Horten: old frigates and Yemeni guards

Maybe a submarine?


ISIM Sinin Ltd. is the Maltese corporation owning the handymax bulker Sinin
ISI Maritime Ltd. (Malta)

• Tehran, Iran
• Founded in 2008
• Registered in Malta
ISI Maritime Ltd. is the registered owner of the Sattar. According to IHS Fairplay, this company is a subsidiary of the IranoHind Shipping company, a company the United States Treasury Department has designated as linked to Irisl and therefore subject to sanctions. ISI Maritime also is a major shareholder in Isim Sinin Ltd. and Isim ATR Ltd., two other Irisl-linked companies.

Norwegian navy has sold its frigate Horten to a former military officer and UN captain, Svein Johnsen and an anonymous partner,will use it to keep pirates at bay. Financing for Clear Ocean was in place Clear Ocean, will include the frigate, up to eight new ships, six helicopters and a surveillance plane, to patrol the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.

The vessels will be armed, and the helicopters will be used to localize pirates. Officially, Clear Ocean has a 10-year contract with the government of Somalia to protect Somalia’s fishing fleet. “We are to protect fishing vessels who will pay for the fishing rights which again will increase the revenue in the fisheries for the government,” Clear Ocean was “not in the business of chasing or arresting pirates” and that the weapons on board are “to protect our own assets and customers, if we are asked to protect Norwegian shipowners, we will of course do so,” for a price to be negotiated.
Clear Ocean’s vessels will have a weapons system on board that can stop a boat from a distance of two kilometers. “If the pirates don’t stop before getting within 800 meters of us, they will be stopped,”
The defense ministry said it had no qualms about the planned operations for the Horten, which even has served as a temporary royal yacht in Norway. “We are glad the ship was sold and we got a good price (NOK 45 million) for it.” “We have no opinions about how it will now be outfitted or used. We hope it can be used in a positive way in the area.”
The boss of Norwegian shipowning company Stolt-Nielsen announced his family-owned firm now has armed guards on board Stolt-Nielsen vessels off the coast of Africa.

“We would gladly avoid having to do this, but we have no choice,” Niels G Stolt-Nielsen, “When we don’t have a convoy or patrol boats in the area, we’re hiring in armed guards from Yemen’s naval defense forces.”

Stolt-Nielsen called the pirates “terrorists,” and claimed that “the only language (they) understand is warning shots. Then they’ll back off.” He said armed guards are necessary. “There are people on board the ships who need to be protected,” he said, along with the value of the vessels and their cargoes.

Stolt-Nielsen, Frontline and Fred Olsen are trying to fight back. Frontline, controlled by tanker tycoon John Fredriksen, and veteran shipowner Fred Olsen are considering having armed staff on board, but won’t go into detail.

“We don’t have any weapons on board, not yet,” Olsen“the entire industry is drafting this now.” Olav Eikrem, technical director at Frontline also said he wouldn’t rule out having armed guards on board “soon.”

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