Iceberg 1: 100 miles north of Hobyo

658 N 4921 E

[October 30]We are not close to releasing this vessel....until we get our demanded ransom: a spokesman, Aden said. Last known position 0700 north 04922 east, 100mi N Hobyo

Listed by ABS as still held by pirates November 2

Polar: now at Hobyo

The pirated Panama-flagged MV POLAR has now arrived off the coast of Somalia and is anchored in the vicinity of Hobyo. earlier

Samho Dream: back at Hobyo

Since the 4th of October the Samho Dream is again held off Hobyo at the central Somali Indian Ocean coast. back earlier more also see read

Samho Dream: vessel at large

On September 14 morning, hijacked MV Samho Dream departed from Somalia
with pirates on board ... the tanker was sighted heading east and 80 nautical
miles from Somali coast. On Sep 5, 2010, new demands of the pirates holding the "Samho Dream" were issued, but rejected by the owners. There are two warships keeping a watch close by, staging mock attacks and caused tension on board, which made the pirates to issue a statement that they would blow up the oil-tanker if the harassment would not stop and no ransom would be paid soon. Though negotiations with the owners are ongoing no conclusion has been reached. The vessel was moved from Hobyo, where she was held since her capture until the advancement of Al-Shabaab spearheaded Hizb-ul-Islam groups, to Garacad, but was returned to Hobyo. The 24-member crew with five Koreans and 19 Filipinos is said to be living in sub-human conditions. The abuses are getting worse as the pirates deprive them of sleep and food and threaten to kill them one by one if a ransom is not paid. The captain expressed frustration towards the Samho Shipping Company's silence over the pirates' latest demands. A Samho Shipping official said that the $20 million demanded by the
pirates is too high.

Rak Afrikana, UBT Ocean, Sakoba: ships moved

Three ships moved from Harardheere to another pirate stronghold, Hobyo, farther north on Somalia's eastern coast are the MV Rak Afrikana, the UBT Ocean, and the MV Sakoba.
Hizbul Islam on May 2 seized the main port used by Somali pirates. Haradhere, some 250 miles northeast of Somalia's capital Mogadishu. A week ago, another insurgent group, al-Shabbab, claimed that it had taken over control of three towns in the Galgadud region.
Hizbul Islam demands a cut of the pirates multi-million dollar business.

Hobyo: pirates may be in double envelopment

Pirates recently captured a boat loaded with weapons from Yemen that were intended for the militia, and had stopped paying bribes to the Islamists. who are said to be in Harardhere as the pirates move to Hobyo. The remote pirate stronghold of Hobyo in the Galmudug region of central Somalia fell to Islamist militants before in December 2008. Meanwhile, Dutch sailors are blockading that coast, Captain Ben Bekkering, “The arrival of the HNLMS Johan de Witt, which unlike the other navy ships has landing craft, means we can use different tactics. Instead of waiting in the ocean for pirates to try their luck, we go to near the ports of Haradheere and Hobyo where they come from to prevent them from sailing out. If they try anyway, we capture them.” The captain says the navy ship will stay in position off the Somali coast to “keep the pressure on”. The pirates who were captured have been released on the beaches.
>>>What if... the militia/Islamists were convinced/paid to advance now? By Saudis?, or from Dubai?

Filitsa: American helicopters watched ransom

100125-N-4236E-217 RED SEA (Jan. 25, 2010) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Rampagers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131 catapults off the flight deck of the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility.

The helicopters were presumed to be American, because EU NAVFOR insisted they had no vessel nearby.

The Fortress Shipping Co. Marshall Islands-flagged Filitsa was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, where it and its crew were to be checked over, then was to continue to Durban, South Africa,