmed by Norwatch.
It is the Norwegian seismic company Fugro-Geoteam that has become an important pawn of the Americans. Fugro-Geoteam, a firm with 50 years’ experience in geological surveys in Norway, may carry out the last and most important analyses before the drillings may be started next year, in violation of international law.
Fugro is using the world’s largest seismic ship, Geo Caribbean, for its operation. Fugro built the boat last year, with a price tag of one billion Norwegian kroner (105 million euros). The trip to Western Sahara is the ship’s maiden voyage. After the vessel was completed at Bergen Mekaniske Verksted shipyard in November, it stopped in Rotterdam at the beginning of December 2008, to be baptised.
On 17 December the ship left Rotterdam port, and a few days ago it arrived at the Canary Islands. On Thursday afternoon the ship was just south of Grand Canary Island, about to leave Spanish waters, heading south toward Western Sahara. Fugro’s chartered supply vessel was last reported on Thursday evening, also on the way south from Grand Canary, 50 km north of Kosmos Energy’s oil block.
It is therefore likely that the exploration started this weekend and that Geo Caribbean will end the search sometime toward the end of February. Half of the American company’s oil block is located on the continental shelf, while the other half is in deep waters. The Fugro work is probably to take place on the part that lies in deep waters.
Secrecy
Much indicates that Fugro-Geoteam and their partners wished to keep the operation unknown to the public. None of the partners have wanted to comment on the operation or to supply details about what the operation involves.
There is no information on the web pages of either Fugro in Norway or Fugro’s parent company in the Netherlands. Nor is there any information on the pages of Thor Offshore of Faroe Islands, which owns the small supply vessel that will follow Geo Caribbean, or on the pages of American Kosmos Energy, which has the oil license. Even the pages of the Moroccan state-owned oil company ONHYM, which has awarded the license, remain silent.
“Fugro has no right to give out information about the seismic project. For more information about the case, the only source can be Kosmos Energy”, Hans Meyer, managing director of Fugro-Geoteam, wrote in an e-mail to Norwatch on Saturday afternoon.
But Kosmos is not providing any answers. Norwatch was already on Friday refused by Kosmos, which asked Norwatch to contact the above-mentioned partners.
“If you want information about this, you must contact Fugro-Geoteam or Moroccan authorities. As a private company, we are not obliged to answer queries about our operations”, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in Kosmos Energy, Greg Dunlevy, told Norwatch on Friday.
He refused to answer any questions about the explorations and said that they do not need to answer questions from the media.
Thor Offshore of the Faroe Islands confirmed to Norwatch that their supply vessel is chartered by Fugro-Geoteam for “an operation” but would not comment any further on the issue.
Even the crews onboard the ships seem to have been muzzled. Sergio Ramírez, an academic at the University of Las Palmas and active in the campaign group Western Sahara Resource Watch, met two members from the crew on Thor Offshore’s supply vessel Thor Omega in Las Palmas harbour on Thursday. The video below was taken by Ramírez. He also produced several photos of the vessel.
“I asked the crew about where they were going to use the vessel. No matter how I formulated the question, they would not disclose what country they were travelling to. Each time they answered “Africa” evasively. And when I was going to take the picture, those who were standing in front of the vessel ran away, so as not to be photographed,” Ramírez said on the phone to Norwatch.
Until Thursday the supply vessel from the Faroe Islands rested in the harbour of Las Palmas.
Norwatch cannot find a single news release about the case in the Moroccan media, which otherwise are very eager to report on the development of the country’s oil sector. Repeated enquiries to the state-owned Moroccan oil company ONHYM have not yet resulted in an answer.
On Friday afternoon Norwatch received a confirmation from Spanish authorities that Geo Caribbean is participating in the oil industry in “Moroccan” waters, far south of Grand Canary. The same Spanish authorities also confirmed that the ship Thor Omega will travel in shuttle traffic between Fugro’s seismic vessel and Las Palmas to transport crew and supplies.
Critical international law expert
The engagement will prepare what UN legal experts define as a violation of international law. The analysis that the UN authored in 2002 concerned the legality of petroleum industry in the same ocean region as where Fugro-Geoteam has now started exploration.
The person responsible for the UN legal opinion, UN’s former Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs, the Swede Hans Corell, is critical of the continued Moroccan policy with regard to the use of natural resources in Western Sahara.
“In terms of the situation as it is now, no activity connected to the natural resources of Western Sahara can take place unless representatives for the people of Western Sahara are involved in the discussion and have approved the activities”, Hans Corell told Norwatch.
He pointed out that Morocco is not the administrative power of Western Sahara and was clearly critical of the fact that international business participates in the exploration and extraction of natural resources from the region.
“Even though international law is not always directly binding for companies, it still constitutes a foundation upon which the companies must base their ethical evaluations. It would certainly have helped solve the conflict in Western Sahara if the companies had behaved in a socially responsible manner and operated in line with international law”, he said on general terms.
Fugro remains silent
Norwatch has posed a series of questions about the engagement to Fugro-Geoteam, but they refuse to answer. Norwatch has also asked for comments about what the Norwegian company thinks about preparing the grounds for a violation of international law, and whether they agree with the public statements of the Norwegian Ministry of Finance in 2005. That was the year the Ministry sold all its Kerr-McGee shares in the Pension Fund and said that oil exploration in Western Sahara contributes to “undermine the UN peace process” and constitutes “a particularly serious violation of fundamental ethical norms”.
“If there should any questions about Fugro’s standards, we refer to our web pages and our annual report”, Meyer wrote to Norwatch.
But on their web pages there is nothing about the engagement.
Fugro-Geoteam employs about 270 people in Norway, and the main office is in Oslo. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of Fugro Norway, which in turn is fully owned by the Dutch parent company Fugro NV. Geo Caribbean is registered in the Marshall Islands.
Facts: The oil industry in Western Sahara
1975-79: Morocco occupied the major part of Western Sahara, an occupation that was condemned by the UN.
1991: The war between Morocco and the Sahrawi independence movement Polisario ended with a ceasefire, on the premise that a referendum be held for the Western Sahara people in 1992. But it was never held.
2001: Morocco still occupied the major part of Western Sahara and handed out its first two petroleum licences for offshore Western Sahara to the US energy company Kerr-McGee and the French TotalFinaElf (later Total). The Western Sahara government in exile called the initiative a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
2002: The UN’s legal experts said that further oil exploration in Western Sahara would be in violation of international law. Still, the Norwegian seismic survey company TGS-Nopec was engaged to carry out the first seismic surveys. The surveys were to be carried out together with the Norwegian Fugro-Geoteam and the Faroe Islands company Thor Offshore. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Petersen, criticised the Norwegian involvement. After having received international criticism, all three companies withdrew from further engagement in Western Sahara.
2004: Total withdrew from Western Sahara, saying there were insufficient possibilities for oil or gas deposits. The smaller, privately owned oil company Kosmos Energy moved in on the ownership side of Kerr-McGee’s Western Sahara block, called the Boujdour block.
After having sabotaged the UN’s peace process for a referendum in Western Sahara for over a decade, Morocco now refused for the first time to arrange the referendum in Western Sahara. The international community failed to react to the news.
2005: The Norwegian Government Pension Fund divested from Kerr-McGee because its activities constituted “a particularly serious violation of fundamental ethical norms” because they may contribute to “undermine the UN peace process”. Several investors followed suit.
2006: Kerr-McGee left Western Sahara, and the company was later bought up by the US firm Anadarko. Kosmos Energy took over 75% of the Boujdour block, while the Moroccan government oil company ONHYM kept the rest. Kosmos Energy continued close collaboration with Anadarko. Whether the collaboration also involved the Western Sahara surveys remains unknown.
January 2009: Kosmos Energy still owns a licence for offshore Western Sahara, being the only foreign firm. Fugro-Geoteam initiates seismic surveys for Kosmos Energy, with the recently built seismic survey vessel Geo Caribbean. At the same time, they charter the supply vessel Thor Omega of the Faroese company Thor Offshore. They did this even though both Fugro and Thor had been criticised for assignments a few years ago, and even though they said they would not do it again. Kosmos Energy plans to drill for oil in a few years, something that could have as a most extreme consequence that the ceasefire could collapse, causing the Sahrawis to resume the war for Western Sahara’s independence.
http://www.norwatch.no/200901131236/english/westernsahara/norwegian-oil-industry-in-occupied-western-sahara.html
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Tuesday, 13th January 2009
Dramatic airlifting of pregnant woman while migrants remain at sea
Kurt Bugeja Coster
A rescue boat returns to harbour as rough seas yesterday made the transfer of migrants aboard it impossible. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
The army is waiting for the weather to subside before making any attempt to transfer 161 migrants ashore from a cargo ship that rescued them on Sunday.
A pregnant woman who was in the group was airlifted to hospital late last night in dramatic operation by the AFM.
The cargo ship yesterday dropped anchor in Anchor Bay, which is not as exposed to the rough seas and strong winds. But attempts by the army to transfer the migrants aboard two military boats in the afternoon were unsuccessful because of the inclement weather.
An army spokesman said a request for blankets was made between Sunday and yesterday but this could not be met because of rough seas that made any shipment impossible.
The 162 migrants - 133 men, 28 women, one of whom is pregnant, and a boy - on Sunday sent a distress signal by satellite phone to the army from a location at sea about 59 nautical miles south of the island. The army immediately sent a patrol boat but, as the weather worsened, it instructed a cargo ship in the vicinity to take them aboard from the small wooden boat they were travelling in. The cargo ship then began approaching the island but was unable to safely unload the migrants onto the patrol boat. It consequently spent the night anchored off the island.
But a spokesman for the AFM said the pregnant woman was airlifted from the cargo ship by helicopter and transferred to hospital in a difficult operation in gale force winds at about 10.30 p.m.
If today's forecast for more rain and winds persists, the operation will be further hampered.
The migrants are the first boatload rescued this year.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090113/local/dramatic-airlifting-of-pregnant-woman-while-migrants-remain-at-sea
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BOOST FOR IMO'S "NO RED TAPE" COMMITTEE
Monday, 12 January 2009
IMO's Facilitation Committee, which aims to eliminate unnecessary formalities and "red tape" in international shipping, has opened its first session as a formally institutionalised Committee of the Organization.
IMO says: “The Committee now has full standing, reflecting the importance of its work and the issues it addresses, following the entry into force, on 7 December 2008, of the 1991 amendments to the IMO Convention to institutionalize the Committee, which puts it on a par with the Maritime Safety, Marine Environment Protection, Legal and Technical Co-operation Committees. Participation in all Committees is open to all Member States of IMO.”
The Facilitation Committee's role is to facilitate maritime traffic by simplifying and reducing to a minimum the formalities, documentary requirements and procedures on the arrival, stay and departure of ships engaged in international voyages. Traditionally, large numbers of documents are required by customs, immigration, health and other public authorities pertaining to a ship, its crew and passengers, baggage, cargo and mail. Unnecessary paperwork is a problem in most industries, but the potential for red tape is probably greater in shipping than in other industries, because of its international nature and the traditional acceptance of formalities and procedures.
Speaking at a special session to mark the Committee's new status,IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos said: "I, for one, have no doubt that the FAL Committee will increasingly be called upon to help address mounting problems encountered by the shipping industry and which have direct implications for the facilitation of maritime traffic and, in particular, for the efficiency of the shipping industry in its interfaces in ports and offshore terminals. In addition to the Committee's work to combat illicit drugs trafficking, there are, unfortunately, other unlawful acts threatening the safety and security of ships and having an impact on property and persons on board, such as armed robbery and terrorist attacks, which the Committee should help combat with its own expertise, thus making a valuable contribution to the more direct work done by other IMO bodies."
He added: "These and other important issues, such as the disembarkation of persons rescued at sea, justify the time the Committee spends on them as they clearly disrupt efficiency in the ship/port interface resulting in inevitable and unwelcome delays in ports. More work of a coordinating nature should, therefore, be undertaken in-house and with other stakeholders, including the industry, to promote both rapid and harmonized procedures that would not only enhance the facilitation of maritime traffic but also make the whole process more predictable for all the stakeholders concerned to benefit from."
http://www.mgn.com/news/dailystorydetails.cfm?storyid=9534
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Somalia: Puntland's new leader vows to tackle piracy
The new president of Puntland Region has said the first thing he will do once in office is to fight pirates. The Puntland president said this in a hand-over ceremony held in Garowe, the HQ of the Puntland administration.
Abdirahman Muhammad Farole, the new Puntland president has for the first time spoken on the issue of piracy and said he will embark on ways of resolving the issue as it is among the security problems he intends to address.
The new president said this in the handover ceremony in the Puntland parliament in Garoowe Yesterday.
Former Puntland president, Adde Muse handed over office to the new president, Abdirahman Muhammad Farole.
Mr. Muse upon handing over office to the new president said he supports the new president and will continue working with him. Adde Muse thanked the members of parliament who voted for him and those who did not during the Puntland presidential elections.
The new president in his address said he is glad that the presidency in the Region has been handed over to him and vowed to work on the security of the regions that are under the Puntland Administration.
The statement by the new Puntland president in which he has said he will tackle piracy in the region comes at a time when Somali pirates who strike at the Somali coast and Gulf of Aden are said to be based in the Puntland region and carry out their attacks from there.
By: Abdinasir Mohamed
Email: abdinasir4@gmail.com
Mareeg English news
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=9942&tirsan=3
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Dealing with Somalia and Its Piracy
By John R. Bolton
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009
Recent dramatic increases in piracy along the coast of Somalia, plus the near collapse of Somalia's government, highlight the continuing instability throughout East Africa. African Union leaders are holding emergency meetings on Somalia, but unfortunately, from Zimbabwe to Sudan, disarray threatens even governments that have so far escaped crisis. Although President-elect Barack Obama wishes to focus on our current economic downturn, Somalia's turmoil is yet another compelling example that the rest of the world will not stand idly, waiting for America to solve its domestic problems.
Unfortunately, neither the African Union nor the United Nations seem able to deal with Somalia's instability or the threat of high-seas piracy. In fact, too many statesman and analysts are insisting that the two problems be solved together, thus guaranteeing that neither one will be addressed effectively. Even more unfortunately, the Bush administration accepts this linkage, and recently advocated two resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, one to insert a peacekeeping force into Somalia to stop the ongoing, multi-sided civil war, and one to authorize the use of force against the pirates, both at sea and against their land bases.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent visit to New York to advocate these resolutions had all the trappings of her tireless "legacy project," designed to burnish her reputation in history as her tenure as secretary winds down. Ironically, the Security Council outcome is likely to have the opposite effect.
Ridding Somalia of pirates would by no means solve all of Somalia's problems, but it is the absolutely necessary first step.
First, Rice's proposal for a U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia went nowhere, and rightly so. The suggestion ignored Somalia's unfortunate 1993 experience in "nation-building," where "peacekeepers," including U.S. forces, deployed under vague and conflicting mandates, faced numerous militia forces and warlords in shifting coalitions and rivalries. This wrongheaded humanitarian intervention ultimately resulted in the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" tragedy for American troops in Mogadishu, and the collapse of the entire U.N. effort. Naive and ill-planned, assertive multilateralism so proudly touted by the new Clinton administration, arguably worsened conditions in Somalia, turning U.S. and other international attention away from the problem rather than trying to address it more pragmatically and incrementally.
U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon himself argued against Rice's proposal for U.N. peacekeepers, making one of his strongest statements in his two years in office, especially noteworthy because he was critical of a U.S. initiative. Ban rightly said "if there is no peace to keep, peacekeeping operations are not supposed to be there." This is basic U.N. peacekeeping doctrine, fashioned by hard experience over many decades, including past efforts in Somalia, not the ritual incantation of soothing but treacherous mantras such as the "responsibility to protect."
Second, Security Council Resolution 1851, authorizing force against the Somali pirates, is largely blue smoke and mirrors. It applies only to cases where the collapsing interim Somali government has notified the U.N. secretary general in advance of potential military action! Given the Somali government's fragility, the odds of its being able to keep such a request secret are negligible, thus guaranteeing that the pirates will be long gone from any location targeted for military force. Better that this resolution had not been adopted, since without it nations could act on their own without any U.N. or Somali government role. Fortunately, the resolution does not purport to preclude other approaches, so we are left free to do just that.
Neither of Rice's proposals was serious in the Somalia context. The plain if highly unpleasant truth is that elements for a lasting Somali political settlement do not currently exist, and will not for some time. Conflict and anarchy have lasted too long for that. The experienced U.N. mediator, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, is doing what he can to facilitate political reconciliation, piece by fractious Somali piece, but his work will not be advanced by massive outside "humanitarian" intervention, or yet another misplaced exercise in nation-building. Instead, piracy and terrorism are Somalia's most tangible international threats, and must be addressed immediately.
Ironically, Western military authorities, including Washington, are reluctant to take on the pirates, in part because they fear accusations of violating the pirates' human rights! Even more paradoxically, NATO officials contend that the pirates are part of a larger societal problem that cannot be addressed in isolation.
This, of course, is a radical departure from America's attitude toward piracy 200 years ago. Then, worldly wise European governments were content to pay tribute to North Africa's Barbary pirates, but the young United States decided to use force to stop attacks on its commerce. America was right then, and it would be right today to use force to destroy the Somali pirate bases and ships.
Hopefully, our NATO allies would also participate, and perhaps others such as India and China, demonstrating that this is not another example of dreaded American "unilateralism." Obviously, we must be deeply concerned not to endanger the innocent, since the pirates, terrorists that they are, will try to use civilians as shields. But avoiding the hard reality that force is required will simply extend the pirates' threat into the indefinite future by allowing them sanctuaries.
Ridding Somalia of pirates would by no means solve all of Somalia's problems, but it is the absolutely necessary first step. Concurrently and thereafter, Ould-Abdallah and others can work on a Somali political settlement, with support from the outside world. Trying to have the outside world resolve the anarchy in the first instance, however, would simply prolong the agony.
John R. Bolton is a senior fellow at AEI.
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.29186/pub_detail.asp
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Contact Group on Somali Piracy To Hold Inaugural Meeting on January 14
1/12/2009 4:03 PM ET
(RTTNews) - The Contact Group on Somali Piracy
announced on Monday that it would hold its inaugural meeting at the United Nations Headquarters Building in New York City on January 14, 2009.
The group said that it would focus on coordinating activities between states and organizations to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia, where piracy has become an ever-increasing problem in recent months.
At the meeting, it is expected the group will discuss, among other things, improving operational and intelligence support to counter-piracy operations, establishing a counter-piracy coordination mechanism, strengthening judicial frameworks for the arrest, prosecution and detention of pirates, strengthening commercial shipping self-awareness and other capabilities, pursuing improving diplomatic and public information efforts, and disrupting pirate financial operations.
After the conclusion of the meeting, the group said it would issue a formal statement on the decisions reached.
by RTT Staff Writer
http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=822315&SMap=1
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Nigeria: Ports Congestion - Importers to Face Hard Times
Adelanwa Bamgboye
12 January 2009
Hard times now await importers in the country as the Over Time Cargo Disposal Committee set up by the Federal Government to decongest the ports swings into action not later than 19th January 2009.
The Over Time Cargo Disposal Committee's mandate include the disposal of all Containers inside the ports that have stayed for more than 90 days. The committee has 45 days from the commencement of its operation to complete its assignment.
Alhaji Isa Ibrahim, Minister for Transportation, and his counterpart in the Finance Ministry, had met with stakeholders in the nation's maritime industry, the latest being the one held last week at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel and Towers said that the decongestion of the ports is a current national agenda.
Lamenting the present situation, the Minister for Transportation said that less than 48 hours after assuming office as a Minister, he started receiving letters on port congestion from importers, members of the Press and the Concessionaires.
'l directed that a stakeholders meeting be held and recommendation be forwarded to me, l have received the reports and I met with the Finance Minister", he said.
According to him, apart from the Petroleum Ministry, the most important Ministry is the Transportation Ministry because it touches every sector of the economy, it is for this reason that l reported to the President who directed that l meet with the Finance Minister and take steps such that the ports are cleared within 60 days.
Rising from the 6th January 2009 parley with the two Ministers at the Lagos Sheraton, it was resolved that all cargo lying within the ports for over 90 days would be disposed of by an Overtime Cargo Disposal Committee to be constituted by Government.
Other resolution includes that this Committee be constituted not later than Monday 12th January 2009, should commence operations not later than 19th January 2009 and complete its assignment not later than 45 days from the commencement of its operations.
The stakeholders also resolved that a standing committee be constituted to deal with subsequent issues relating to such overtime cargo on a continuous basis. In this regard, terminal operators should submit to the Nigeria Customs Service such list of cargoes on a monthly basis (90 days and above) not later than the 5th working day of the following month.
According to the communiqué released at the end of the parley, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) shall ensure the disposal of such cargoes in line with appropriate laws not later than 30 days from the date of receipt.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200901130253.html
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Airbus A400M Overweight And Understrength Says Report
by Staff Writers
Berlin (AFP) Jan 12, 2009
The Airbus A400 military transport plane is too heavy and does not deliver on performance, the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported on Monday.
The FTD cited sources which said the current version of the A400M can carry only 29-30 tonnes of material, instead of an expected 32 tonnes, and that it is itself 12 tonnes overweight.
The European Aeronautic Defence Space Company, Airbus' parent company, will have to completely revise its plans, the newspaper said.
EADS acknowledged recently that the first delivery of an A400M would be delayed by three years, but did not give a precise date.
A total of 180 of the aircraft have been ordered so far for 20 billion euros (26.8 billion dollars) by OCCAR, the European organisation for military cooperation that represents seven countries.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Airbus_A400M_Overweight_And_Understrength_Says_Report_999.html
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Hamburg Sud first as ship named in Chile
CAP GRAHAM christened at Valparaiso ...
For the first time in its more than 137-year history, Hamburg Süd has christened a container ship in Chile, the ceremony took place in Valparaiso on 9 January 2009.
The "Cap Graham" is one of a series of three identical 4,294 TEU charter vessels of Norddeutsche Reederei H. Schuldt.
Together with her two sister ships, the "Cap Gilbert" and "Cap Gregory", as well as Hamburg Süd's "Bahia" class vessels, the "Cap Graham" is sailing in Sling 1 of the Hamburg Süd liner service between Asia and South America West Coast.
Sponsor of the "Cap Graham" was Elizabeth McPherson Cisternas, Corporate Executive Vice President Logistics and Marketing Services for Codelco Chile, the largest producer and exporter of copper worldwide.
Technical data of the "Cap Graham":
Capacity: 53,480 tdw
Container capacity: 4,294 TEU
Reefer container plugs: 400
Length overall: 264.00 m
Length between perpendiculars: 249.00 m
Breadth: 32.20 m
Speed: 24.0 kn
Main engine output: 36,560 kW
http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item_10216.html
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An MRAP for India?
12-Jan-2009 12:33 EST
Casspir
The global trend toward mine-resistant patrol vehicles actually added India back in the late 1990s, when it began to buy used South African Casspir vehicles. India ended up buying 165 of these vehicles from 1999-2001, and they have seen extensive use in Jammu and Kashmir. The Casspir can be thought of with some justification as “the original MRAP,” and still serves with a number of national armies (South Africa, Djibouti, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Peru) as well as with private firms like Denel subsidiary Mechem De-mining.
The vehicles began production in 1979-1980, however, and many have served for a long time now. Even refurbished vehicles won’t last forever, and India’s Maoist Naxalite and Islamist terrorists are showing signs of both informal co-belligerency and cooperation further up the supply chain. With bomb-making skills spreading globally, and IED land mines a growing choice around the world, might there be an opening for an Indian MRAP program?
BAE Systems thinks so. Now, legal agreements have enabled the next step…
It isn’t hard to see why BAE Systems would regard this as a win-win scenario. The firm also sells the more advanced RG-33 family and the FMTV-derived Caiman vehicles under the US MRAP program, and the RG-32M is in service with Sweden, the UN, Egypt, et. al. The danger of market cannibalization must therefore be seen as low, while a partnership with India offers the prospect of new markets for its RG-31 technology.
Jan 7/09: Following approval from the Government of India’s Foreign Investment Promotions Board, Mahindra & Mahindra and BAE Systems announce a Joint Venture (JV) in India focused on land systems for the Indian market. In accordance with current Foreign Direct Investment regulations, the equity split will be 74% for Mahindra & Mahindra and 26% for BAE Systems.
The firms will now finalize detailed planning and structural arrangements, with a view to commencing JV operations as early as Q2 2009. The firm will be headquartered in Delhi, with manufacturing in Faridabad and an initial staff of 50-60 people. The release mentions that initial work is likely to include the up-armoring of Rakshack vehicles and Axe vehicle production, but adds that the firms are expected to begin developing a mine resistant ambush protected vehicle suitable for India BAE release.
The “Axe” is a light, all-terrain jeep with open sides and little mine protection, developed by Mahindra & Mahindra and marketed to India and Israel [Ma’ariv report, in Hebrew] as a special forces vehicle. The Rakshak is another Mahindra vehicle, developed for protected police and paramilitary type work, and up-armored by Israeli armor firm Plasan Sasa.
Feb 12/08: BAE Systems announces that it is in discussions with Mahindra Defence to jointly develop an Indian mine protected vehicle based on BAE Systems’ RG-31 mine protected vehicle.
The RG-31 also serves with many militaries around the world, and over 1,000 have been ordered by the USA as part of its MRAP program and earlier efforts.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/An-MRAP-for-India-04739/#more-4739
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Indian Navy Looks for Six MRMRs
Jan 12, 2009
Neelam Mathews/New Delhi mathews.neelam@gmail.com
India has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for six so-called medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft. The move comes amid India's choice of Boeing's future P-8I multimission aircraft with four options to replace India's eight aging TU-142s on Jan 1.
The Indian Coast Guard also is looking for six MRMRs but without an Airborne Early Warning system.
Rivals for the Navy's RFP - for which bids have been already submitted - include a variant of Boeing's P-8I, and possibly the turboprop ATR-72MP, EADS C-295, Dassault's Falcon 900MPA and Embraer P-99A platforms. For the Coast Guard RFP, contenders could be the ATR-42MP, C-295 or CN-235MP.
The Navy's MRMR is supposed to replace the aging Islander fleet of 10 aircraft, which will be used for training and possibly shared with the Coast Guard. Two have already been gifted to Myanmar. The aircraft will have a range of over 500 nautical miles with an endurance of around 6 hours.
"The Navy is looking at Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements (NSQR) in the MRMR, rather than platforms," a senior Indian official here told Aerospace Daily.
In addition to eight Boeing P-8Is, the Navy will also be getting 11 new Dornier short-range aircraft. India has been focusing on the need for new and updated technology. The P-8I provides India with speed, reliability, persistence and room for growth to satisfy the country's requirements well into the future, Boeing claims. The aircraft features an open-system architecture, advanced sensor and display technologies, and a worldwide base of suppliers, parts and support equipment, a company statement says.
"The result of these efforts will bring the Indian navy advanced technology that is unmatched in maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and the reach and capability it needs to defend India's vast coastline and maritime waters," says Vivek Lall, Boeing IDS vice president and India country head.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/MRMR011209.xml&headline=Indian%20Navy%20Looks%20for%20Six%20MRMRs
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India - Are We Battle Ready: Submarine repair that takes forever
Vishal Thapar / CNN-IBN
Published on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 09:01, Updated on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 09:50
New Delhi: Over-emphasis on indigenous work is hurting India's readiness for war.
As India's vital submarine arm struggles with dangerously low numbers, a top-end submarine has been taken out of the fleet for a repair programme.
The shocking part is that the repair schedule will last 10 years. Such upgrades have previously been done overseas in two years. One could compare this to a submarine being laid comatose, at least in the case of the INS Sindhukirti, a frontline Kilo class attack submarine of the Indian Navy.
It's been in dry dock at Vizag for a refit programme for close to five years now. It seems that Hindustan Shipyards, the government-owned contractor with little experience in submarine upgrades, will take at least another five years before the submarine can be put to water again.
Unavailable to the submarine-starved Navy for 10 of the 30 years of its useful life, the Sindhukirti is as good as a write off.
"How viable is a surgery which requires a healthy patient to be in a hospital bed for one-third of his life? That is the approximate analogy for the mid-life upgrade for this submarine INS Sindhukirti, the Dry Dock Queen. Four submarines are stuck in such protracted upgrades. Not surprisingly, just nobody is accountable," said our defence correspondent.
Russia took just two years each to upgrade six similar Kilo class submarines for the Indian Navy.
The government insists that it is now building national capability with inhouse upgrades.
"That kind of expertise did not exist in India before and this is for the first time that we are trying it out here. Instead of sending them to Russia all the way, this one is being offloaded to Hindustan Shipyards. There are some problems in their procurement procedures. It takes a little longer than is expected," said Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Suresh Mehta.
What this trade-off on time does to India's military readiness is anybody's guess. It took a recent CAG report to blow the lid of the Indian Navy's worst kept secret: that the vital submarine arm faces a crisis of numbers.
The shocking revelations of the report were:
Only seven of India's 16 submarines are available for combat at any time.
10 of these 16 ageing submarines will be due for phase-out by 2012.
To maintain current numbers, one submarine needs to be inducted every two years but there's been no addition since 2001.
India's only submarine-making facility in Mumbai was kept idle for 12 years.
The gaping hole in India's naval capability is showing.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/are-we-battle-ready-submarine-repair-that-takes-forever/82616-3.html
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Will Bath Build Second DDG 1000?
Swap Envisioned With Northrop's Ingalls Shipyard
By christopher p. cavas
Published: 12 Jan 12:22 EST (17:22 GMT)
Four years after Congress ripped apart a U.S. Navy winner-take-all scheme for building new DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers, the service and its two chief shipbuilders might be poised for a scaled-down agreement to shift construction of the first two ships from each shipyard to just one yard.
The result would be that the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine - poised to begin fabrication of DDG 1000 in February could wind up building that ship and DDG 1001, the Michael Monsour.
Northrop Grumman's Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., scheduled to begin fabrication of DDG 1001 this fall, would in turn receive more of the additional DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers the Navy now intends to build.
Both shipyards share in building Arleigh Burkes. The Navy had planned to cap the number of DDG 51s at 62 ships, but last summer notified Congress of its intent to drop plans to build seven DDG 1000s, build only two, and instead buy at least eight and possibly more additional 51s.
Congressional concerns, particularly from Maine's Senate delegation, soon led the Navy to amend its plan to restore the third Zumwalt.
Funding for DDGs 1000 and 1001 already has been approved by Congress.
Half the funds for 1002 were authorized in the 2009 budget, with the other half expected to be included in the upcoming 2010 budget request.
The controversial Zumwalts are fraught with questions about the need for the stealthy ships, their potential effectiveness and their cost. The Navy has priced each ship at about $3.3 billion, but key congressional budget analysts have long predicted the true cost will rise to at least $5 billion or more.
The Navy planned to compete construction of the ships between Bath and Ingalls. But in 2005, then-Navy acquisition chief John Young attempted a cost-reduction strategy to award construction of all the ships to only one yard, claiming the elimination of overhead costs for two shipyards would save money. But Congress vehemently opposed the idea and supported maintaining a viable workforce in both yards, and Young dropped his plan.
Young, now the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, reportedly has played a key role in the latest negotiations.
Sources said both shipyards met with the Navy late this fall to discuss swapping current and future destroyer construction contracts. One source said the yards now are waiting to see a more definitive plan from the Navy - a plan which could be close to being put on the table. One key issue, the source said, is who would build the third Zumwalt, DDG 1002.
Neither the Navy nor Northrop Grumman nor General Dynamics acknowledged the negotiations.
"Unfortunately, we're not able to comment as everything is still predecisional," said Lt. Cmdr. Victor Chen, a spokesman for Navy research, development and acquisition chief Sean Stackley.
Northrop spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell-Jones on Jan. 8 said, "We have positioned Northrop Grumman to be the go-to builder of surface combatants, and we will continue to provide the Navy our input into how the shipbuilding plan will impact the industrial base, realizing that this is one of the many factors included in their decision-making process."
Bath Iron Works spokesman Jim DeMartini declined to comment on suggestions that such a swap might be in the works.
Navy sources expressed high confidence in Bath's readiness and ability to build the ships, noting the yard's new $40 million Ultra Hall, erected specifically to build DDG 1000s.
Those same sources expressed doubts about Northrop's ability to smoothly begin construction later this year on the new ships. The Ingalls yard already has one of the most diverse portfolios of any warship builder.
In addition to DDG 51s, the yard also builds LHA 6 and LHD 8 assault ships and LPD 17 amphibious transport docks for the Navy and National Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard.
But the yard has faced steady criticism - particularly from Navy Secretary Donald Winter - for problems with the LPD 17 program, and last year took a $300 million charge to fix electrical problems with the new Makin Island (LHD 8) assault ship.
Early last year, Northrop installed Mike Petters, head of Northrop's nuclear-capable shipyard at Newport News, Va., as head of all its shipyards, including the Avondale operation at New Orleans, La., and the Gulfport, Miss., facility that builds the composite-construction superstructures for the Zumwalts. The Navy was pleased by the move and remains supportive of Petters, but Navy sources also said they were still waiting to see definitive and positive results of his management.
"The Navy understands that it might take [Petters] a bit," a Pentagon source said, "but he is a shipbuilder and understands what needs to happen."
Layoffs at Bath
Bath has had its issues as well. On Jan. 8, the company notified 179 union workers they'd be laid off, effective Jan. 23, because of a lack of near-term work and fluctuations in workload.
"We have already started some advanced production on DDG 1000 and we expect to be ramping up production efforts over the next several months," DeMartini said. "That could create a situation where we may be looking to recall some of these employees. But the near-term situation is what's driving this action at this time."
Another possibility for increased workload at Bath involves a scenario where the shipyard would begin building aluminum-hulled Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). Bath is managing the General Dynamics entry in the Navy's LCS competition, but the ships are built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.
Relations between Austal and General Dynamics are strained, and Bath shipyard head Dugan Shipway has not shied away from pointing to locations in his facility where LCS ships could be built. But sources indicate such a move is not now in the offing.
One knowledgeable source said the Bath-Ingalls destroyer swap made good sense.
"I would not be surprised if Bath doesn't build both of the first ships and Northrop picks up new ships" in the upcoming budget plans, the source said. "If the Navy could get both contractors to agree to that with no fighting, it would all work out. But both General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman would have to say it's a great idea." ■
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3897472&c=AME&s=SEA
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NATO urged Britain to install missile system in Gibraltar
By JOE GARCIA, PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR:
NATO has urged Britain to install a missile system in Gibraltar. Further, Gibraltar has been described as being 'an excellent base for high-tech weapons' and studies have been carried into 'electronic warfare and infra-red equipment.'
This secret plan, which we now reveal, was two-fold: It was to increase the military capability on the Rock itself and also in the Strait of Gibraltar. It urged, among other things, the installation of surface to surface missiles and modern early warning radars.
But Britain rejected the plan in recent years on grounds of cost. It is not known if it has been implemented in part.
In fact, in the last two decades, NATO has rapped Britain for refusing to "develop plans for the improvement of surface and sub-surface control of the Gibraltar Strait, and air, surface and sub-surface defence of the military facilities at Gibraltar," according to secret NATO posturings on the military importance of Gibraltar and the Strait.
The secret plans would have cost Britain an initial £30 million with an additional £4 million annually being poured into the Gibraltar econonmy.
While rejecting the project mainly on grounds of cost, Britain has been carrying out certain low cost improvements to the surface surveillance facilities. Studies have also been carried out on the use of electronic warfare and infra-red identification equipment, but it is not clear what has been the end result.
"Considered in isolation, the geographical position of Gibraltar provides an excellent base for the employment of technologically advanced weapons and equipments such as remotely controlled minefields, active and passive surveillance equipment operating above, and below, the surface together with their associated weapon systems," concludes a secret military study marked 'for UK eyes' only.
It is known that NATO has expressed concern in the past about the potential mining threat to the Strait of Gibraltar and the need forcounter measures.
Gibraltar's sub-commands in a NATO context went with the reorganisation of Third-level commands in the wake of Spanish entry. Gibraltar is therefore not a NATO base as such, but remains a UK National base.
However, whatever the facilities in place in peacetime, it is Gibraltar's strategic position on the Strait that provides it with a unique dominating influence.
Alternatives to Gibraltar are Cadiz and Cartagena. Both have large naval facilities and nearby airfields, and while regarded as suitable as bases for operations, "neither have the commanding position combined with the necessary facilities which enable Gibraltar to exercise domination over the Strait," the military say.
The position of Gibraltar in a military context is the subject of review every 5 years or so. The latest report in our possession by the UK Chiefs of Defence Staff says that the combination of harbours and airfield facilities "together with the natural surveillance and defence advantages provided by the Rock itself make Gibraltar the most strategically important position in the Strait."
"In wartime," the report adds,"Gibraltar could provide a secure base for assembling convoys, and the airfield could be used for not only operating anti-submarine warfare helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft but also as a forward operating base for fixed wing aircraft countering the air and surface threat to NATO maritime forces."
A study for the Directors of UK Defence Policy says: "The Mediterranean is critically important: for the member nations of the southern region of NATO it provides common access and vital lines of communication for supplies and reinforcements...Furthermore on its shores are several actual or potential crisis areas which could have serious effects on East-West relations and world peace."
It adds: "Thus control of the western end of the Mediterranean, the ability to seal off events in that area from the Atlantic, and surveillance of a critical part of one of the world's strategic routes rests with whoever commands the Strait. Dominating the Strait lies Gibraltar."
http://www.panorama.gi/localnews/headlines.php?action=view_article&article=4015&offset=0
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DANGER AT SEA: PIRACY THREAT LIKELY TO KEEP GROWING DESPITE GREATER INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
January 12, 2009
ROBERT R. FRUMP
Choice between poverty and prosperity fosters piracy
What’s the 2009 outlook for piracy? Good — if you’re a pirate. But it’s not so hot if you are a shipping line, tanker owner, cargo shipper or the Suez Canal Authority.
The ancient scourge of piracy appears to have driven up the modern costs of shipping by nearly $500 million annually for those transiting the Gulf of Aden sea lanes and it is doubtful that trend will be stopped soon.
Some carriers are responding by diverting ships to longer routes, cruising “at speed,” adding armed guards and increasing crew “hazard pay.” In addition, insurers are invoking war-zone rate clauses.
And even as world navies and the United Nations prepare for increased patrols and attacks against the pirates, most analysts believe nothing short of a strategic, non-military “land solution” in troubled, war-torn Somalia will ever fix the overall problem.
“It’s hard to find a better pirate base than Somalia,” said Alex Duperouzel, managing director of Background Asia Risk Solutions, the Singapore-based company that provides armed escorts to merchant vessels. “Anything short of a strategic solution on land is all tactics — and tactics won’t stop the pirates because they will adapt.”
On the cost side, increased insurance alone could add $20,000 per voyage per ship — 40 times the normal cost — and at least some of those costs inevitably are passed on to shippers.
For example, CMA CGM plans to levy a surcharge of $23 per TEU on containers moving through the Gulf of Aden. The French company announced the action after it was hit with increased insurance premiums and found it had to double the pay of all crews on ships sailing in waters off Somalia.
The surcharge was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. It will be tacked on to bills of lading paid by CMA CGM customers.
BGN Risk, a corporate security risk consultancy, said the CMA CGM situation is representative of many other carriers.
“Due to increased danger, the special risks insurance levy for crossing the world’s most dangerous piracy hotspot has skyrocketed to an average of $20,000 per vessel per voyage, up from only about $500 last year,” said officials from BGN, which has offices in London, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
“Should every ship using the route carry proper insurance, the added cost potential to business would total more than $400 million annually,” BGN officials said.
That figure does not include ransom costs, which totaled at least $30 million through mid-December and were likely to increase greatly as negotiations for two ships held by pirates continued at year’s end. One of them, a ship filled with Ukrainian tanks bound for Kenya, was hijacked in September. The other vessel, a very-large crude carrier, was filled with crude oil. Ransoms are expected to run into tens of millions of dollars at a minimum for the two ships.
The Suez Canal Authority is worried that continued diversions of tankers and other ships around the tip of Africa could permanently affect its revenue. Egypt, the main beneficiary of the $5 billion or so in annual canal fees, will not place a number on traffic and fees lost, but it is dispatching naval ships to the Gulf of Aden.
No one takes the piracy threat lightly. Some, however, say that the attention paid to piracy is excessive considering its true impact.
“We’ve seen it before in Indonesia, Nigeria and to some extent the Caribbean,” said Richard DeSimone, president of Travelers Ocean Marine “It’s troubling but should not be overstated.
“The number of incidences lately has risen so dramatically that the pirates seem to have hit the mother lode,” he continued. “But in context, remember that there have only been only about 100 incidents in the Gulf of Aden, versus about 16,000 vessels transiting those waters regularly.”
But it is a stubborn enough problem, according to John Kimball, a partner in the Blank Rome law firm. Short-term tactical steps may have only a little impact.
“We need to change the whole complexion of Somalia. Success breeds success among the pirates; there were 30 or 40 boats chasing one ship. That’s a lot of pirates,” said Kimball, who also teaches admiralty law at the New York University School of Law.
“The tactical problems will remain insoluble and from a strategic standpoint, the political situation is so bad, who knows where it will lead,” he continued. “Intervention, particularly by the U.S., is not going to be welcomed and any intervention will receive a very hostile reception.”
The questions facing carriers, shippers and nations charged with maintaining the security of the waterways seem to be: Have the pirates overplayed their hand resulting in a combined international effort that will end the pirate threat? Or, are conditions in Somalia so ideal for breeding and harboring pirates that this is the first inning in a long game that could stretch on for decades, making the increased costs more or less a permanent part of doing business?
The smart money seems to be on the latter possibility. A true strategic solution is unlikely until stability comes to Somalia, which has been a rogue, lawless nation for nearly 20 years, most experts agree. The prospect of light casualties may deter some potential pirates, but the standard of living in Somalia is so desperate that piracy will continue to be the most attractive “career choice” for years to come.
This seems to be the case despite the fact that at year’s end, the United Nations authorized land strikes against the pirates in Somalia. Moreover, stricter naval patrols had resulted in the first casualties and deaths among the pirates. The naval response has become tougher, but life on land in Somalia is tougher still.
The developed world’s resistance to piracy appeared to solidify following high-profile hijackings. The successful hijacking of the tanker and the freighter bearing heavy arms raised worldwide awareness of the pirating. The unsuccessful attack on a passenger cruise vessel crystallized the concern.
“That really was a defining moment,” said Duperouzel of Background Asia Risk Solutions, one of the premier anti-pirate private companies that provide military muscle and arms to repel attacks. “When the idea of a thousand passengers being held for ransom became real, the nations of the world woke up.”
But Duperouzel, who has a stake in the tactical, stresses that the problems on the water will never be solved off Somalia until the strategic problems on the land are first solved.
“You have a perfect pirate haven in Somalia, a rogue state where there is no rule of law to penalize piracy and every incentive to pursue it,” he said.
Until that is changed, he said, watch for the piracy to continue with well-armed, well-incentivized pirates pursuing increasingly adaptive tactics to take vessels.
According to Duperouzel, Kimball and DeSimone, commercial vessels now are following these tactics to avoid pirate boardings:
• Outrun them. Most container ships are fast and have a high leeboard; making it difficult for pirates to catch and board them. Maersk policies, for example, allow the fast, high freeboard vessels to continue to navigate these routes.
• Reroute. Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk is routing some of its 50 oil tankers around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez, and Intertanko said many other tanker firms were doing the same.
• Repel attackers. Many ship lines have purchased Long Range Acoustical Devices for $20,000 to $30,000 apiece to deter pirates using intense, directed sound. Others hire armed professionals. Still others make use of low-tech fire-hoses.
• Call for help and hole-up. One Chinese crew simply locked itself securely within the ship’s interior and called for help. Military vessels arrived before the pirates could breach the interior walls of the ship.
• Use escort services. Ships from several nations, including the U.S. and India, are patrolling the seas off Somalia and chartered vessels from private military companies such as Background also are believed to be under hire as escorts.
Duperouzel said his company and its select employees work on low-speed, heavy, low-to-the water, easily boarded vessels ranging from towed oil rigs to tankers and big construction barges.
“We protect slow-moving, high-value assets, ships that travel under 10 knots with little freeboard,” he said. “Because they are such easy targets, we are onboard to deter attacks, to warn the pirates ahead of time and let them know we have the manpower to make a boarding very unattractive.”
Still, not all of these methods have worked well all the time. The low and slow supertanker had already diverted when it was hijacked 480 miles out at sea.
And while Maersk mostly runs high-speed, high-freeboard container ships through the region, a slower, lower vessel, the Regensburg, was pursued and nearly boarded by pirates in early December off Aden.
“The crew repelled the attackers,” said Mary Ann Kotlarich, director of external communications for Maersk in the U.S. “Our tanker division has rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, but we are satisfied that our container ships can deal with the threat.”
Duperouzel believes that while carriers have adapted well to the pirate threat, the pirates have shown themselves quite shrewd in their attacks and can be expected to adapt to the adaptations.
“They do not lack heavy arms,” he said. “And there is at least some indication that this is becoming more and more coordinated.
“It is hard to believe, for example, that pirates simply appeared hundreds of miles out to sea and said, ‘Oh, look a supertanker,’ ” he said. “It is hard to believe that some sort of masterminding wasn’t at work, with sources of information about sailings and routes.”
He expects that pirates soon will abandon their highly recognizable speedboat attacks and turn to traditional Arab fishing vessels less likely to be identified as outlaw craft.
He said the most important part of a private military escort service is to make certain that quality, experienced employees are well trained on when to fire and when not to fire.
“You run a serious risk of injuring innocents in a situation that may or may not be piracy,” he said. “Some of our big project ships and drilling rigs are curiosity items and draw dozens of boats checking them out; you can’t just open fire on the first fishing vessel that comes near you.”
Duperouzel would not say whether his forces have had to use force to repel attackers. That is a confidential matter with the carriers and cargo shippers, he said.
“I can say that we have some very good people who are adequately armed to effectively repel anything the pirates may bring,” he said.
The trick, he said, is to train staff in “skills of escalation” — not how to blast anything that looks like a pirate boat. If one escalates properly, he said, the pirates will be deterred. He is very cautious about using force, but does not agree with some maritime groups that suggest escalating resistance may only cause the pirates to escalate force.
“Of course there is an inappropriate use of firearms that we avoid, but if pirates have fired at you with an AK-47 and rocket-propelled grenades,” Duperouzel said. “Exactly what danger of escalation are you risking by responding?
“Right now, the concept of serious risk is just not a part of the pirate business model,” he said. “Pirates need to understand that because ships may now be escorted by the navy or private contractors, it may not be worth risking their lives to board a ship.”
On the legal and insurance side, Kimball believes there is only a slight chance that “general average” clauses in shipping contracts might be invoked to cover ransoms. Under general average, all parties in a voyage, including the ship owner, the cargo owner, and the carrier, all share the cost of incidents at sea, such as a fire on the vessel or damage during a heavy storm.
“A case could be made for general averages,” he said. “I don’t want to speculate on the chances of it occurring widely, though it may be. Most people would view this dubiously.”
Ransoms themselves, according to Kimball, are and always have been part of life at sea.
“Pirates are definitely not the same as terrorists, where ransoms are discouraged by law in many countries,” he said. “There are those who advocate that ransoms paid to pirates should be illegal, but they certainly are not now, and I have heard tales of some being paid as high as $200 million.
“Ransoms are extra-legal, but you won’t go to jail for paying one,” he continued. “Would changing the rules hurt or help the situation? It’s a good question. People pay the ransom because they see some value gained and are able to recover cargoes.”
Some have suggested that simply eliminating ransoms as a legal alternative would eliminate the piracy. One popular blog stated, “Stop paying the pirates and many of them will likely find new careers ashore.”
The problem, though, is the lack of jobs onshore in Somalia and fewer “careers.” Whether companies can pay the ransoms or not, the pirates are likely to keep demanding them. Annual average income in Somalia is only about $130 a year, among the lowest worldwide.
Negotiations in ransom matters are very secret. It is understood, Kimball said, that the Ukraine government is conducting the negotiations on the freighter carrying military equipment.
DeSimone cautioned shippers and carriers about arming crews.
“You just don’t want to have weapons on a ship unless they are carried by people who are highly trained not just in weapons but when to use them,” DeSimone said.
The various navies of the world rightfully could be expected to provide escort service, he said.
“Thomas Jefferson founded the U.S. Marine Corps largely to fight pirates who were forcing American ships to pay tribute to warlords,” he said. “This is not a new problem and not a new task for navies.”
In recent interviews, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has pointed out the irony that she is dealing with piracy at sea in her final weeks in office, just as Jefferson did 200 years ago.
The U.N., DeSimone said, is the ideal umbrella agency to manage the pirate threat because of its international composition and the willingness of most countries to cooperate.
He, too, wonders whether the problem will prove to be chronic because the on-land situation is such a difficult puzzle. While there may only have been 100 attacks against a potential 16,000 ships, DeSimone and his organization are not underestimating the possibility for a larger impact.
“The pirates have a very good business right now,” he said.
http://www.shippingdigest.com/news/article.asp?sid=5800<ype=feature
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Countering piracy: maintaining the status quo
22:38
12/ 01/ 2009
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The U.S. Navy is finally joining international forces in the fight against the Somali piracy. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is going to deploy its forces specifically for this purpose, teaming up with the Combined Task Force 151.
Supposedly, it will be composed of U.S. allies' ships and units, hence its name, the Combined Task Force. Thus, the world's most powerful fleet will embark on ensuring navigation security off the Somali coast, where the ships of the European Union's Naval Task Force, as well as the Russian, Indian and Chinese navies, have been carrying out this mission.
Navigation security is ensured by caravans of two to five ships, which convoy civil vessels through the dangerous area and patrol the coast to detect and search waterborne vehicles suspected of being piratical. The patrolling is performed also by shipborne helicopters and patrol jets, which aim battleships at detected targets.
Apart from crews, there are also marine units which land on escorted ships periodically to protect them in case of a pirate attack. Marines also examine vessels detained under suspicion of piracy.
Unfortunately, excesses occur sometimes: For example, on November 19 the Indian frigate Tabar sank a Thai trawler which it mistook for a pirate vessel.
One cannot say yet that the counter-piracy efforts have had any effect; at any rate, pirates have not hijacked any new ships recently. At the same time, they have released several ships seized earlier, including the Iranian vessel Delight, which was hijacked on November 20, and the Turkish ship M/V Yasa Neslihan, captured in late December.
The Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, ransomed recently, has also been released, according to pirates. However, other data suggest that it is still near the Somali coast: Pirates cannot leave the ship because of the rough sea. The five pirates who tried to reach the coast by boat died after the boat turned over hit by a huge wave. Local residents found one of the bodies on the shore, with $153,000 in his pockets.
The Ukrainian dry-cargo ship Faina remains in captivity; negotiations for ransoming its crew and cargo have been unsuccessful so far. Unfortunately, given the present economic situation in Ukraine, one can hardly expect the vessel to be ransomed soon, or any other method to be used to release the hostages.
In any case, through high costs, the world's leading military powers will most likely manage to keep the trouble at bay - it will simply become too dangerous to attack the ships going past the Somali coast, and pirates will become less active. Only best-prepared and well organized groups capable of hijacking a ship several hundred miles off the coast, taking its crew hostage and bringing the booty to a port will continue operating, as was in the case of the Sirius Star tanker. International forces cannot guarantee that such a capture is impossible.
Experts have repeatedly pointed out that in order to eradicate the Somali piracy it is necessary to normalize the situation in Somalia, including a ground operation to destroy pirates' bases; but it is an absolutely different task, with absolutely different forces required for its implementation.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20090112/119455763.html
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Regards
Snooper
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