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Africa Horn

Freed sailors demand Sh30m

2011-02-24

[The Nation (Nairobi)] Kenyan seafarers released recently after a four-month hijack ordeal in Somali waters are demanding about Sh30 million as salaries and damages from the ship owner. Each of the 39 crew members of the rickety Fv Golden Wave, which was hijacked last October 9, and released on February 8 has accumulated arrears of Sh850,000, the sailors claimed on Tuesday. Back pay in a third world country? Are they mad? At least they were fed and sheltered, after a fashion, while they weren't making their employer any profits. Not their fault, but there it is. "We are calling on the government to assist us recover this money," said Josek Amere, their front man who met with Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) officials over the matter. The maritime agency has since declared the vessel unseaworthy and ordered she undergoes extensive repairs. Director-general Nancy Karigithu said the authority was closely monitoring the situation and would issue orders to the ship owner after they gathered all the information. "We have asked them to calculate the total amount of money they owe and then we will take necessary action," she said. Golden Wave was freed without payment of a Sh50 million ransom demanded, after being used to attack other ships. The pirates attacked 17 vessels and hijacked five more ships. A week after their arrival, the seamen said: "We were drinking unsafe water and some of the pirates looked sick. But since we arrived we have not undergone any check-up to establish if we contracted any diseases and we fear for our families," he said. The sailors said they endured inhuman treatment in the hands of the sea gangs, who continue to elude international navies engaged in the Indian Ocean. But none of the 39 owes his survival to God more than Mr Anthony Oduor. As the third engineer, Mr Oduor was responsible for ensuring the engine room was clear of dirty water, which sometimes mixes with diesel. On November 12, over a month after their hijack, Mr Oduor realised that murky water had reached a level it needed to be pumped out; but the pirates would hear none of this. "We were being pursued by some naval ships and they thought we were pumping diesel out so that the vessel would stall," he recalls. What followed, he says, was torture that will for ever be ingrained in his mind. "Their leader whipped out a pistol and aimed it at my head and shot. The bullet failed to come out. He hit the pistol on his knee several times and shot again but it failed. He then shoved me out of the engine room to the upper deck and ordered two of his colleagues with AK47 rifles to shoot me," he narrates. The next thing he saw was smoke as bullets flew inches from his head -- two missed his head as the vessel swayed from side to side due to waves. "All this time we were screaming and praying...at the end we could not believe Anthony was still alive. "They later tied his legs and hands and whipped him as he lay on his belly. It was very traumatic," says Mr Joseph Kamande, a father of four. Seafarers Assistance Programme Coordinator Andrew Mwangura said: "The vessel is licensed to fish in Kenyan territorial waters and since it is flying the country's flag, the Special Programmes ministry should set aside some funds and help pay them."

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates free tanker, seize cargo ship

2010-12-29

Somali pirates released a German-operated chemical tanker but others seized another vessel carrying a cargo of petroleum, maritime sources said on Tuesday. The Marshall Islands-flagged Marida Marguerite and its crew of 22 was hijacked in May by pirates firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades 120 miles south of Oman. It was freed after its hijackers receiving a ransom. Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said the Marida Marguerite was sailing to safe waters. Mwangura said later Somali pirates seized the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Ems River in the Gulf of Aden while it was heading towards the Suez Canal. The Ems River is a 5,200-dwt cargo vessel, also owned by a German company. "The ship was taken on Monday, and has about eight crew," Mwangura said. The European Union naval force, which patrols the Indian Ocean to help crack down on piracy, confirmed on its website the vessel had a crew of one Romanian and seven Filipinos. The EU force said the Ems River was on its way to Greece from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates at the time of the attack. "MV Ems River was pirated approximately 175 nautical miles northeast of the port of Salalah, Oman," the EU force said. It said there were 26 vessels and 609 hostages being held by pirates after being hijacked off the coast of Somalia. A ransom of about $5.5 million was paid on Sunday for the release of the Marida Marguerite, seized while on its way from Kandla in Gujarat, India, to the Belgian port of Antwerp with a crew of 19 Indians, two Bangladeshis and one Ukrainian, Mwangura said. He said the ship was probably heading for its original destination of Antwerp. Pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, despite efforts by foreign navies to crack down on such attacks. The hijackings have driven up insurance premiums and forced ships to take longer, costlier routes to avoid piracy hot spots. Industry officials say marine insurers in London's insurance market have widened the stretch of waterways deemed at high risk from Somali pirates as the armed gangs strike further out at sea. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when rival warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and turned on each other. Gangs of pirates emerged from the ensuing chaos to threaten shipping in the Indian Ocean.

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates seize ship heading for Bangladesh

2010-12-26

Somali pirates yesterday captured a Thai bulk carrier with its 27 crew members in the Arabian Sea, a maritime official said. The Thor Nexus was seized in the early hours while on its way to Bangladesh from the United Arab Emirates. All its crew members are Thai, said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme. Mwangura said the vessel was taken some 350 nautical miles east of Salala port, but the nature of its cargo was still unknown. According to maritime watchdog Ecoterra International, Somali pirates are currently holding at least 40 foreign vessels and nearly 700 seamen, though the European naval force in the area put it at 25 vessels and 601 hostages. A statement from the Brussels-based NAVFOR said the 20,377-tonne general cargo ship, which is Thai-flagged and owned, was heading to Bangladesh from Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates at the time of the attack, some 450 nautical miles north-east of the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.

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Africa Horn

Arms whistleblower proved right

2010-12-14

[The Nation (Nairobi)] When the campaigner for seafarers' rights, Mr Andrew Mwangura, blew the whistle on the T-72 tanks destined for South Sudan, he was jugged and charged with making alarming statements. He was also charged with being in possession of bhang. Although he was acquitted by the court on both charges, doubts remained over his assertions that the 33 tanks were destined for Southern Sudan, contrary to the government position that they belonged to the Kenya military. However, The infamous However... the diplomatic cables released by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks have vindicated Mr Mwangura. According to the cables, the Russian-made tanks that the government denied were destined for South Sudan last year ended up there. A 2009 cable released by the web site says a senior State Department official produced satellite images that appeared to show that the tanks unloaded in Kenya were trans-shipped to South Sudan. When contacted over the latest developments on Sunday, Mr Mwangura, the coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, said he did not want to comment on the issues because of a pending case. "You know I have sued the government in connection with this matter and that is why I don't want to comment on this issue," he said. Apart from the tanks from the Ukraine, other assorted arms that were brought into the country by mv Faina consisted of more than 812 tonnes of ammunition. The cargo also included unpacked spare parts for the tanks, Soviet-made anti-aircraft guns and rocket- propelled grenades. The Chief of General Staff, Gen Jeremiah Kianga, laid claim to the cargo, insisting that the tanks and assorted arms belonged to the Kenyan military after pirates released the vessel they had captured off the coast of Somalia after ransom was reportedly paid. But satellite photos released by WikiLeaks show that the T-72 tanks' actual destination was South Sudan.

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Africa Horn

Terrorists 'derailing ransom talks'

2010-12-04

[The Nation (Nairobi)] Involvement of terror groups in piracy has complicated negotiations for ransom payments, a maritime official said on Friday. The groups have infiltrated teams that negotiate for ransom, making it difficult for ship owners to know whether they are dealing with the right people or not, Mr Andrew Mwangura of East Africa Seafarers Assistance Programme said. There are several terror groups operating in Somalia, the most ruthless being al Shabaab, which is believed to be close to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, and Hizbul Islam. "The situation has caused confusion because some owners of hijacked vessels have claimed to have dealt with some negotiators who are not known. It is the main reason pirates are now holding ships longer than usual," he said. The reports came as it emerged pirates had initially demanded $600,000 (Sh48 million) for the release of fishing vessel Golden Wave, which has 39 Kenyans on board, but the figure was raised to $3 million (Sh240 million) after terrorist groups demanded a bigger cut, according to Mr Mwangura. Relatives of the Kenyan hostages met on Thursday to pray for their loved ones, and expressed concern that pirates might harm the hostages to avenge the killing of three suspects by Kenya Navy officers three weeks ago. Mr Mwangura said the hostages had been divided into groups and were being used to aid their captors in their dangerous operations. "Two recently hijacked vessels--one of them being Golden Wave -- are being used to launch attacks on other vessels, which exposes the hostages to great danger," he said. At least four of the hostages are going through the ordeal for the second time. Somali pirates have recently stepped up attacks on commercial ships. They have hijacked ships within the territory of Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Seychelles, raising fears that the pirates were becoming more daring. They are also heavily armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The International Maritime Bureau says 128 ships were hijacked in the first nine months of the year.

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Africa Horn

Hostage shot dead by Somali pirates

2010-11-08

MOGADISHU - A man was shot dead on Sunday after he refused to disembark from a yacht in the Indian Ocean that was hijacked by Somali pirates last week, pirates and residents said on Sunday. The man was killed in Barawe town on the southern Somali coastline by pirates who had taken him hostage and wanted him to go onshore from his yacht in which he was sailing with others, including a woman and a boy. ‘He was shot and killed after he refused to disembark from his yacht and move onshore in Baraawe town,’ Ali Shuke, a resident in Baraawe town said. ‘The man died instantly and the gunmen took the other hostages onshore. The woman and a boy were taken to jungle areas near the town.’ The hostages’ yacht was adrift on the coast, residents said. Andrew Mwangura, the head of a regional maritime group based in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa, said the yacht, which was hijacked last Monday near Lamu on Kenya’s coast, was anchored along Somali’s coastline near Barawe. ‘What I know is there was a yacht spotted by local people in southern Somalia, and we are trying to investigate reports of hostages and to verify their nationality,’ Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said. Al Shabaab controls Barawe on the southern coast of the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. His nationality was not immediately clear. A spokesman for Al Shabaab had said the man was South African. South Africa’s department of international relations and cooperation said in a statement, however, that he was not a South African citizen. The pirates had said last week that the hostages were British. The British foreign office has said only that it had heard of the reports of the hijacking, and was investigating.

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates hijack ship with 15 Indians aboard

2010-10-01

(Xinhua) -- Somali pirates have hijacked a Panama-flagged ship, about 100 nautical miles off the coast of Tanzania with 15 Indians, a regional maritime official confirmed on Wednesday. Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP), said MT Asphalt Venture which was sailing to South African port of Durban was hijacked in the early hours of Wednesday. "The MT Asphalt Venture was hijacked in Tanzanian waters while underway to Durban from Mombasa (Kenya). The vessel is empty and has 15 Indian crew," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

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Africa Horn

Kenyan vessel held by pirates is freed

2010-07-21

[The Nation (Nairobi)] A Kenyan vessel held hostage by pirates four months ago was released on Tuesday morning. MV Sakoba which was captured in March with some 10 Kenyan crew members has started its voyage to the port of Mombasa. According to Mr Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, the Kenyan vessel was released alongside a Belgium registered ship. Both are headed for Mombasa. It was still not clear whether any ransom had been paid for their release. The captors were at first asking for $7 million. MV Sakoba had 16 crew among them two Senegalese, one each from Cape Verde, Namibia, Spain and Poland. "The release of the two vessels now brings the number of those still in the hands of pirates to 20 with 368 crew members," Mr Mwangura told the Nation. The Belgian vessel, UBT Ocean, had 21 crew members. Mr Mwangura said the vessel was hijacked last week somewhere between Kenyan and the Tanzanian coasts. "The pirates have been using her to launch attacks on other vessels and as bait to lure other ships into their net," he said. Before its release the vessel was in Harardheere, 700 miles north east of Mogadishu. Somali pirates have wreaked havoc in the Indian Ocean over the past three years, hijacking commercial ships and making away with millions of dollars in ransom payments. This is despite heavy presence of international navies that have been deployed in the busy Gulf of Aden and in major commercial routes in the Indian Ocean to protect vessels.

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Africa Horn

Kenyan firms make killing from piracy

2010-07-19

[The Nation (Nairobi)] Investigations by the Daily Nation suggest that Kenyan law firms, security, aviation and shipping companies are doing business with pirates rampaging in the Indian Ocean. More than $80 million (Sh6.5 billion) is paid to Somali pirates as ransom annually, some of which is thought to pass through Kenya. The piracy, which is being fuelled by lack of an effective central government in Mogadishu, is costing the world economy up to $18 billion (Sh1.45 trillion) each year, according to International Maritime Bureau estimates. Kenyan companies are acting as the link between the pirates and representatives of hijacked ship owners, facilitating ransom negotiations and payment. The programmes coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Programme (SAP), Mr Andrew Mwangura, whose organisation protects the right of seamen on hijacked ships, confirms that millions of dollars exchange hands between pirates and ship owners, but declines to discuss details. "It is true owners of hijacked ships are paying pirates to secure the release of their ships and crew members held hostage with most of the money passing through Kenya, but I cannot discuss details because we are not involved in this transactions as our role only concerns the welfare of seamen," he said. A report by the World Peace Foundation, an international think-tank bringing together scholars, diplomats, lawyers, military officers and maritime partners working on an initiative to combat piracy, claims that Kenya is among countries whose firms play a key role in driving piracy along the Somali coast. The report says that piracy in Somalia is controlled by about 1,500 pirates, organised in seven syndicates with a "few bosses" running separate but linked enterprises. They are all largely run from Kenya, Dubai, Lebanon, Somalia and some European countries, the report claims. The report says the largest ransom amount the pirates had received so far was Sh574 million or $7 million paid for the release of a Greek-owned oil tanker early this year. A maritime official, who talked to the Nation on condition that he is not named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were aware of the role a select few law, security, aviation and shipping companies in Mombasa and Nairobi played in facilitating the release of hijacked ships and payment of ransoms. "The law and security firms facilitate negotiations and preparation of agreements, while aviation and shipping companies deliver ransom payments to the pirates in Somalia," he said. He said ransom money is obtained from agents of hijacked ships either in Nairobi or Mombasa before it is taken either by air or sea to the pirates. "The money is either delivered to private airstrips around Nairobi from where it is flown and dropped to pirates on hijacked ships or is loaded on ships that go to Somalia from Mombasa port to deliver," he said. He said at times, the ransom payments are transported in the middle of the night under tight security from Nairobi to Mombasa before it is delivered to a ship to take it to Somalia. "Once such missions have been accomplished, the pirates pay the law, security, aviation and shipping firms involved through their agents in Nairobi and Mombasa through an unofficial money remittance system called Hawala," he said. The Hawala system is based on trust and was initially widely used by a network of money brokers in the Middle East and Africa, but is now popular in Europe and even North America. According to a US State Department report, Kenya is a money-laundering hub in Africa. The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says Kenya's financial system may be laundering over Sh8 billion or $ 100 million annually.

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates release Pakistani vessel

2010-01-06

[Iran Press TV Latest] Somali pirates have released a Pakistani fishing vessel after using it to hijack a UK-owned car carrier in the Indian Ocean. The maritime watchdog Seafarers Assistance Programme said on Tuesday that the vessel and its 29-person crew were released on January 2 about 900 nautical miles north of the Seychelles, AFP reported. The fishing vessel was seized on December 6. On January 2, the pirates used it as a "mother ship" to capture the more valuable UK-flagged car carrier. The UK-flagged ship and its crew of 25 were transporting 2,300 vehicles produced by South Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia.

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates claim to have seized two more vessels

2009-11-12

[Mail and Globe] Somali pirates said on Wednesday they had hijacked a fishing vessel and another ship in the Indian Ocean believed to be carrying oil. Pirate Hassan said by telephone from the coastal town of Haradheere that three gunmen were wounded while seizing the second vessel overnight on Tuesday. "They hijacked it from the Indian Ocean and its 24 crew are safe. There was brief fighting before we captured it. Three of my friends were injured," Hassan told Reuters. "We think it is carrying fuel." Heavily armed pirates from Somalia are holding at least 11 vessels and more than 200 crew hostage, including a British couple whose yacht was hijacked off the Seychelles. The presence of a multinational naval force patrolling the strategic shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia, has failed to curb their attacks. Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme and a pirate called Osman both said a fishing vessel had been hijacked off the northern Somali coast earlier in the week. "Our colleagues hijacked a Yemeni fishing boat near Hafun on Monday night," Osman told Reuters. On Sunday, pirates seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for Somalia, maritime experts said. Then on Monday, the gunmen launched their longest-range hijack attempt yet -- opening fire on a giant Hong Kong-flagged crude oil tanker 1 000 nautical miles east of Mogadishu.

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Africa Horn

Somali pirates hijack Spanish vessel, crew

2009-10-03

[Iran Press TV Latest] After a month of calm, Somali pirates hijack a Spanish fishing vessel with 36 crew members in the Indian Ocean, the EU anti-piracy mission says. During early hours of Friday, the 35-meter Spanish tuna fishing vessel, Alakrana, was hijacked some 360 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia, European Union's Operation Atalanta said in a statement on Friday. A Press TV correspondent quoted the statement as saying that the pirates are heading the Alakrana towards Somali waters. Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program, who monitors maritime activities in the region also confirmed the hijacking, saying the crew consists of 16 Spaniards, eight Indonesians, four Ghanaians, three Senegalese, two from the Ivory Coast, two from Madagascar and one from the Seychelles. Piracy along the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, is common place. Dozens of multinational warships are currently patrolling the waters under a UN mandate to deter pirate attacks but the sea gangs sometimes carry out attacks right under the watchful eyes of international fleets.

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