Suspected Pirates News

A Danish court on Monday found a Nigerian man guilty of endangering the lives of Danish military personnel in a shooting incident last November involving Denmark's navy and a crew of suspected Nigerian pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.However, the court declined to sentence the Nigerian, Lucky Frances, 40, despite a call from the prosecutor for a prison sentence of 12 to 15 months.As part of international anti-piracy efforts, Denmark deployed a frigate to the Gulf of Guinea in October last year.

Shipping organization BIMCO is urging states in the Gulf of Guinea region to take responsibility and step-up prosecution efforts when pirates are apprehended by international navies, following the release of three suspected pirates held in custody on board Danish frigate Esbern Snare.“The presence of international navies is a very important step in the right direction to keep seafarers safe but establishing a sustainable security situation in the Gulf of Guinea cannot happen without full support of the region.

A Danish frigate has killed four pirates in waters south of Nigeria in an operation to protect shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, the Danish military said on Thursday.The Esbern Snare, deployed last month to the Gulf of Guinea amid heightened security risks from pirates, on Wednesday spotted a fast-moving vessel carrying eight suspected pirates near a number of commercial ships, the Danish military said.The incident took place in international waters,25 to 30 nautical miles south of Nigeria's territorial boundary, a spokesman said.The motorboat, spotted by a helicopter deployed by the frigate, wa

Following the incident in the Gulf of Guinea on 24 November involving the Danish frigate Esben Snare and a suspected pirate vessel, BIMCO calls on all naval forces in the area to further increase the pressure on piracy groups and hopes a continued naval presence will act as a deterrent.According to the Danish Armed Forces, Danish frigate Esben Snare has been involved in an incident involving suspected pirates on 24 November in the waters south of Nigeria. The Danish navy further announced that the frigate was close enough to send a team to the suspected pirates with the aim to board…

South Korea's military said on Tuesday it plans to expand the deployment of an anti-piracy unit now operating off the coast of Africa to the area around the Strait of Hormuz, after the United States pressed for help in guarding oil tankers.Attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran last year prompted U.S. officials to call for allies to join a planned maritime security mission.While South Korea, a key U.S. ally, will deploy its forces to the area, including the Gulf…

The European Union’s counter-piracy force EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta has revealed the scenerio after having responded to the attack on 21 April. The suspected pirates seized a fishing dhow off the coast of Somalia then, holding 23 people hostage.Two days later, the incident was over; Operation Atalanta had detained five suspects and released 23 hostages, it said. EU NAVFOR explained detailed of the operation.The incident began when five suspected pirates captured a fishing dhow off the coast of Somalia. The suspects proceeded to navigate the dhow along the coast, where they visited a pirate base camp and reinforced their crew with additional members.Next, using the captured dhow as a mother ship, the suspects attacked another fishing vessel, the FV Adria.

Due to the application of BMP protection measures by the Master, his crew and the private security team, the piracy attack was thwarted and the crew and vessel remained safe.The Master had already evacuated the crew to the citadel when the embarked Armed Security Team (PAST) responded to the attack. There was a sustained exchange of fire before the skiff with several armed people on board broke off and changed course away from the MV.Following the collective advice of industry and military counter-piracy operations, as written down in Best Management practices 5 (link here), the Master’s actions and the on board security team’s reaction…

Six Somali nationals have been charged in the Republic of Seychelles for attempting and committing acts of piracy in the Indian Ocean, the Seychellois Attorney General announced on December 18. The suspected pirates were apprehended in November by EU antipiracy forces following alleged attacks on containership MV Ever Dynamic and fishing vessel Galerna III in the Southern Somali Basin, an area known for piracy. The six now face legal prosecution before the court and could each receive up to 30 years in a Seychelles detention facility if convicted.

Six suspected pirates were apprehended by the European Union’s antipiracy force off the coast of Somalia. EU NAVFOR Somalia’s flagship, the Italian vessel ITS Virginio Fasan, detained six crew and their vessels following reported attacks on a 52,000 metric ton containership and a fishing vessel over a 24 hour period on November 17 and 18 in the Southern Somali Basin. During the incidents a number of rocket propelled grenades were fired against the containership, though no damage or injuries were reported, and all crew and vessels are said to be safe.

Malaysian authorities thwarted the hijacking of a Thai oil tanker on Thursday and arrested 10 suspected Indonesian pirates on board the ship, a maritime security agency commander said. A special team from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) stormed the MT Tanker MGT1, off the coast of the northeastern state of Terengganu, nearly 10 hours after it was reported missing on Wednesday. While the 10 were detained on the tanker, three suspects on a smaller boat nearby managed to escape, and an MMEA vessel has been sent to find them, the agency's chief, Maritime Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar, said in a statement. The boat was spotted near the tanker by a surveillance aircraft.

Suspected pirates in a skiff attacked a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, MT NAVIG8 Providence, in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday and were driven off by the ship's security, the European Naval Force said. "There was an exchange of small arms fire between the suspected pirates and the maritime security team on board the tanker," the maritime force, known as EU NAVFOR, said in a statement. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri)

A Chinese navy ship handed over three suspected pirates to Somali authorities on Friday, police said, underscoring the determination of international naval forces to stamp out a resurgence of piracy this year. The pirates were involved in the attempted hijacking in April of the OS35, a Tuvalu-flagged cargo ship that was rescued by the Chinese navy after the crew sent a distress call. "A Chinese navy ship handed over three pirates to Puntland today," said Ahmed Saiid, the deputy director of maritime police forces in the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.

An international agreement that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden has seen its scope significantly broadened to cover other illicit maritime activities, including human trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A high-level meeting of signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (10 to 12 January 2017) has adopted a revised Code of Conduct, which will be known as the “Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017”. The participatory States agreed to work together, with support from IMO and other stakeholders…

Indonesian Navy arrested six alleged pirates attempting to hijack a foreign-operated tanker near the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest trade routes,  reports The Jakarta Post. Six suspected pirates operating in the Malacca Straits were caught by Western Fleet Quick Response Team of Tanjung Pinang base on Monday in Batam waters in Riau Islands. The group was suspected of plotting attacks on tankers passing through eastern Malaysia. The Tanjung Pinang Navy base commander, Comm. S. Irawan, said the arrest came about following a tip-off from an informant with information about criminal activities in the Malacca Straits. Irawan said that the team followed it up by intercepting the group at sea. The team managed to detain the boat, which had the six suspects on it.

Merchant vessels sailing through busy shipping lanes between Somalia and Yemen may be underestimating the risk of piracy and terrorism following two attempted attacks last month, maritime officials say. More than 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil supplies pass through the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, a major shipping lane also used to move exports and commodities such as food between Asia and Europe. The European Union's counter-piracy naval force (EU Navfor) confirmed on Nov. 4 that six armed men attacked chemical tanker CPO Korea 330 nautical miles (610 km) east of Somalia on Oct.

Despite a decline of piracy activity in several high-risk areas, a high threat of crew kidnapping and hijacking remains in Southeast Asia and West Africa, according to a recent report from specialist crisis prevention and response consultancy NYA International. Overall piracy activity in the third quarter of 2016 declined in global hotspots compared to the previous quarter, as Southeast Asia and the East Africa and Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) both saw drops in reported piracy incidents, and West Africa notably experienced a drop in severe incidents such as attacks and hijackings, according to NYA’s Q3 2016 Piracy Assessment. In West Africa, piracy activity in Q3 2016 declined in severity compared to the previous quarter, when 16 attacks and nine hijackings were reported.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday expressed its deep concern over piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea, and stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach — led by States of the region, with international support — to address the problem and its root causes. Issuing presidential statement S/PRST/2016/4, the Council strongly condemned acts of murder, kidnapping, hostage-taking and robbery by pirates in the Gulf, and underlined the importance of determining any links between piracy and armed robbery at sea, and terrorist groups in West Africa and the Sahel subregions. It encouraged regional organizations — including the African Union…

U.S. Navy sailors aboard amphibious assault ship USS Boxer took time to reflect on the anniversary of the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden seven years ago. Phillips was rescued April 12, 2009 by special operations personnel aboard USS Bainbridge and transferred to Boxer for medical evaluation and care. Boxer also served as a staging platform for the rescue operation. “This is a great reminder of the flexibility and warfighting spirit USS Boxer exhibits; always ready to respond, no matter the crisis, operation or mission,” said Capt.

The Nigerian Navy has foiled an attempt by suspected pirates to hijack and abduct 25 foreign nationals aboard a container ship operated by A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S carrying general cargo to Nigeria with 25 sailors on board, say local media. Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder Navy Capt. Olusegun Soyemi, said  at Onne Port in Rivers State, that the vessel berthed safely with the rescued crew members unharmed. According to Soyemi, “On Jan. 5 at about 08:00 hours; Safmarine Kuramo was attacked by sea pirates about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Bonny Island (in Rivers) Fairway Bouy. We got may-day distress call that the ship was boarded by unconfirmed number of sea pirates after entering the nation’s territorial waters.

Somali pirates have hijacked an Iranian fishing vessel with 15 crew members, a Somali official and a maritime expert said on Monday amid warnings that piracy might be making a comeback in the Indian Ocean. Although there are still occasional cases of sea attacks, piracy near Somalia's coast had largely subsided in the past three years, mainly due to shipping firms hiring private security details and the presence of international warships. The Iranian ship was taken on Sunday evening in waters off northern Somali city of Eyl, said Abdirizak Mohamed Dirir, director of the anti-piracy and seaport ministry in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in Somalia. "Pirates hijacked an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with its 15 crew from near Eyl," Dirir told Reuters.

An international agreement that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden is set to significantly broaden its scope. Signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct have agreed to work toward extending its remit to address other illicit maritime activity that threatens safety and security in the region, such as marine terrorism, environmental crimes, human trafficking and Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Indonesian authorities have seized the tanker, MT Joaquim, believed to have been used by pirates to siphon 3,500 tonnes of crude oil on Saturday, according to a report in Bernama. The tanker was detained at about 4pm today (August 11), in the waters off Dumai, Indonesia,Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy director-general (operations) Vice-Admiral Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said. “The Indonesian authorities have informed us over the vessel’s seizure and detention of the suspected pirates,” Ahmad Puzi said. However, Ahmad Puzi said Indonesian authorities were still conducting investigations on the tanker and would identify whether the individuals on board were the pirates involved in seizing the MT Joaquim.

On Thursday 8 January, a counter-piracy exercise was carried out jointly by the Seychelles Coast Guard, Air Force and Police together with the EU Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta-, and the EU’s civilian maritime security capacity building Mission, EUCAP Nestor. The purpose of the exercise was twofold; firstly, to practice cooperation between the Coast Guard, Air Force, the Police and EUNAVFOR Atalanta a joint counter-piracy operation, and secondly to test procedures and routines linked to effective processing of suspected pirates and evidence handling at sea.