Showing posts with label PIRACY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PIRACY. Show all posts

22 Apr 2009


Captured Somali pirates,like Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse (pictured above,smiling as he arrives on the U.S soil) are most likely to seek for asylum in the U.S. upon completion of their jail terms.Compared to the current situation in Somalia,life in a U.S. prison could most probably be perceived as a once-in-lifetime-luxury many Somalis could only imagine.Couldn't this encourage even more pirate attacks in the future?



May be that's why the captured pirate is all smiles....

12 Apr 2009

US cargo ship captain Richard Phillips has been rescued from pirates after a dramatic shootout. Mr Phillips was freed unharmed but the US military killed three Somali kidnappers who were holding him hostage on a lifeboat, according to reports. A fourth pirate is in custody.

Initial reports said the sailor jumped overboard before a gunfight broke out between his captors and US Navy Seals. US President Barack Obama gave authority to kill the pirates, and a commander acted when he concluded the pirates were about to kill the hostage, a US Navy official said.

Mr Phillips has now contacted his family, received a medical evaluation, and is resting aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. His ship the Maersk Alabama, a container carrying food aid for Somalians, was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the pirates and regained control.

Crew members said Mr Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a lifeboat in exchange for safe passage for his crew. Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said in a statement: "We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family." The crew of the Maersk Alabama let off flares and hoisted an American flag at the news of their captain's rescue.

One crew member shouted: "We are very happy. He's a hero" at journalists amid raucous celebrations. Mr Phillips, 53, was the first American taken captive by Somali pirate gangs who have marauded in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes for years.



SOURCE: ITN

7 Dec 2008


A Dutch-operated container ship outran pirates off the coast of Tanzania this weekend, an official with the International Maritime Bureau said Sunday.

The incident took place "very far out to sea," showing that Somali-based pirates are extending their reach further and further, Noel Choong of the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center told CNN.

"Earlier attacks were on ships off the coast of Somalia, then off the coast of Kenya, and now this was 450 nautical miles off Dar es Salaam," he said, tracing the southward expansion of the pirates' area of operations.

The ship, which Choong declined to name, came under attack from rocket-propelled grenades, starting a fire on board, he said. The crew was able to put out the fire and escape by increasing speed.

The ship and crew are now out of danger, he said, following the incident at 11:42 GMT Saturday.

Piracy has become increasingly common in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean this year. So far, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the center.

Those hijacked vessels include an enormous oil tanker, a chemical tanker, and a ship laden with Soviet-era arms including tanks. The pirates normally hold the ships for ransom.

A luxury cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew successfully outran pirates off the coast of Yemen last weekend.

The IMB has tracked at least 11 incidents of actual or attempted piracy near the Tanzanian coast this year.

A multinational fleet, including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India, has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year. Watch anti-piracy vessels patrol the region. »

In a recent interview provided to CNN, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate.

"The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."

SOURCE: CNN

Categories

Blog Archive

© Evarist Chahali 2006-2022

Search Engine Optimization SEO

Powered by Blogger.