The Voice of America reports that the Indian navy freed the hijacked MV Ruen cargo ship in Somalia’s Puntland region Saturday after a 24-hour standoff and shootout, and it has detained 35 pirates, according to Puntland Ports Minister Ahmed Yasin Salah. … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Somali pirates
On Sunday, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason received a distress call from the M/V Central Park, a 20,000 DWT oil/chemical tanker, in the Gulf of Aden, that reported they were under attack by an unknown entity. Five armed individuals … Continue reading
Piracy off the coast of Somalia last year dropped to the lowest level since 2004. In 2012, Somali pirates hijacked 14 ships, whereas in 2013, they successfully hijacked two, both of which were released in a day’s time as a … Continue reading
Are Somali pirates and their affiliates using Facebook to organize and support ship hijackings? Experts at the United Nations say that this is the case and complain that Facebook has been ignoring their requests for information on Facebook accounts belonging to … Continue reading
The North Devon Women’s Institute branch recently hosted former sea captain Colin Darch, who was to speak on the topic of piracy. A number of women in the organization thought that the captain would speak about historical buccaneering, and so … Continue reading
An April Fool’s post that is no joke. At 12:27 a.m. on April 1, 2010, in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, three Somali pirates in a small skiff attacked what they thought was a merchant vessel. It wasn’t. They … Continue reading
Wonderful news. Forces of Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region are reported to have raided the MV Iceberg I on Sunday and to have rescued 22 officers and crew who had been held hostage by Somali pirates for 33 months. The Puntland forces had … Continue reading
Two Italian marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, are in an Indian jail awaiting trial for the alleged murder of two Indian fisherman. They are at the center of a legal & diplomatic fight over the use of armed guards … Continue reading
In March, the European Union Naval Force was authorized to attack Somali pirates in coastal waters and ashore. On Tuesday, EU naval forces and attack helicopters launched their first onshore raid on a suspected pirate supply center in Handulle village, about 18 kilometers (11 … Continue reading
At first this sounded like a joke. Pirates like to tweet, have blogs and are on Facebook. Really? According to security expert, Jessica Lincoln, director of intelligence at Rubicon Resolution, “Somalia is a very sophisticated economy, it has one of the best mobile phone communication systems … Continue reading
If a single fact can explain why an armada of high tech naval ships from around the world has failed to control, much less to eradicate, gangs of Somali pirates operating from hijacked fishing trawlers and open boats, this is … Continue reading
In a pre-dawn raid, US Navy SEAL commandos freed two hostages; an American, Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a Dane, Poul Thisted, 60; being held for ransom in a pirate compound 12 miles north of the Somali town of Adado. Members of SEAL Team … Continue reading
On November 21st, at IMO Headquarters in London, Captain Seog Hae-gyun was awarded the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea for 2011 “for his decisive, brave and courageous actions to protect his ship and crew during a vicious pirate attack … Continue reading
The Italian owned bulk carrier, MV Montecristo, was hijacked by pirates off Somalia on Monday. The ship’s crew retreated to a protective citadel “safe room” ahead of the pirates. Today RFA Fort Victoria and USS De Wert, acting as part of … Continue reading
While an international flotilla of naval vessels continues to play “catch and release” with pirates off the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, the pirates themselves have become far more sophisticated. Where a few years ago, the typical … Continue reading
The MV Asphalt Venture was hijacked by Somali pirates on September 28, 2010. After negotiating and being paid a multi-million dollar ransom, the pirates released the ship and part of the crew yesterday, but continued to hold seven Indian seafarers hostage, reportedly in retaliation … Continue reading
It is being reported that Tom Hanks will play Captain Richard Phillips in a new movie about the attempted hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates in 2009. The movie, based on Phillip’s book , A Captain’s Duty: … Continue reading
On April 1st, last year, fittingly enough, April Fool’s Day, a group of Somali pirates in open boats decided to attack the 445-foot guided-missile frigate, USS Nicholas. The outcome was predictable. Five pirates were captured and their boats were sunk. At the … Continue reading
The real victims of piracy are invariably the seafarers who are held for ransom often under grim conditions for long periods of time. From a statement relased by the Round Table of international shipping associations – and the International Transport … Continue reading
Slightly over two years ago we posted about the hijacking of the Ukranian ro/ro Faina by Somali pirates. The pirates were surprised to discover that the ship was loaded with arms, including 33 Russian T-72 battle tanks. The pirates claimed … Continue reading