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Robert, hope u hv a sister n she dies this way…if her husband hd treated her nicely she wudnt hv died….i pray tht ur loved one die this way…who hs poof she attempted suicide twice earlier..marriage is such a bliss thing tht it can make ppl forget their miseries,why she didnt die before marriage…if she got gud treatment at inlaws place she wudnt hv died..pray ur loved one die dis way too then sumbdy see which law u take resort to

Nov 12
2009The Shape of Things to Come; Developments in the Indian Ocean
IML Commentary, Idarat Maritime, Indian Ocean, Pirate Organizations & Methods, Recent News, S E Asia, Somalia No Responses » In the “City of God,” St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. The Emperor angrily demanded of him, “How dare you molest the seas?” To which the pirate replied, “How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor.” St. Augustine thought the pirate’s answer was “elegant and excellent.”

We have yet to hear such an elegant and excellent statement from the modern Somali pirates, although it could be argued that the initial impetus for modern Somali piracy was a reaction against the perceived theft of vast stocks of Somali fish by foreign trawlers. However, piracy off Somalia has long moved from being reaction to foreign fishing, to become a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise.

It is now approximately four weeks since the 24,637 dwt, Singapore-flagged,container ship (reported as being a bulk carrier) Kota Wajar was hijacked on the 15th October in the Indian Ocean, at Lat. 01.33′S Long 54.52′E, marking the effective start of the 2009/2010 Pirate Season, the monsoon period, which makes the seas too high for boarding from a small boat having ended.

Since mid-October a total of four bulk carriers and a container ship have been hijacked, the latest being the MV Filitsa, a Greek-owned vessel taken on the 11th November. Major hijackings are now taking place approximately once every five days. In addition a small British yacht, The Lynn Rival, was taken, together with a small UAE cargo vessel, the Al Mezaan, a vessel generally regarded as an arms transport, and two trawlers, The Thai Union III and a Yemeni trawler, the Al Hilil. Of course one should not ignore the taking of the Spanish tuna boat, the Alakrana on the 2nd of October. As I write two more vessels have been attacked within the last few hours, the bulk carriers, the MV Full Strong and the MV Feng Li, at the eastern end of the Yemen.

It is now possible to see more clearly how the Somali pirates’ current campaign is developing. Unfortunately our earlier predictions have been proved correct; the remarkable feature of the last month is the way in which pirate attacks have taken place so far from the Somali coast. There have been a cluster of attacks to the north east of the Seychelles, up to a thousand nautical miles east of Somalia, and there have also been attacks in a second area, far to the south of Somalia, almost as far as Madagascar, in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel. On the 5th November the Delvina was taken 146 nautical miles north east of the Comoros Islands.

The third area which we have been concerned will see expansion is along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, into Omani waters, so far that has not happened on any large scale, although the Charelle, was taken on the 12th June in Omani waters, and still awaits ransom off the coast of Somalia. Today (12th November) the MV Full Strong and the MV Feng Li 8 were both attacked southeast of Nishtun, Yemen, which lies close to Yemen’s border with Oman, if not actually within Omani waters.

Of the three areas now targeted by pirates, all are effectively outside the area covered by the international naval presence. As we noted in a previous blog, the area affected by piracy is now so vast that hundreds of warships would be required to effectively cover the area, not the handful which are effectively at sea at any one time. The Gulf of Aden and the southern section of the Red Sea is relevantly secure, though all vessels transiting this area need to have crews trained and equipped to deal with pirate attacks, but the remainder of the northern Indian Ocean is now a danger area, currently as far east as 65°E, although we believe that areas even further east could be targeted in due course, and as far south as Madagascar, and again there is no logical reason to believe that the pirates may not go further south if the opportunities are there. We also believe that the waters of Oman and the Arabian Sea are likely to see attacks during this season, right up to the Gulf of Oman, which would place all vessels leaving and entering the Persian Gulf squarely under threat. We of course assume that no vessel, not actually engaged in trading with Somalia, will go within any distance of that territory’s coast. Those that do will face the inevitable consequences.

The area which has seen the greatest activity has been the area to the north east of the Seychelles. On the 11th November the MV Filitsa was hijacked at Lat. 0.35 S Long. 062.40E, far out in the Indian Ocean. On the 9th November the BW Lion, a VLCC, had been attacked 400 nautical miles north east of the Seychelles and 1,000 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, the following day the container ship MV Nele Maersk was attacked in the same area. On October 19th the Chinese bulk carrier the De Xin Hai was hijacked 350 nautical miles NE of the Seychelles at 01.53°N 060.05°E, which was then the furthest east of Somalia that any vessel had been hijacked, until the MV Filitsa was taken. The attacks on the BW Lion and the Nele Maersk appear to have occurred even further out. As IML said on the 20th October, we believe that attacks may now occur even further east, towards the Maldives. In fact in our opinion there are now no “safe” areas in the northern waters of the Indian Ocean. The attack on the BW Lion lasted for nearly two hours, automatic weapons and RPGs were fired at the bridge, fortunately none of the crew were injured. The Master maintained full sea speed, made effective use of anti boarding measures against the pirates attempting to board the vessel, and the master and crew were able to prevent the pirates getting a foothold onto the ship and taking control. It is clear that this was a close-run thing, and that the vessel could have been taken, but for the courageous actions of the Master and his crew.

IML believes that the pirates have shown an extraordinary determination to take vessels and that the situation today only underlines the importance of introducing standards for anti-piracy training and equipment, as we have been saying for many months.

The events of the last few weeks have also served to highlight our belief that captured trawlers, like the Taiwanese Win Far 161, the Thai Union III and the Yemeni trawler, the Al Hilil, taken on the 11th November, will be pressed into service as long-range motherships, capable of remaining on station for long periods and deploying skiffs, once their radar and AIS have identified suitable targets. As we have said before, IML also believes that it is likely that there is a targeting of particular ships, identified from their AIS (AIS is an automatic position transmitter) tracks and information on routes given when they leave port.

What is especially interesting is the fact that four of the five major ships hijacked have been bulk carriers, vessels with relatively low freeboards and with low maximum speeds. It is also clear that the attack on the BW Lion was carried though with determination, the pirates no doubt wishing to repeat the success associated with the taking of the Sirius Star. While most container ships have a high maximum speed, which largely accounts for the success of the MV Nele Maersk in avoiding capture, it is of the greatest importance that all bulk carriers and other slower merchant ships are now protected, before they enter the Indian Ocean.

IML has found that it is relatively easy to find AIS information on public websites, which could be of immense value to pirates. If this situation continues we believe that the IMO may have to reconsider the mandatory use of this technology, which the Americans pressured the IMO to introduce after the attacks on New York and Washington DC in 2001. It seems that no one seriously considered the disadvantages of introducing this system.

We will continue to monitor the situation. IML does predict that during November and December we will see a continued increase in attacks and hijackings, which will only be countered by increasing vessel resilience; that is by making anti-piracy training universal and mandating the installation of effective anti-piracy equipment on board all merchant vessels which have to transit dangerous waters. Piracy is not going to go away and military forces on their own cannot provide an effective solution.

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