Pursuit of Pirates on Somali Territory Sought at UN
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By Bill Varner
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — Pirates could be chased onto Somali territory under a proposal the U.S. wants the United Nations Security Council to endorse, diplomats said.
A draft resolution to authorize such action has been given to some member governments on the panel, and a vote may be sought as early as next week, [...]
Somali pirates release Greek ship
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The East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) issued a statement today confirming that the bulk carrier CAPT. STEFANOS (sometimes spelled CAPT STEPHANOS) was released by its hijackers yesterday.
The vessel was captured by Somali pirates in September along with her crew of 19 in the Gulf of Aden.
“The Greek ship-owner’s company Chartworld Shipping Corporation (Athens) finally [...]
Piracy scourge affecting India’s merchandise trade
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Twenty seven-year-old Jasmeet Singh, third officer with a Norwegian merchant vessel cruising along the Horn of Africa en route to the Mediterranean sea, is a worried man. Satellite phone usage on-board is limited to senior officers like the captain and chief engineer.
But these are exceptional times. Besides his family, Singh has repeatedly called four of [...]
Defiant Somali pirates await EU navy force
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Somali pirates were undeterred Saturday as a new European Union naval forces readied to launch an operation aimed at curbing relentless attacks that have rattled world maritime trade. The EU’s anti-piracy drive, dubbed Atalanta, was to formally kick off on Monday, increasing the military presence in the Gulf of Aden, which has in recent months [...]
The latest must-have for commercial shipowners: a piracy insurance policy
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A risk consultancy with close ties to the Lloyd’s insurance market is offering the world’s first insurance policy for shipowners covering potential ransom payouts on crew members who have been kidnapped.
Kidnap and ransom insurance is well-established but has traditionally been offered only in respect of individual executives working in commercially sensitive [...]
Piracy at ‘Intolerable’ Level, Says Maritime Executive
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The massive deployment of foreign navies to the vital shipping lane off the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden has so far failed to slow the rate of pirate attacks, with new ships taken almost daily, according to maritime executive Christopher Hayman. He said most commentators agreed that piracy was merely the symptom [...]
Suez traffic not affected
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Egypt denied that international shippers were avoiding the country’s Suez Canal, the waterway that carried a tenth of the global seaborne trade in 2007, after an escalation in piracy off east Africa. ‘We have not been notified by any shipping company that they are re-routing away from the Suez Canal because of the Somali piracy,’ [...]
Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates
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Somali pirates firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked yet another ship in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, this time seizing a chemical tanker. A German military helicopter from a nearby warship arrived in time to pull three security guards out of the water, but not soon enough to prevent the hijacking of the [...]
Saudi, French Leaders Call For International Efforts To Protect Shipping
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday called for international efforts to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden amid a spate of attacks by Somali pirates. The two leaders also discussed the global financial crisis and Middle East peace, during a brief visit by Sarkozy to Saudi Arabia, the official SPA [...]
Somali pirates hijack 1 ship, free another
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Somali pirates seized control of a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Friday and a NATO helicopter gunship, too late to prevent the hijacking, picked up three security guards who jumped into the sea. Both France and Germany, which have ships in the area as part of an international anti-piracy coalition, sent the [...]
