Iranian Fishing Vessels And Crew Missing In Piracy Circus

Any More Iranian Fishing Vessels And Crew Missing In Piracy Circus

* (ecop-marine)* *In close co-operation with Iranian fishermen and authorities, we could establish that in addition to our last listing at least 11 more Iranian fishing vessels with in minimum a further 182 seamen are missing in connection with Somali piracy. Our sources from Somalia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, East Africa, the Maldives and other locations combined paint a grim picture in connection with the fate of these seafarers. Two further dhows are said to have reached their home port in Iran in the meantime and at least one dhow was over the last weekend shot up and set free by a Dutch warship. We try in the moment to establish the full identity also of those vessels, which we could not yet include in the status report below with date of the incident and exact crew numbers. It, however, it remains clear that the still persistent neglect of pirated vessels from countries like Yemen, Pakistan, India and Iran paints a much more serious picture than what the navies present to the mainstream media on their public lists. Please send any report concerning these under-reported vessels to office[at]ecoterra-international.org

*NAVAL OPERATIONS NAB PIRATE DHOWS - DISCARD KILLED SOMALIS INTO THE WATER, WHILE OFFICIAL REPORTING BLURRING AND SHODDY* (ecop-marine) Over the last weekend two motorized dhows, whose clear identities were withheld by the navies, were attacked by naval forces off Somalia, but only one case was so far reported. NATO reported that NATO flagship HNLMS Tromp rescued the crew from a dhow that had previously been hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Somalia. On Saturday, Netherlands warship HNLMS Tromp spotted the pirated dhow heading for a known pirate camp and as the warship closed in to investigate, her boarding team was fired upon, the statement reads, which continues to say:

"Acting in self defence, the crew from HNLMS Tromp returned fire. Ten pirates tried to escape in a skiff, but were quickly captured, and five were wounded and subsequently received medical care on board the Dutch warship. When a boarding team from HNLMS Tromp then went to the dhow to assist the innocent crew, they also found 2 fatally wounded pirates on board. No NATO personnel or crew from the dhow were injured during the incident. At the same time, a previously pirated merchant vessel - MV Albedo, lifted anchor and steamed straight for the NATO flagship. After some well-aimed warning shots across her bow, Albedo returned to her anchorage. HNLMS Tromp then escorted the freed dhow and crew to safer waters. Speaking about NATO’s counter piracy operations off Somalia, Commodore Hijmans, the sea commander of the NATO Task Force said “As the weather off the Somali coast continues to improve, we know that Pirate Action Groups, (known as PAGs), will start to leave the beaches to hunt down innocent merchant ships. By conducting this counter piracy operation at sea, but close to shore, NATO has deprived these pirates a ‘safe haven’ in which to operate. We recognise that dealing with armed pirates is always unpredictable, and of course we have to be very careful to protect innocent hostages. We had to be ready to react quickly and effectively and this is what we have done”.

What they actually have obviously done is to at first kill the two Somalis, arrest 16 other men and wound five of them, while nothing is said concerning the fate of the captured Somalis. Like in Libya the UN gives a free for all shooting allowance, which if issued by a military commander would get him court marshalled or at least brought to the Hague. Well, the Dutch are not far from it. And over this weekend actually two Dhows have been "liberated", whereby the NATO and Dhow crews were unharmed and one vessel immediately set sail. Latest reporting on one of the dhows says that the shot-up vessel was damaged and was then getting some repair as well as replenishment before sailing. Local observers stated that one of these dhows sports the name FEDAH. Unfortunately the Dutch navy didn't provide further details. ECOP-marine will clarify if that is the vessel, which we listed earlier as FV AL FAHAD, a traditionally built fishing vessel seized on October 11, 2010. What is even more disturbing is the fact that the Dutch navy even didn't have the decency to return the killed Somalis to their families or at least to the Somali government. “They were entrusted to the water,” said Defense Ministry spokeswoman Marloes Visser and tried to explain “Given the temperatures there, you have to take a decision quickly,” she said. “It is not practical to keep two bodies on board.” But plenty of cool-rooms keep the beers and steaks for the naval officers fresh. It is an absolute first the world over that humans killed by the navies in these kind of operations are not handed to the authorities to establish all the evidence incl. a post mortem and to let their families of the deceased have the bodies. *Do the Dutch have the rights to kill Somalis and then just to dispose them at will??? - without any oversight and without that the Somali Government has to be involved, while the Dutch roam the Somali waters?* Visser said the pirates, some of whom were wounded in the shooting, were being questioned on board the Tromp. The injured were receiving medical treatment, but it was unclear if the captives would be taken anywhere for trial. “It is not yet clear what will happen next. Prosecutors will have to decide,” Visser told The Associated Press. Wim de Bruin of the national prosecutor’s office said Monday he had no information on the case. Two further dhows are at the moment observed off Ceel Dhanaane, which so far remain unidentified. NATO has in the moment 4 vessels in this piracy circus, which they call theatre: HNLMS TROMP (Flagship) from the Netherlands, HDMS ESBERN SNARE from Denmark, TCG GIRESUN from Turkey and USS BAINBRIDGE as well as USS HALYBURTON from the Unites States of America

*THE UN security council resolutions make it mandatory for all the Navies to properly report to the Somali government as well as to the UN what they are doing in the Somali waters, but the reality is that most navies remain mum or only report if they fear that word will spread throughout Somalia and hit at least the Somali news outlets. *

UAE BULKER WAS SET FREE BY NAVY - NO OFFICIAL REPORTING THOUGH ! (ecop-marine) The UAE registered bulk carrier *MV ARRILAH-I* had actually been sea-jacked by a pirate action group (PAG) using a Dhow as piracy launch last Friday, it ha now transpired, though it had ben reported differently by the naval command centres. What has not been reported at all is the fact that a day later on Saturday the vessel with her crew apparently unharmed was set free by a special forces unit. The 9 pirates aboard surrendered immediately. However, what is strange is the fact that increasingly the navies do not report such incidences officially - neither to the public nor to the Somali government or the UN, whereby they break the regulations set by the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. Apparently a so-called "special-forces"-unit from the United Arab Emirates ujnder guodance of the U>S.American Navy had attacked the pirates and freed the vessel. Unofficial reports quoted an unidentified "official" as saying: "A special counter-terrorism unit, backed by air force units and in coordination with the (Bahrain-based) US Fifth Fleet, stormed the ship. The hijackers subsequently surrendered," the official said. "MV Arrilah-I is now heading with all its crew to the shores of the UAE, and the pirates will be handed over to interior ministry officials upon reaching Jebel Ali" port in Dubai, the official said. The manager of the vessel said that "all crew members are safe and in good health”. "The decisive operation is evidence of the determination of the UAE Government to respond swiftly and deal firmly with any acts of piracy," the source said. No further details as to the whereabouts of the arrested Somalis have come forward and the major media seem to assist in the cover-up or are openly not told the full truth. (see e.g. the report by usually honest AFP below) *Addendum* (MaritimBulletin): Comment: No details given on an operation itself, which is suspicious. Was crew in citadel, or was it controlled by pirates? Were there causalities among crew and pirates? Judging from statement, crew wasn’t in citadel. Vessel belongs to a big UAE company, definitely influential enough to get military response from a State. maybe later some independent sources will enlighten us on the details. Hijack news: The Arrilah-I was attacked on 01-APR-2011 at 05:28 UTC, by a PAG in 2 skiffs with 3 pirates on board each skiff, firing automatic weapons at the vessel underway in position 19 17 0 N, 065 45 0 E, 278nm SW of Port of Veraval, India on bearing 68.8. The Bulk Carrier was boarded as the vessel was enroute to Jebel Ali, UAE from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd frome where she left on Jan 5 2011. IMO 9522934, dwt 37000, flag Liberia, manager Abu Dhabi National Tanker, owner Abu Dhabi National Oil, UAE. *

ENDS

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