PNS Zulfiqar: attempted hijack of Pakistani frigate stopped

PNS Zulfiqar

An attempt to hijack PNS Zulfiqar [a frigate purchased from China and inducted in July 2009] was stopped by guards.
The attack was carried out by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which said it had inside help.
 Karachi's naval dockyard is about four kilometres from the mouth of Karachi harbor.

Pakistan Navy — a 31,000-man branch of the military – has tried to keep the investigation in its sole control without sharing on the record information with civilian agencies

PNS Zulfiquar (251), is a general purpose frigate built by Pakistan and China for the Pakistan Navy (PN). They are an adaptation of the Type 053H3 frigates of China but include elements of the Type 054 frigates as well.
General characteristics
Type: Frigate
Displacement: 2,500 tonnes (standard)[1][2][3]
3,144 tonnes (full load)[4]
Length: 123.2 m (404 ft)
Beam: 13.8 m (45 ft)
Draught: 3.76 m (12.3 ft)
Propulsion:
CODAD (Combined Diesel and Diesel)
2 × Tognum MTU 12V 1163 TB 83 @ 10.5 MW
2 × MTU cruise diesels @ 6.6 MW
Speed: 29 kn (54 km/h) maximum[1][2]
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km)
Complement: 170 crew
Sensors and
processing systems:
SUR 17 air surveillance radar
SR-60 air/surface search radar
KH 2007 navigation radar
Type 347 CIWS fire-control radar
CIWS electro-optical director
Radar warning receiver suite
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
RWD-8 intercept, NJ8I-3 jammer
Decoy flare, chaff launchers
Armament:
Guns:
1 × 76.2 mm calibre AK–176M main gun
Type 730B CIWS (2 × 30 mm 7-barrel Gatling guns)
Missiles:
1 × 8-cell FM-90N SAM launcher
2 × 4-cell C-802 SSM launchers
Other:
2 × 3-cell ET-52C torpedo launchers
2 × 6-cell RDC-32 anti-submarine rockets
Aircraft carried: 1 × Harbin Z-9EC ASW helicopter
Aviation facilities: Flight deck and enclosed hangar
Notes:
Ships in class include:
PNS Zulfiquar (251)
PNS Shamsheer (252)
PNS Saif (253)
PNS Aslat (254)

[November 2 2008 Saudi-supported Islamists against pirates?


Negotiations between the pirates and the ship's Saudi owners are being conducted through an interpreter on a satellite phone using an outside company that specialises in dealing with kidnaps and ransom demands. Blackwater Maritime Security Services, a division of the firm active in Iraq, is said to be sending it's 183 ft McArthur former NOAA research vessel to the Gulf of Aden from its base in Virginia.

Armed Islamic militants were angry pirates had attacked a ship owned by Muslims. The Sirius Star is owned by a Saudi-controlled company. "The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship," an unnamed local tribal elder said. Militants have entered the port of Haradheere close to where the ship is moored . It is common for Somali pirates to booby-trap vessels they have seized raising the prospect of the Sirius Star being blown up if Islamists start a firefight with those who seized her. Meanwhile, unknown armed young men have started a fierce firefight in the capital. After the Mogadishu attack, another resident Dahir Mohamed said he had seen the bodies of 15 young men.
"They were unfamiliar faces in the our district, so we think they were the insurgents." The Islamists have not commented on the incident.

al-Mezaan: "Pirates" freed, body vanishes?

Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy












It is not clear, says the NY Times, what happened to the body found by a Spanish boarding party in a skiff attacked by a Spanish helicopter off Haradere. Units commanded by Force Commander, Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero of the Italian Navy, let go six individuals found in skiffs 60 miles south of Haradere, a beach frequently used by pirates after the captain of the MV Almezaan said he could not identify the men detained by the Spanish navy as the group of pirates who attacked him,

It was not clear what had happened to the body of "the slain attacker." [or individual who had died.]The suspects were freed because the captain of the ship they were accused of attacking declined to identify them for the purposes of legal action.
They were captured after private contractors on board the cargo ship, the Almezaan, repulsed two attempts to commandeer the vessel and killed a seventh attacker in the process.

Frigate ESPS NAVARRA, from the Spanish Navy, launched her helicopter, quickly locating the ALMEZAAN and the pirates’ boats, known as skiffs. When the suspects failed to heed the helicopter’s instructions to stop, warning shots were fired by the aircraft, after which a team from NAVARRA boarded a skiff.

There were three boats, comprising one mother ship and two pirate skiffs. In the first skiff they found three suspected pirates and, in the second, three suspects and a fourth individual, who had died. The body has been transferred to NAVARRA, and an investigation indicated that the individual had died from small calibre gunshot wounds.

Theresa VIII:ransom exchanged off Haradere

Kiribati Flagged, chemical tanker with a crew of 28 and deadweight of 22, 294 tonnes, has been released by pirates on 16 March 2010. Hijacked in the Somali Basin, 180 MILES North West of the Seychelles, on 17 November 2009, she has been held in the pirate stronghold of Haradera, on the Somali coast.

An unknown ransom was exchanged on the morning of 16 March and the ship is now underway and heading out to sea.



On 16 November a North Korean-crewed, Kiribati-flag, Virgin Islands-owned (operated from Singapore) Chemical Tanker named the MV Theresa VIII was hijacked in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles North West of the Seychelles. Theresa VIII has a deadweight of 22,294 tonnes and a crew of 28 North Koreans.

Vessel's Details:
Ship Type: Tanker - Hazard C (Minor)
Year Built: 1981
Length x Breadth: 56 m X 25 m
DeadWeight: 22294 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 14.4 / 13 knots
Flag: Kiribati [KI]
Call Sign: T3RH
IMO: 8105923, MMSI: 529201000


Kiribati-flag
The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and gained complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US also relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati.

The country's capital of Tarawa has historic sites and artefacts where one of the bloodiest battles of World War II took place.

--
The captain of the Theresa VIII died from gunshot wounds he got during the hijack, the pirates say.

Mr Kuok Khoon Hong, aged 59, is the Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Wilmar International Limited, Integrated agribusiness. "We own a fleet of liquid bulk vessels to meet part of our transportation needs. The ownership of vessels provides us the flexibility in our merchandising operations."
Wilmar International Group
Wilmar International Ltd.
Previous Directorships
Director: Theresa Shipping Co Pte Ltd

Wilmar Ship Holdings Pte. Ltd., (“WSH”) a wholly-owned ship owner and operator of the
Company, has acquired a 60% interest in Raffles Shipping Corporation Pte. Ltd. (“RSC”). RSC will manage and operate WSH’s fleet of liquid oil tankers.
Investments in associates
The following is the list of associates of the Group
Cosmos Shipping Ltd (4) British Virgin Islands Ship-owning and chartering – 50

Maran Centaurus: money to another bank account

The banking industry finally shows up in piracy as an overnight gun battle in the town of Haradhere over the sharing of a ransom paid for the release of a Greek-flagged supertanker Maran Centaurus brings mention of multiple bank accounts.

The ransom, believed to be a record $7 million, was dropped onto the tanker where it lay at anchor off the port of Hobyo on Jan. 17, Muse said. “There is mistrust within the group because there are rumors that some extra money has been transferred into another bank account that some of us weren’t aware of,” he said. The oil it is carrying is estimated to be worth $150 million.

Pirate activity has grown into a small but profitable industry in one of the world's poorest countries.

"Apart from those who take part in the operations, who currently number more than 1,000, there are those who provide services ranging from negotiations with ship owners, procurement of weapons, training of pirates, information gathering, logistics and so on," said, a British expert with 20 years' experience of Somali financial and development issues.

He was sceptical of suggestions that some funds may be laundered via the Gulf, saying the pirates kept their money inside Somalia because they knew it would be intercepted if they moved it outside the country.

"Some invest in land and property in their home towns where they know that they would never be prosecuted," Ahmed said.

"All the towns in the area are booming ... Ransom money 'trickles down' to many people in the towns. The local economy now runs on dollars, with shillings used only for small change.This is one of the reasons why local people support it." The money is there, bulk cash. The local government doesn't mind, or doesn't have the authority to object, to control ... All dirty deals are paid in cash," he said, referring to the pirates' purchases of arms, communications gear, speedboats and other equipment.

"There is no need for them to launder the money, because the law enforcement is not there at all, the banking system is not there, so why even think of laundering money?"

Film star Nicolas Cage has visited Somali pirates

Film star Nicolas Cage has visited a Kenyan prison holding suspected Somali pirates awaiting trial to highlight the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean.

Inmates danced for the movie star and shook his hand as he toured the Shimo La Tewa prison in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa. The biggest talent agencies have “foundations” to direct their companies’ considerable philanthropic efforts. It is their job to match their clients — actors, directors, musicians and athletes — with suitable causes in almost the same way that the old studios arranged marriages for stars. Whenever you see a film star in jeans and a baseball cap, patting the head of a skinny, ragged child in some dry, desperate village in Africa or Asia, the chances are that the actor’s journey began in one of the shiny offices in Los Angeles.

$3.5 million ransom for Malta-flagged Ariana

"We are just waiting for the money," said pirate Hassan of Haradheere. MV Ariana, IMO number :8014150, was seized on May 2 north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil with 24 Ukrainian crew aboard. All Oceans shipping in Greece is the beneficial owner.

Release of Togo-flag MV Sea Horse

Pirates have released the Togo-flag MV Sea Horse, which then docked at the Kenya's port of Mombasa. The ship would undergo some repairs as the engine was malfunctioning and receive supplies.
The Togo-flagged ship seized by pirates "off the Horn of Africa" "east of Mogadishu" April 14 with 19 crew as it headed to India to pick up more than 7,000 tons of U.N. food. The Sea Horse tried to get help, radioing its predicament to the HMCS Winnipeg. It was too late. By the time the helicopter reached the ship it was under pirate control.

The food aid freighter left after US $100,000 was paid by "Somali businessmen" "Somali traders were involved in the release of this ship. They mediated and paid some money. I think it was not more than $100,000," "after two Dubai-based Somali businessmen intervened and paid off the pirates"( or maybe "the owner of the ship paid about 200,000 dollars"). The Lebanese operator, Sealink SARL, said the ship's owner was a Syrian national and could not confirm the amount of the ransom. A piracy expert , said "since the Sea Horse had no cargo yet, it was probably less valuable anyway."
"There are bullet marks on the walls and some window panes have been shattered. The pirates stole 20,000 U.S. dollars in cash from the crew and took all their clothes,"

Somali clan elder Abdisalan Khalif Ahmed from the Somali pirate haven of Harardhere, said gunmen released the ship after they found out it was supposed to pick up food for their own countrymen.

In sum, the small vessel recently sailing under an assortment of flags, was offered to and accepted by the World Food Programme, sailed from the Med to Gaan/Harardhere "empty" en route to India 2,193 miles away, to return with 7,000 tons of grain.
clan·des·tine

Bahamas Bow Asir ransom paid and released

The Bahamas-flag Norwegian-owned chemical tanker "Bow Asir" held near Hobyo nearby Haradheere port is released and the crew is unharmed, the shipyard confirms. After much bargaining, a $2.4 million ransom ,has been paid . the ship had a 27-member crew including a Norwegian captain, 19 Filipinos, five Poles, one Russian and one Lithuanian. The shipyard says the ship still is in unsafe waters.
BOW ASIR IMO: 7926306
Call Sign : C6TW9
Gross tonnage : 14627
Type of ship : Chemical Tanker
Year of build : 1982
Flag : Bahamas
FORMER NAMES
since 2009 Feb 23
1990 - 2009 NCC ASIR
1990 - 1990 Grenanger
1982 - 1990 Bow Explorer
Safety/MEP Only 19-Dec-05 NCC ASIR 7926306 Detention BF DNV

Sirius Star - here it is

Sirius Star: enter the CIA?

The pirates who captured the Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star have broken off negotiations with the ship's owners, apparently insisting they want to talk with a wealthy Virginia woman with close ties to the US military and intelligence communities.

Ballarin has been in regular touch with the pirates by satellite phone -- the last contact was Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time -- and had just returned from Somalia Nov. 18.
One might wonder just why Ballarin is doing this and what she has to gain. Is she CIA or a cutaway since she does have former intelligence and military officials on the board of one of her companies, Black Star, and is known to have excellent contacts among the intelligence community?

Sirius Star closer to Eyl

The Somali pirates holding the Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star and its crew have moved the ship further north.

The move puts them only 20 miles (32km) from the MV Faina, a hijacked Ukrainian cargo ship carrying tanks.

While this puts them closer to US Navy ships shadowing the Faina, the area also has a greater concentration of other pirates.

Somali clan elder Abdisalan Khalif Ahmed said the ship moved Sunday to about 28 miles (45 kilometers) from its earlier location, putting it about 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast of the coastal village of Harardhere.

Where in shallow waters is Sirius Star?

NYANGUMI II
The Sirius Star's captain, Marek Nishky, was allowed to speak to the BBC by telephone although under the scrutiny of one or more of his captors. He said that the ship was "basically" in the same location, but do not ask me such questions. There are also conflicting claims concerning the ship’s location, moved because militant Islamists have objected to the pirates taking a vessel owned by a Muslim nation.

Bloomberg claims that the vessel had already been moved from its former position near Haradhere, north of Mogadishu, while Agence France Presse said it is preparing to move. It is unclear where else the vessel might be positioned in Somalia’s shallow coastal waters.

The Islamic Courts Union claims control of Somalia against Ethiopian irregulars financed by the U.S.

Somalia Islamic Courts Union backs Sirius Star

Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi Arabian supertanker moved the vessel from its location at the port city of Harardhere, after Islamist militias threatened to attack them and rescue the ship, a tribal elder said.

The Islamic Courts Union warned the pirates who hijacked a Saudi Arabian supertanker to leave Harardhere, Ali Elmi, a local elder in the town, said. The tanker was taken out to sea and its destination isn’t clear. Al-Shabaab, a separate Islamist group, also said it would attack the pirates if they don’t free the ship.

Owners of Sirius Star are the final arbiters of what happens

The pirates are expected to table an opening demand for the return of Vela-operated very large crude carrier Sirius Star in the order of $20-50m, before finally settling for $5m-$10m. Somalian pirate interests could have already demanded a ransom of $25m, giving a 10-day deadline for payment.
According to the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, "I know the owners of the tanker are negotiating on the issue. We do not like to negotiate with terrorists or hijackers. But the owners of the tanker, they are the final arbiters of what happens there."
A previously captured fishing boat being used by pirates as a base to launch their speedboats far out to sea was destroyed by INS frigate Tabar. Two speedboats escaped.

Provisions for Sirius Star

Haradhere beach
Somali businessmen are sending food, cigarettes and drinks to a hijacked Saudi supertanker. Fisherman Hassan Jimale says he saw three boats make return trips to the supertanker overnight.

Sirius Star anchored off Haradhere

The pirates had approached the tanker from the stern in speedboats and thrown grapnel hooks tied to rope ladders, most likely boarding unopposed as the ship cruised on auto-pilot with nobody keeping watch on the bridge.
Somalis on shore were stunned by the gigantic vessel — as long as an aircraft carrier at 1,080 feet — as it passed just off the coast. Two small boats floated out to the ship and 18 men — presumably other pirates — climbed aboard with ropes woven into a ladder.
Commander Jane Campbell, of the US Navy's 5th Fleet, told the BBC it had warned shipping companies that the US naval presence could "not be everywhere", adding: "For that reason we have strongly encouraged proactive self-protection measures for the companies."
"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah B. Ka'aki, President & CEO of Vela International Marine Ltd. said. "We are in communication with their families and are working toward their safe and speedy return."