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Reuters) - Somali pirates have seized a cargo vessel off the coast of Yemen, and are believed to be holding the crew of nine Yemeni sailors, Yemen's Defense Ministry website said Tuesday.
The Yemeni ship was captured by the Somali pirates after setting sail from the Yemeni port of Mukalla on its way to the port of Aden, the Interior Ministry said, without saying what the ship was carrying or when it was seized.
Yemen's coast guard said it had information indicating that the vessel was being held at a northern Somali port. The coast guard was now making efforts to get the ship released, said the Defense Ministry website.
Heavily armed Somali pirates have increased their attacks in recent months, making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by hijacking ships in the Indian Ocean and the strategic Gulf of Aden, through which an estimated 7 percent of world oil consumption passes.
(Reporting by Mohamed Mokhashef in Aden and Erika Solomon in Dubai; writing by Erika Solomon)
04 May 2010
Somali-Canadians getting piece of pirates' ransom pie: Intelligence expert
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Some Somali-Canadians have received a cut of the ransoms collected by pirates operating off the Horn of Africa and money may have been sent back to Somalia to fund other hijackings, according to an intelligence specialist on piracy.
Karsten von Hoesslin, a senior analyst for Risk Intelligence, told naval officers from Pacific Ocean nations gathered in Victoria for a three-day maritime security conference, that the transfer of ransom money has been tracked from Somalia to Ottawa and a number of other locations that are home to Somali communities.
"It's coming to Ottawa, it's in London and Nairobi," he said. "We know where the money is going."
Risk Intelligence is a Danish-based firm that provides advice and information about piracy, organized crime and terrorism to companies and governments. Its analysts have made trips to Somalia to gather information.
Since January, there have been 65 attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia. Pirates have seized 17 vessels and have taken 362 hostages.
Shipping companies almost always pay for the release of crews and vessels. Ransoms range from $3 million to $7 million per ship.
Von Hoesslin declined to get into specifics about where the ransom money is going in the Somali community in Ottawa. "There is money going both ways to and from Ottawa," he added.
He said that there is the potential that some of the money that Somali-Canadians send back to the region is "to invest in the piracy syndicates."
Piracy off the Horn of Africa is big business, with Somali individuals and communities investing in pirate ventures. Pirates are provided with food, supplies and transportation all on credit, von Hoesslin explained. When the ransoms are paid, the investors and suppliers all receive a cut, he added.
Von Hoesslin pointed out one case in which a Somali security official working for Risk Intelligence was offered a chance to invest in a piracy operation for $5,000 U.S.. The man declined, but acknowledged if he had gone through with the investment he would have made a large profit, von Hoesslin said.
He said there has not been enough effort focused on following the flow of ransom money from the region. "When it comes to asset tracking, the institutions who are tracking are asleep at the wheel," von Hoesslin said.
Interpol, he added, also has been lax in sharing information with governments in the region, such as those of Kenya and the Seychelles, hindering the ability of those nations to prosecute pirates.
Many immigrants from Asia and Africa use hawalas to send cash to their homeland faster and cheaper than the formal banking system. Largely unregulated, hawalas are informal financing networks: take your money to a hawala in Ottawa, and within minutes or hours, a trusted associate is releasing the cash equivalent to your relative on the other side of the world, for a modest fee. The hawala industry came under scrutiny after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and new rules were introduced in Canada requiring hawala operators to track all transactions.
Farah Aw Osman, executive-director of Canadian Friends of Somalia, is from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, home base for many of the pirate syndicates.
"Somalis hear foreign governments saying they want to crack down on the pirates, but without addressing the root causes of the piracy," he said. "Some of the very countries making the loudest noises about piracy are the ones who send their boats to the Somali coast for illegal fishing. That's piracy itself, looting those waters. It has tremendous impact on local fishing."
Aw Osman argued that piracy will flourish as long as there are scores of unemployed young men drifting to the Somali coast, the longest in Africa.
Somali pirates have extended their range and can now be found operating up to 1,000 nautical miles offshore. Their small boats are transported out to sea by larger mother ships.
Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks pirate attacks, noted that Somalis are so destitute that they line up to become pirate crews. Being captured and thrown into a European or U.S. jail, where they are provided with three meals a day is not a deterrent, he added.
What is required is that international law enforcement agencies conduct better tracking of where the ransom money goes and then target those who are funding pirate ventures, said Mukundan. "You need to target the people at the top," he said.
Some Somali-Canadians have received a cut of the ransoms collected by pirates operating off the Horn of Africa and money may have been sent back to Somalia to fund other hijackings, according to an intelligence specialist on piracy.
Karsten von Hoesslin, a senior analyst for Risk Intelligence, told naval officers from Pacific Ocean nations gathered in Victoria for a three-day maritime security conference, that the transfer of ransom money has been tracked from Somalia to Ottawa and a number of other locations that are home to Somali communities.
"It's coming to Ottawa, it's in London and Nairobi," he said. "We know where the money is going."
Risk Intelligence is a Danish-based firm that provides advice and information about piracy, organized crime and terrorism to companies and governments. Its analysts have made trips to Somalia to gather information.
Since January, there have been 65 attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia. Pirates have seized 17 vessels and have taken 362 hostages.
Shipping companies almost always pay for the release of crews and vessels. Ransoms range from $3 million to $7 million per ship.
Von Hoesslin declined to get into specifics about where the ransom money is going in the Somali community in Ottawa. "There is money going both ways to and from Ottawa," he added.
He said that there is the potential that some of the money that Somali-Canadians send back to the region is "to invest in the piracy syndicates."
Piracy off the Horn of Africa is big business, with Somali individuals and communities investing in pirate ventures. Pirates are provided with food, supplies and transportation all on credit, von Hoesslin explained. When the ransoms are paid, the investors and suppliers all receive a cut, he added.
Von Hoesslin pointed out one case in which a Somali security official working for Risk Intelligence was offered a chance to invest in a piracy operation for $5,000 U.S.. The man declined, but acknowledged if he had gone through with the investment he would have made a large profit, von Hoesslin said.
He said there has not been enough effort focused on following the flow of ransom money from the region. "When it comes to asset tracking, the institutions who are tracking are asleep at the wheel," von Hoesslin said.
Interpol, he added, also has been lax in sharing information with governments in the region, such as those of Kenya and the Seychelles, hindering the ability of those nations to prosecute pirates.
Many immigrants from Asia and Africa use hawalas to send cash to their homeland faster and cheaper than the formal banking system. Largely unregulated, hawalas are informal financing networks: take your money to a hawala in Ottawa, and within minutes or hours, a trusted associate is releasing the cash equivalent to your relative on the other side of the world, for a modest fee. The hawala industry came under scrutiny after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and new rules were introduced in Canada requiring hawala operators to track all transactions.
Farah Aw Osman, executive-director of Canadian Friends of Somalia, is from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, home base for many of the pirate syndicates.
"Somalis hear foreign governments saying they want to crack down on the pirates, but without addressing the root causes of the piracy," he said. "Some of the very countries making the loudest noises about piracy are the ones who send their boats to the Somali coast for illegal fishing. That's piracy itself, looting those waters. It has tremendous impact on local fishing."
Aw Osman argued that piracy will flourish as long as there are scores of unemployed young men drifting to the Somali coast, the longest in Africa.
Somali pirates have extended their range and can now be found operating up to 1,000 nautical miles offshore. Their small boats are transported out to sea by larger mother ships.
Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks pirate attacks, noted that Somalis are so destitute that they line up to become pirate crews. Being captured and thrown into a European or U.S. jail, where they are provided with three meals a day is not a deterrent, he added.
What is required is that international law enforcement agencies conduct better tracking of where the ransom money goes and then target those who are funding pirate ventures, said Mukundan. "You need to target the people at the top," he said.
Insurgents’ Seizure of a Pirate Base in Somalia Raises Questions About Its Future
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The New York Times
The pirates who fled Xarardheere still hold several ships.
Dozens of insurgents stormed into Xarardheere, a pirate cove on the central Somali coast, around noon, but instead of putting up a fight, thepirates sped off. According to witnesses, several pirate bosses raced out of town in luxury four-by-four trucks, with TVs packed in the back and mattresses strapped on top. Islamist fighters in a fleet of heavily armed pickup trucks then occupied the strategic points in town, including the defunct police station and several crossroads.
What will happen next is not clear. Two of Somalia’s biggest problems and its most troubling exports — Islamist extremism and piracy — seem to be crashing into each other.
For several years, an intense civil war has raged in the country between a weak United States-backed government and radical Islamist groups that are trying to overthrow it. The ensuing lawlessness has given rise to a thriving piracy trade, in which Somali thugs in small skiffs have commandeered some of the biggest vessels on the sea, including a 1,000-foot-long oil tanker.
Maritime experts estimate that Somali pirates have received more than $100 million in ransoms — an enormous sum for a nation with virtually no economy. The pirates prowl the busy Gulf of Aden, one of the most congested shipping lanes in the world, and recently struck as far away as 1,200 miles offshore.
The pirates of Xarardheere currently hold several hijacked ships. But before they fled, they sent the ships further out to sea to prevent Islamist insurgents from capturing their hostages — a worrying prospect for Western diplomats and others, who fear the insurgents could exploit the hostages for political ends.
An insurgent spokesman implied on Sunday that his movement would shut down Xarardheere’s piracy business.
“We have peacefully seized the town and now we will bring Islamic Shariah,” said Sheik Abdinasir Mohamed Afdhuub, a spokesman for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
But many people fear that the insurgents were actually attracted to Xarardheere because of its criminal enterprise and that different groups of insurgents will now battle for control of the town.
“Tension is very high,” said Nor Ahmed, a Xarardheere resident. “People are worried about possible Shabab attacks any time soon.”
Hizbul Islam and the Shabab are two of the most powerful insurgent groups in Somalia and were once closely allied. Both espouse a harsh Islamist ideology and have organized public amputations and stonings. American and Somali security officials said that the leaders of both groups have worked closely with wanted terrorists of Al Qaeda.
But recently, the two groups seemed to have turned against each other. On Saturday, a deadly bombing at a mosque in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, was believed to have wounded a top Shabab official. On Sunday, another mosque was bombed, this time in the southern port town of Kismayu, where the Shabab drove out Hizbul Islam in a power struggle last year. At least two people were killed and eight wounded, in a neighborhood controlled by the Shabab.
Under strict Islamic law, piracy is considered haram (forbidden), and in 2006, during a six-month period when an Islamist movement pacified much of Somalia, the Islamists curtailed piracy significantly.
But now that Hizbul Islam and the Shabab desperately need money, the situation may be changing. The insurgents’ draconian rules banning music, television and bras have steadily alienated much of Somali society, making it harder for the insurgents to raise money and find recruits.
Additionally, Hizbul Islam lost access to hundreds of thousands of dollars in port taxes when they were kicked out of Kismayu last year and may have needed to find a new source of cash.
French Navy destroys Somali pirate base
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The French warship "Tonnerre" destroyed a pirate mother ship and captured 11 people suspected of piracy. According to the press service of the Naval Forces of the European Union, fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, on Friday Swedish patrol aircraft detected a Somalia pirate ship-base and two boats 450 miles east of Somalia. Swedish Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ian Tørnquist ordered the French ship Tonnerre ", which was closest to the criminal group, to stop the ship. On Saturday morning, the "Tonnerre" located the mother ship and immediately a helicopter took off from the deck. Once the pirates realized that they had been found they began to jettison weapons and ladders overboard. The helicopter crew filmed it all on tape. An Inspection group from the French ship then boarded the pirate base. The pirates were then transferred on board the "Tonnerre" as well as were two smaller boats. The ship-base was then destroyed.
The French warship "Tonnerre" destroyed a pirate mother ship and captured 11 people suspected of piracy. According to the press service of the Naval Forces of the European Union, fighting piracy in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, on Friday Swedish patrol aircraft detected a Somalia pirate ship-base and two boats 450 miles east of Somalia. Swedish Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ian Tørnquist ordered the French ship Tonnerre ", which was closest to the criminal group, to stop the ship. On Saturday morning, the "Tonnerre" located the mother ship and immediately a helicopter took off from the deck. Once the pirates realized that they had been found they began to jettison weapons and ladders overboard. The helicopter crew filmed it all on tape. An Inspection group from the French ship then boarded the pirate base. The pirates were then transferred on board the "Tonnerre" as well as were two smaller boats. The ship-base was then destroyed.
Lawyers vs. Pirates
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Somali pirates have not exactly had a banner month. Last week, 11 pirates charged with firing on two U.S. Navy warships were hauled into a U.S. federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, where they could be sentenced to life imprisonment. Other Navies have also captured their share of buccaneers, including the French, who nabbed six, and the Spanish, who took another eight. Dozens of ships from various countries are currently patrolling the Gulf of Aden and parts of the Indian Ocean, looking to round up marauders.
Footage released of pirate showdown
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The Dutch navy has released footage of a German ship being rescued from pirates.
Ten people were arrested on the vessel which was captured off the Somali coast.
The Dutch frigate Tromp rescued the ship and its crew at an estimated 900km east of the Somali coast, said the Dutch Ministry of Defence in a statement.
A Dutch soldier was slightly wounded in the operation during which the troops exchanged gunfire with the pirates who had come aboard with the help of a mothership and two attack boats.
The frigate had received a distress signal from the German container ship Taipan four hours earlier, the statement said.
The ship had been attacked by pirates and the crew had hidden in a secure space on board.
When the frigate arrived it sounded alerts and fired warning shots which sent the mothership fleeing.
Navy commandos then descended from a helicopter onto the bridge of the Taipan and arrested 10 pirates, according to the statement.
The 15 members of the crew emerged 'safe and sound'.
'Despite the damage on the bridge caused during the operation, the boat was able to continue its route alone,' it said.
The arrested pirates were taken onboard the Dutch frigate.
It had not been decided what would be done with them, defence ministry spokesman Robin Middel told AFP, without giving the nationalities of the pirates or the crew of the German vessel.
The Dutch navy launched the operation as part of an EU naval mission called Operation Atalanta which protects shipping along the key route off Somalia.
EU Navfor has said that in March it collared 18 pirate gangs, destroyed 22 skiffs and apprehended some 131 pirates for prosecution.
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