PIRATES DRAW CLOSER TO THE UK
The first confirmed pirate attack in the Red Sea has been reported.
A Chamber of Commerce website that specialises in reporting pirate attacks has announced the seizure of the MT/ Motivator on Sunday July 4 just to the north of the Horn of Africa .The chemical tanker with a crew of 18 was last seen heading south close to the Somali coast.
Recently, European Naval Force Commander Jan Thornqvist, described Operation Atlanta’s intention to restrict pirate movements as a success, “EU-Navfor’s new tactic has been successful , we are disrupting more suspected pirates near the coast . The challenge is that once they get through they venture further and further out in to the Indian Ocean.”
Neither EU-Navfor nor Shipping Minister Mike Penning were available to comment on this latest development.
Pirate attacks this year total 198 . Seafarers’ trades union, the International Transport Federation has conducted a poll on its website that indicates a significant majority of respondents , 85%, are not convinced that the government is doing enough to combat piracy. The formal ITF stance , recorded on its website, states, “Seafarers have a right to refuse to put themselves in harm’s way, and the right to be relieved before a ship enters a high risk area.”
Tuesday 6th July
HANDBOOK TO FIGHT PIRATES
It may not be in the forefront of the war being waged against piracy by the world’s ships but it does represent the first line of defence for anyone entering high risk piracy areas.
‘Best Management practices version 3’ has been put together by 13 transport organisations including European Pirate Task Force, EU-Navfor , NATO shipping centre and UK Trade organisation UKMTO EU- Navfor Commander, Major General Buster Howes, said, “It enhances the measures that merchant ships can take in order to deter pirate attacks.”
25,000 copies are due to be published. The hope is that the book will become freely available.
Monday 12th July 2010
PIRATE ATTACKS INCREASE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA
The past week has seen an upsurge in attacks on vessels entering the South China Sea.
Out of seven reported attacks , four of them were reported to the Anti Piracy Center in Kuala Lumpur as coming from the area. Other attacks were reported in the Gulf of Aden, the Ivory Coast and the Red Sea
Manager of the International Maritime Bureau in London, Cyrus Mody, said, “Pirate attacks are very opportunistic in nature and although there is an upsurge it is not on a regular basis.
“We used to see a number of attacks in the South China Sea but we haven’t seen them for about five years until last year when we saw a few instances creeping up. It is just for a couple of weeks then they stop.”
Ships attacked , include two tankers, a general cargo and a container ship. In the most recent attack on a tanker carrying crude oil, six pirates carrying knives boarded the vessel mid afternoon and stole crew cash and ship’s property before making their getaway in the light skiff they used to launch the attack.
The Anti-Piracy Center receives reports from vessels anywhere around the world. If not from the ships, then from shipowners, or from flag states where the ships are registered. Checks are made with shipowners and if proper verification cannot be established then the report is not added to the Live Piracy Report on the IMB website.
Cyrus Mody did not believe that the current spate of attacks mean that Somalia is losing its position as the main area of concern for the world’s shipping.
Wednesday 16th June 2010
KEVLAR USED IN LUXURY YACHT CONSTRUCTION
The material used to make bullet proof vests is also used in the construction of luxury yachts.
Hinckley Yachts, based in the United States, has said that the body armour material is an integral part of yacht construction.
Hinckley Sales Director, Peter Howard, said, “We use Kevlar for its strength and puncture resistance. The boats we build are actually bullet proof.”
Mr Howard denied that the use of Kevlar was anything to do with greater global awareness of piracy. He said that their motorised boats could outrun pirate vessels if needs be.“Most of our boats are in the 25–30 knot cruise range . However, I don’t know of any boats in the Somali area or anything like that. We don’t have the range to go that far, just 200 – 1,000 gallons of fuel, that’s all.”
Somali pirate hostages, Paul and Rachel Chandler, held somewhere in Somalia since their capture on 23rd October 2009 were sailing a Hinckley sail yacht when they were kidnapped. The Rival 38 class yacht was built by Hinckleys in 1977.British luxury yacht builder, Sunseeker, have refuted any claim that there have been requests to armour their vessels.
Sales Director, Sean Robertson, speaking from the company’s Poole office said,“We have never had a request for any additional armour other than for a gun cabinet that we were once asked to install.
Our clients don’t sail in those areas, they would rather pay to avoid them.”Despite apparent lack of interest in pirate threats to shipping around the world, marine security company, Seaeye, are advertising underwater robots designed to detect bombs attached to the hulls of luxury yachts and general shipping alike. http://www.liveyachting.com/seaeye-falcon-an-underwater-robot-for-superyacht-bomb-detection
Wednesday 9th June 2010