Cruise ship repels Somali pirates

A luxury cruise ship sailing off Somalia has beaten back gunmen in speedboats who opened fire on it in an apparent pirate attack which terrified passengers. At least two boats closed in on the Seabourn Spirit, firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the cruise liner. But crew took evasive action, repelling the attackers without returning fire. One crew member was lightly injured in the early-morning incident in waters notorious for pirate attacks.

The Bahamian-registered ship was carrying 302 passengers and crew, most of them are believed to be Americans as well as some Britons. "My daughter saw the pirates out our window. There were at least three RPG that hit the ship, one in a stateroom four doors down from our cabin," said one passenger. Fellow passenger Norman Fisher, from London, said he had seen some of the attackers. "Later I realised that two of them had rifles and one had some kind of rocket launcher. "They were firing the rifle and then fired the rocket launcher twice. One of the rockets certainly hit the ship - it went through the side of the liner into a passenger's suite. The couple were in there at the time so it was a bit of an unpleasant experience." The attack happened about 160km off the Somali coast. Ships sailing in these waters are advised to be extremely cautious.

The crew used an on-board loud acoustic bang to deter the gunmen, making them believe they were under fire. The pirates were scared off with an ear-splitting acoustic device developed as a "non-lethal" crowd control weapon. A scheduled stop in Mombasa, in neighbouring Kenya, has been cancelled and the cruise, which began in the Egyptian port of Alexandria is now due to end in the Seychelles on Monday. David Dingle, a spokesman for the Miami-based company said passengers were "somewhat surprised and shocked" when they woke to find the ship under attack. The passengers were mustered in a public room, told what was going on and reassured that we were fighting off the attack," he said. We are extremely pleased that all the measures worked." He added that the company had no reason to believe it was a terrorist attack and all the evidence pointed to pirates. It appears to be the first attack on a luxury cruise liner in the area. The SAP is due to discuss the incident and its implications for tourism in the region .

Capt Neale Rodrigues had to take over a ship after its former captain and chief officer had been killed by pirates. "It takes something like the Seabourn to highlight the issue but

merchant ships are attacked every single week," he said. Capt Rodrigues took command of a small container ship after it was attacked on route from Australia to Singapore. When the 10-men crew heard shots in the night most of them locked themselves in their cabins but the captain and chief officer were later found shot dead. It is believed they were killed after the pirates demanded money. The unmanned ship continued on its course for an hour and a half before the crew emerged to find their shipmates killed. The survivors were first accused of having mutinied but were later accepted as victims. When Capt Rodrigues took over the helm he had a new crew as the other men were too traumatised to return. "We agreed everyone was on piracy watch. I never had to force anyone to go out. They were always up on the bridge." On first boarding the ship, he said: "I told myself lightning doesn't strike twice." But he may have thought he had spoken too soon when one night a few months later the ship was approached by a couple of speedboats off the Indonesian islands, south of Singapore."We got out the search lights and torches and sounded the alarms," he recalled. The measures worked as the speedboats gave up their pursuit. But he later heard pirates had boarded another ship, tied up the chief engineer and ransacked the vessel. Capt Rodrigues said the best way to avoid being taken by pirates was to keep them off the ship."Once they are on board they are armed and you lose control of the ship. You are defenceless," he said.

If ships are hijacked it is the job of Alex Pinto to help track them down on behalf of shipping companies and insurers. In Somalia, pirates tend to be more concerned with getting a ransom rather than stealing the ships for parts or cargo, said Mr Pinto, director of marine and risk consultancy. He warned speed is crucial in combating a trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. "After about 24 hours, it becomes like finding a needle in a haystack. And with every passing day it becomes less possible to recover it. Pirates can take a smaller vessel to a remote location and dispose of the cargo and cut it up quickly," he said. Ships may be stripped down and components resold or altered and then sold. Alternatively they may lie undetected and rusting for months in a remote cove. He said the success rate of getting ships back had improved since the introduction of tracking devices. His firm is currently helping recover a ship and its cargo of tin, after it was attacked by pirates on route from Indonesia to Singapore last year. The pirates scuttled the ship after the crew had thwarted their hijack attempt by disabling the engine. Thanks to the tracking device the vessel has been found. He helped a ship where a crew had been set adrift in lifeboats with few rations and resorted to drinking their own urine before they were rescued a fortnight later.

The pirates generally use speedboats to steal trading goods or food aid - sometimes impounding ships and crew at gunpoint and then demanding ransoms before they are released. At least 23 hijackings and attempted seizures have been recorded off the Somali coast since mid-March, according to the International Maritime Bureau (1MB), which has warned ships to stay as far away from the coast as possible. Two ships carrying aid for the UN World Food Program were among the vessels attacked this year. "The southern coastline is among the most dangerous in the world," said Mr Mwangura. He stated: "The 1MB is very concerned about the recent increase in piracy activities. The threat posed to vessels operating off the eastern Somali coast is very real and should not be understated. The IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) has confirmed that armed pirates in speedboats and gunboats are frequently opening fire on ships, seeking to hijack the vessel and hold the crew to ransom."

Thirty five piracy incidents were reported in Somalia last year compared to just two in 2004, according to the 1MB. In the past four months, the likelihood of attack on vessels off the eastern Somali coastline has increased significantly. In the recent past, any vessel slowing down, or stopping close to the Somali coast has risked being boarded by gangs of Somali militiamen. Using violent means, these pirates have been extorting substantial sums of money from ship owners in exchange for the return of vessels and crew. Somalia's poor record is partly because of an unstable government and the lure of ransoms, said Mr Abhyankar. "They hold the crew to ransom and shipowners are left with little choice but to pay, when human life is involved". Shipowners can improve security with electrified fences, searchlights locked, accommodation and employing a loyal, vigilant crew.

Somalia has been without a functioning central authority for 15 years, since 1991, when warlords took power after Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. Attempts to relocate a new transitional administration - set up in neighbouring Kenya last year - have so far failed. The problem does not affect the northern coast of the self-proclaimed and more stable Somaliland as much. These are the expected consequences in a region where there has been a long civil war and no effective law enforcement infrastructure. This makes it ideal ground for any kind of crime, particularly maritime crime. But security measures can only go so far in tackling a problem which, according to the 1MB, costs transport vessels $13-$15bn a year in losses in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Ocean alone. In June 2005, the 1MB warned of a surge in piracy in the region and recommended that ships remain at least 50 miles offshore if possible. While many mariners have headed this advice, the pirates operating in the area have become more audacious and are venturing further away from the shoreline. A number of recent attacks have occurred over 100 miles from Somalia's eastern coast. In a ten day period towards the end of July there were eight attacks.

On 26 July 2005 an LPG tanker was attacked by pirates approximately 85 miles from the east coast of Somalia. Eight pirates armed with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades chased

and fired upon the ship from two fibre glass speedboats. Fortunately, the ship managed to increase speed and get away with no injuries to the crew or the tanker. There have been a number of other attacks since then. The United Nations' food agency has suspended all aid shipments to Somalia after one of its ships was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast. "We have suspended all shipments of food aid to Somalia due to the insecurity of Somali waters," said a WFP statement. "The decision will be reviewed depending on the release of the vessel." WFP provides an average of 3,000 tonnes of aid a month to 275,000 people in Somalia.

The US navy says it has captured a number of suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. The guided missile destroyer Churchill went in pursuit of a suspect vessel after receiving a report of piracy and pursued it through the night and into the next morning. When other efforts failed, the Churchill fired warning shots to bring the boat to a halt. The vessel cut speed and went dead in the water, the statements said. Later an unspecified number of sailors were taken off the vessel and a quantity of small arms was recovered. Ten Somalis arrested by the US navy have been flown to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, where they are to be charged. Kenyan sailors, taken hostage on a ship carrying UN food aid to Somalia, have reportedly identified some of the men.

The fractious authorities in Somalia, keen to be seen to be doing something about piracy, signed a $50m contract late last year with a private company based in the United States which said it would begin coastal patrols. When the contract was announced, some Somalis wondered how it would be paid for, since the authorities are severely short of resources. Somali government officials said "foreign friends" would finance the deal. However, it is not clear where this money would come from, as the government has not effectively taken office. The security company has not started work.

The Dominican Republic flagged tanker, the Steadfast, loaded a cargo of 16,585 mts of vegetable oil at the Indonesian port bound for China. The ship left the berth at Palembang after loading a cargo on 18 December 2005. The last message received by the owners from the vessel was on 19 December. Inability to contact the vessel suggested that the vessel may have been hijacked. The PRC immediately sent out alerts to all ships and authorities in the Region. Intelligence received by them suggested that the vessel was headed towards Vietnam or Kampuchea. The PRC worked closely with the Vietnamese, Kampuchean, Singapore authorities and the Indonesian Navy providing them with timely information to seize the vessel if it entered territorial waters. The vessel turned back towards Indonesia and the pirates finally left the vessel in Indonesian waters. The Master brought the vessel safely back to Singapore arriving there at 1330 hours on 24 December. The Singapore authorities are investigating. The 25 crew, cargo and vessel are safe.

This was the first case this year where a tanker of this size was hijacked, in an attempt to steal the vessel and the cargo. Director of the 1MB, commented that "it was vital the authorities deal with this hijacking effectively to deter further attacks of this kind. We congratulate the law enforcement agencies, particularly the Indonesian Navy, for their prompt and positive support. We believe it was the actions taken by them which dissuaded the pirates from proceeding with the

illegal discharge of the cargo. "The PRC collates information on piracy attacks from around the world and provides shipmasters with daily intelligence on high risk areas. The Bureau advises sailors who don't have to visit Somali ports to stay at least 200 nautical miles away from the coast. This is an advisory figure which has been increasing, from first 50, then 100 nautical miles in the past few months.

Andrew Linnington said the region had become so dangerous it should be declared a war zone - a technical term that would grant extra rights to sailors working there. It's got to the stage where it's anarchy, and this latest incident shows it's time governments got their acts together. But the problem will clearly not be resolved in the long term until there is more political stability in Somalia and more economic development to discourage people from turning to piracy to make a living. The 1MB PRC will continue to monitor activity in this region and provide updates as required.

THE HERALD, 15.01.06.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2007