Somali pirates fire at Kuwaiti oil tanker

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KUALA LUMPUR — Heavily armed Somali pirates fired on a Kuwaiti oil tanker near the Arabian Sea on Wednesday in an attempt to hijack the vessel, a global maritime watchdog said.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades launched the attack from a skiff off Somali waters.

"The Somali pirates chased the tanker and sprayed bullets early Wednesday in a bid to hijack the ship," he said.

"Fortunately, the tanker managed to escape the pirates," Choong said, adding there were no reports of injuries to the crew.

He urged seafarers to be on high alert as pirates were attacking ships on "all fronts."

"Pirates are expanding their areas of attack. They are now operating in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and in the Indian Ocean," he said.

National oil conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said later that none of its large fleet of tankers had been attacked, but an industry source told AFP the vessel in the report could belong to a private company based in the emirate.

Several other Gulf and pan-Arab oil tanker companies are based in Kuwait.

Somali pirates captured a freighter, bulk carrier and a chemical tanker recently, defying foreign warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden and ending the year with millions in ransom.

The marauding sea bandits' latest catch was the St James Park, a British-flagged chemical tanker with a crew of 26 from nine different countries, which was seized on Monday.

Since the resumption of pirate attacks following the end of the summer monsoon season three months ago, Somali pirates have expanded from the Gulf of Aden into the wide open seas of the Indian Ocean, venturing as far as the Seychelles and beyond, Choong said.

Despite the increased international military presence off Somalia's coastline -- the longest on the African continent -- pirates have raked in huge ransoms.

Alongside the EU, the United States and other national navies deployed warships off the Somali coast in December 2008 to protect vessels and secure maritime routes in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

AP: Somali Pirates Attack Kuwaiti Oil Tanker

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AP via the New York Times

AP: Piracy-Related Events in the Past Year

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AP via the New York Timess

*The list in the article is not complete....it's only a sampling of the piracy related events.

AP: International armada struggles to turn the tide against Somali pirates

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AP via the Dallas News

Somali pirates seize Yemeni freighter with crew of 15

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SANAA — Somali pirates have seized a Yemeni freighter and its 15-strong Yemeni crew in the Gulf of Aden, the interior ministry said on Monday.

The Al-Mahmoudia2 had set sail from the port of Aden in southern Yemen on December 18 heading for the Indian Ocean, the ministry said, without specifying its cargo or destination port.

"The Yemeni coast guard have taken the necessary steps to follow the affair and to try to recover the vessel," the ministry added without elaborating.

The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

But the vast extent of the waters under threat has made it difficult to stop all attacks, particularly after the pirates broadened their scope to the wider Indian Ocean, as far as the Seychelles and beyond.

Record Number of Somali Pirate Attacks in 2009

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HONG KONG — Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009, despite the deployment of international warships to thwart them and a United Nations Security Council resolution to bring the fight against them to shore.
The Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureausaid Tuesday that pirates operating across the Gulf of Aden and along the coast of Somalia have attacked 214 vessels so far this year, resulting in 47 hijackings. Twelve of those ships, with a total of 263 crew members, are currently being held for ransom by the pirates.
In 2008, according to the maritime bureau, 111 ships were attacked in the region, a figure that itself represented a 200 percent increase from 2007.
The hijackings continued this week with the seizure of a Greek-owned cargo ship and a British-flagged chemical tanker, both of which were taken on Monday.
The St James Park, a chemical tanker bound from Spain to Thailand, issued a distress signal on Monday that it was being attacked in the Gulf of Aden. The owners confirmed Tuesday that the ship had been seized.
The tanker was being monitored by the European Union Naval Force Somalia, which said Tuesday that the ship was being taken toward Somalia. Its crew of 26 was said to include Filipinos, Russians, Georgians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Poles, Indians and Turks.
The other hijacking on Monday, of a Greek-owned bulk carrier under the Panamanian flag, occurred off the coast of Somalia. An officer with the European Union force declined to provide details about the episode, which was confirmed by Noel Choong, an official with the piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The presence of warships from the European Union, the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India and other nations has managed to thwart attacks on merchant and leisure ships in the Gulf of Aden. As many as 30 ships are patrolling the gulf at any given time, naval officials said, and patrol missions were not being reduced over the holidays.
“The success rate in taking ships has dropped dramatically in the gulf because of the large naval presence now,” said Mr. Choong.
But the pirates have moved their focus to the southern and eastern coasts of Somalia where patrols are virtually nonexistent. Using sophisticated electronics, heavy weapons, large oceangoing boats and speedier attack craft, the pirates are now able to operate far from land for weeks at a time.
“Most ships are now being taken off the coast of Somalia and the success rate is high,” said Mr. Choong. “The pirates have a free hand there. We’re very concerned. It’s our main worry. We’ve asked for protection there, but the coalition is busy in the gulf.”
Pirates seized a Yemeni fishing boat in the Gulf of Aden on Dec. 18, after a lull in the gulf since a large merchant vessel was taken the first week of July.
Mr. Choong said ship owners were taking more antipiracy precautions, but he had not heard reports of armed guards being used aboard vessels.
“We are not encouraging armed guards,” he said. “The pirates have not been firing at the crews. They fire at the bridge to intimidate the captains into stopping their ships.
“We’ve seen photographs of crew members taking pictures of pirates while they’re attacking. From a distance the pirates might not be able to tell if they have a camera and not a gun.”

Piracy-Related Events in the Past Year

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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: December 29, 2009

Filed at 3:11 p.m. ET
Somali pirates have hijacked more than 80 ships in the past two years. Tuesday's hijackings brought the number of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia to 214 this year, with 47 vessels hijacked.
Some piracy-related events this year:
Dec. 28 -- Pirates seize chemical tanker in Gulf of Aden and ship in Indian Ocean.
Dec. 2 -- The Dutch navy captures 13 Somali pirates and seizes a haul of weapons off the coast of Oman after the pirates attacked a merchant ship.
Nov. 17 -- Pirates free a Spanish trawler and its 36-member crew after a $3.3 million ransom is delivered as a Spanish warship looks on.
Oct. 29 -- A British couple sailing a yacht off Somalia say they have been seized by pirates. They still have not been freed.
Sept. 7 -- A dispute erupts between authorities in Somalia and the Seychelles after the island nation released 23 suspected Somali pirates in what appeared to be a trade for hostages from the Seychelles.
Aug. 26 -- Somali pirates holding a hijacked ship fire at a U.S. Navy helicopter as it makes a surveillance flight over the vessel, the first such attack by pirates on an American military aircraft.
Aug. 13 -- Using machetes and guns, Egyptian fishermen held hostage for four months regain control of their vessels from pirates.
June 9 -- The U.S. Navy warns that pirates from Somalia have expanded their areas of operation far from the coast and into the Red Sea.
April 25 -- Italian cruise ship fends off pirate attack with gunfire off Somalia's coast.
April 15 -- French forces capture a suspected Somali pirate mother ship.
April 13-14 -- Pirates capture four ships and take more than 60 crew members hostage in a brazen hijacking spree.
April 13 -- Navy SEAL snipers shoot three Somali pirates in a lifeboat and rescue Richard Phillips, the hostage captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama after five days at sea.
April 10 -- Pirate recapture Phillips after he tries to swim for freedom.
April 8 -- The unarmed crew of the Maersk Alabama wrests control of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship from Somali pirates and sends them fleeing to a lifeboat with the captain as hostage.
March 26 -- Pirates armed with machine guns hijack a Norwegian chemical tanker less than 24 hours after a smaller Greek-owned vessel is seized in the same area.
March 5 -- A Ukrainian cargo ship carrying tanks and other heavy weapons is freed and sails for Kenya under U.S. military escort after a $3.2 million ransom is air-dropped more than four months into the ship's captivity.
Jan. 29 -- Somali pirates hijack a German tanker loaded with liquefied petroleum gas off the Horn of Africa.
Jan. 10 -- Five of the pirates who hijacked a Saudi supertanker drown with their share of a $3 million ransom, the day after the ship -- the Sirius Star -- was freed.
Jan. 8 -- The U.S. announces a new international naval force under American command will patrol to confront escalating attacks by Somali pirates after more than 100 ships came under siege in the past year.