Barakaale 1: Cambodia/DPR Korea - flagged

The Cambodia/DPR Korea - flagged MV Barakaale 1,imo 8508747, said to be flying Tanzania-flag and reportedly owned by ISMAN ABDI IGUEH, came under attack whilst transiting through the region and the timely response by the Master in alerting vessels in the region by bridge-to-bridge radio communication enabled ships from CTF 151 to come to its aid.

A SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, from USS Farragut, was immediately dispatched to the MV Barakaale and subsequently gave chase to the skiff which withdrew its attack.

During the pirate attack on the MV Barakaale 1, the crew adopted defensive maneuvers which resulted in a suspected pirate falling overboard whilst attempting to board the vessel. The skiff rescued their accomplice and attempted to board MV Barakaale a second time, but they were again unsuccessful.

The helicopter intervened and the skiff attempted to speed away. After repeated warnings to the skiff, warning shots were fired by the helicopter across the bow of the skiff, which resulted in its coming to a stop. A boarding team from USS Farragut boarded the vessel and the eight suspected pirates were taken aboard the Farragut.

Layla-S: not pirate attack, dismay at reports

Flag: Poland. Present name: LAILA I. Ex-LEILA-5
Cambodian-flagged cargo ship that was reported to have been seized by Somali pirates is held by a local court in northwestern Somalia, an official statement said Saturday.

It was widely reported in local and international media that the Cambodian ship was hijacked by Somali pirates after offloading commercial goods in Berbera, a port town in the breakaway state of Somaliland.

However, the statement from the Berbera Port Authority said the local court in Berbera ordered the detention of MV Layla-S after a local businesses man filled a law suit against the company owning the ship, following the destruction of the businessman's goods in a fire on another ship of the company, MV Mairiam Star.

"On Sep. 15, 2009, the MV Layla-S was detained by Local Court of Berbera after it was accused by the merchant for goods of estimated cost of 250,000 U.S. dollars," said the statement.

The statement expressed dismay that the incident was misreported in the media and said owner of the ship was notified of the case.

Layla-S: after discharging Cambodian-flag cargo

Vessel named Al Hafoof in 2000, Georgian flag, renamed Leila in 2001, unknown flag


Pirates discharged cargo after hijacking Syrian-owned Layla-S.

Somali gunmen hijacked a Cambodian cargo ship, the MV Layla-S, off Berbera after it unloaded at the port in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland, "It is said that the vessel has a link with Syrian and UAE businessmen. We are informed that she was taken by gunmen after discharging her cargo.

It is also reported that, the owner of that ship has already abandoned the crew and hence, the crew members might have been held in captivity since the past few days. The crew members are said to be a mix of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Somalian and possibly Syrian nationals. The vessel is believed to be owned and managed by Al Hufoof, an agency based in either Syria or the United Arab Emirates.

SOMALILAND: Stranded ship Skipper pleads for urgent help as crew health deteriorates
Page last updated January 24, 2010
http://somalilandpress.com/11038/somaliland-stranded-ship-skipper-pleads...

BERBERA (Somalilandpress) — A crew of fifteen seafarers are stranded onboad a cargo ship, the MV Layla, in the Somaliland port of Berbera for the past five months and the sailors are said to be facing serious risk as their health deteriorates.

The captain of the ship, Mr. Sarath, who is from Sri Lanka, spoke to Mohamed Saed of Berberanews by phone on Saturday, and said that their ship has been stranded in the port for the past five months without charge.

Mr Sarath said he does not know exactly why they were kept in the port but local analysts believe a local firm, Omar International [Company], may have filed a maritime action asking Sahil regional authority and Berbera Port authority to obtain the ship for damages.

Omar International has lost a lot of assets including motor vehicles onboard a cargo ship, MV Mariam Star when it caught fire in it’s upper deck in early September of 2009 and the two cargo vessels both belong to Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding. The local authority and Omar International accuse the crew and skipper of MV Mariam of not cooperating with the port authority to put out the flame by switching the ship’s engine off. They argue a lot could have been done if the crew did not switch the engine of the ship off.

Despite issuing a press release of it’s own, suggesting the dispute was between the local authority and the ship, Omar International is believed to have authorized the local authority to obtain the ship for compensation it wants from Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding.

Omar International company is locally owned influential company while Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding is Dubai based firm. When the skipper of MV Layla contacted Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding, they told him: “you were carrying goods for Somalis, the people who detained you and your ship are Somalis, we have nothing to do with it”.

“We arrived in Berbera on the 17th of August 2009, after unloading the cargo, as we were preparing to depart we were told by the Sahil regional authority that we were being barred from leaving, but they did not tell us the reason nor charges against us, because we believe we have executed and handed in all the appropriate documents”, he said.


Al-Hufoof
Al Hufoof Shpg LLC
Al hufoof Shipping & forwarding LLC

Activity : Ship Owner/Manager/Operator
Address : PO Box 2911
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
State : Dubai
Town : Dubai
Country : United Arab Emirates
Phone : +971 4 268 8899
Fax : +971 4 269 9939



The ICC's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has claimed another victory after locating a stolen cargo vessel, missing since September.

The IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre found the MV AL HUFOOF 1 moored in the harbour of Ho Chi Minh City. It had been missing since leaving the port of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates five months ago.

Acting on information passed on by the Piracy Reporting Centre, Ho Chi Minh port authorities boarded the MV HONG HEING last month and have since confirmed it is the missing AL HUFOOF 1.

"The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre sent out an alert to maritime contacts in the region and as a result of further investigations conducted by the IMB, were able to track the stolen vessel," said IMB Director, Captain Pottengal Mukundan. "This has been another good example of cooperation between the shipping industry and Maritime Authorities."

On 2nd September, 2000, the Georgian registered MV AL HUFOOF 1 sailed from Sharjah for Massawa in Eritrea, with a cargo of 3,241 metric tons of wheat flour and sugar.

Soon after her departure, the ship's owners lost all contact with their vessel. Its last known position was in the Gulf of Aden on the 11th September.

Investigations by the ICC-International Maritime Bureau tracked the vessel to Vietnam. It had been renamed HONG HEING and was sailing under a Honduran flag. But Honduran authorities confirmed to the IMB that no such vessel could be traced in their registry.

This information was passed to the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordinating Centre, who in turn, relayed it to the Ho Chi Minh port.

The cargo of wheat flour and sugar had been illegally discharged into a warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City. Investigations have confirmed that the crew which brought the vessel into Ho Chi Minh City were the same crew who were on board the vessel upon departure in Sharjah.

Sihanoukville call by USS Gary

A U.S. navy warship docked at Cambodia's main seaport Friday, the first port call by an American naval vessel to the Southeast Asian nation in more than three decades.

The USS Gary, a guided missile frigate with 200 officers and crew, was greeted by a team of Cambodian naval officers and U.S. Embassy staff at Sihanoukville, 115 miles southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. here

North Koreans use Cambodia flag vessel

ARGUS, 3950 tons, built 1971, Cambodia
Exposing an apparent loophole in Japan's sanctions against North Korea, a Cambodian-registered freighter carrying 8,500 used bicycles left Sakai Port in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, for North Korea. It is the first such move since the government banned the entry of North Korean vessels following Pyongyang's nuclear test in October.

The 2,740-ton Argus was provided by a Russian shipping firm at the request of a Nagano-based trading company among others.
Following North Korea's nuclear test in October, the Japanese government banned the entry of all North Korean-registered ships into Japanese ports, prohibited the importation of all products from North Korea and blocked exports of luxury goods, such as passenger cars and electrical appliances, from Japan.

Although bicycles are not included in the list of luxury items prohibited for export to North Korea, the ban on ships entering the nation's ports has effectively restricted the export of bicycles to North Korea. here

North Korean Ships Dropping Cambodian Flag

North Korean freighter Sosan
Dozens of North Korean ships used to carry the Cambodian flag.
North Korea adroitly uses flags of convenience to camouflage the movement of its cargo vessels as they engage in tasks that sometimes violate international laws.
Times