Page 20: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2011)
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Unfortunately, by then it was too late, and they were warned off by the hijackers, who later sailed the vessel to Garacad and demanded a $10m dollar ransom for itsrelease8.The attack shows parallels to the hi- jacking of the cargo ship, Leopard, which was boarded off the Omani coast on Jan- uary 12. The freighter had discharged its armed guards and was boarded shortly afterwards. Six crew members are still being held hostage by the pirates in-volved 9. Since the hijacking of theFairchem Bogey, there have been several other attempts made to attack vessels, which the Omani Coast Guard have re- buffed. While attacks on vessels off Oman are hardly news, recent weeks have seen an increase in attempted hijackings in the re-gion, which perhaps illustrates the in-creasing pressure pirate gangs have felt due to local weather conditions, the pres-ence of naval vessels and more recently, the presence of armed security guards on-board vessels. According to EU NAV- FOR, 90% of ships surviving a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden this year have credited a security team for aiding theirescape10.As we reach the end of the monsoonseason, international shipping can onceagain expect Somali pirates to strike out further into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean in an attempt to make up for time lost due to the monsoon, utilising hi-jacked fishing boats and merchant vessels as mother ships. As Captain Keith Blount, Chief of Staff with EU NAVFOR told Reuters: ?I think we are going to seea surge in piracy because we always have done at this time when the southwestmonsoon abates and the seas becomeflatter.? ?Typically the pirates have a really good go in the autumn and winter,? he said on the sidelines of a shipping con-ference11.The international battle against piracy continues its cat and mouse game, with no immediate end in sight for either thebeleaguered shipping companies whohave paid an estimated $95 million in ransoms this year alone, or the estimated343 seafarers still being held hostage in Somalia12. Neptune Maritime Securitywww.neptunemaritimesecurity.com Email: [email protected] Reporter & Engineering News $ # " ! # # ! # ! # # ! # # $ # # # # # ! ! # $ # # # ! ! # ! # # # $ # # # # ! # # # # # ! # # # $ # # # # # ! # $ # ! # # # # ! # ! ! # MARITIME SECURITYCOLUMN1. http://blogs.reuters.com/jonathan-saul/page/16/ 2. http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre 3. http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/live-piracy-report/table/2226/0 4. Source: IMO number: 9387815 5. http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/live-piracy-report/details/57/325 6. http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/pirates-attack-more-vessels-but-hijack-less_731695.html 7. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-21/mumbai/29911558_1_somali-pirates-vessel-indian-sailors 8. http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1432 9.http://www.danishmaritimemagazine.com/Nyheder/nyhed.aspx?NewsID=14652&Titel=Released%20hostages%20 will%20not%20help%20mariners 10. http://www.shiptalk.com/?p=9901 11. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78D0K720110914?sp=true 12. http://somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1580/Weekly_Piracy_Report MR Oct.11 # 3 (18-24):MR Template 10/5/2011 12:38 PM Page 20
