I had put up a couple of links a few days ago when I ran into them but didn't feel much like posting.
Well, that story just keeps getting more interesting.
From the first two: From the Long War Journal:
Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship
A tense standoff is underway in northeastern Somalia between pirates, Somali authorities, and Iran over a suspicious merchant vessel and its mysterious cargo. Hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden, the MV Iran Deyanat remains moored offshore in Somali waters and inaccessible for inspection. Its declared cargo consists of minerals and industrial products, however, Somali and regional officials directly involved in the negotiations over the ship and who spoke to The Long War Journal are convinced that it was heading to Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia's Islamist insurgents.
And what makes this really suspicious is the composition of the crew:
Suspicion has also been cast on the ship's crew, half of which is almost entirely staffed by Iranians - a large percentage of Iranian nationals for a standard merchant vessel. Somali officials say that the ship has a crew of 29 men, including a Pakistani captain, an Iranian engineer, 13 other Iranians, 3 Indians, 2 Filipinos, and 10 Eastern Europeans, possibly Croatian.
The officers (Captain, Engineer, etc.) and the Hotel Chiefs (chef, purser, etc.) will almost always be nationals or from friendly nations to the owners but the actual day-to-day operations are from all corners of the planet.
This many Iranians raises a bit red flag.
#2 from the first two -- coming in for a bit of hurt. From MarineBuzz.com:
Danish Warship Absalon is a Nightmare to Somali Pirates
Danish Warship Absalon(L16) has become a nightmare to Somali pirates. The Command and Support Ship Absalon left Frederikshavn on August 17 to join Combined Task Force 150 in the Gulf of Aden. The New Zonka Blog gives the details of departure.
The only problem is which of the three options to pursue:
Option 1: to take the pirates to Denmark and initiate legal actions. (this option is going to be costly as it involves time and money to the Danish government and is also risky)
Option 2: to release the pirates without taking any action ( this is the easiest option which has no legal problems)
Option 3: to handover the pirates to Somali administration for further legal action. (not known what will happen to the pirates as there is no functioning government in Somalia since 1991)
After considering the available options, Absalon did not take the pirates as prisoners on their operation on September 20. They seized only the weapons from pirates and left the pirates and their boats.
France has been doing Option 1 with some measure of success. As for the line:
Well now, in more recent news comes this little item from the BBC:
Somalia's pirates seize 33 tanks
A Ukrainian ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia was carrying 33 tanks and other weapons, the Ukrainian defence minister has confirmed.
Earlier, the country's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Russia announced on Friday it would start carrying out regular anti-piracy patrols in the waters off Somalia.
A navy spokesman said a warship had been sent to the area earlier this week and the aim of the deployment was to protect Russian citizens and ships.
Somalia has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and at sea.
Somali pirates are currently holding more than a dozen hijacked ships in the base in Eyl, a town in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
It was not immediately clear where the Ukrainian ship had been taken.
And no word on the crew either... Really makes me want to go and visit that part of the world. Talk about 9th century backwater hell-hole. A true workers paradise indeed.
