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.

Rubber dinghies found in Mumbai harbor

There were 10 men aboard the boat who appeared to be in their early 20s, and eight of them disembarked carrying backpacks. all the 10 gunmen were Pakistani because they spoke Punjabi or Punjabi-accented Urdu. Measuring about 3 meters long, the boat had a new Yamaha 40-horsepower outboard engine. The vessel bore Arabic characters used in writing Urdu. Fuel cans and life jackets were found in the boat.

Piracy off Somalia to get worse

C-SPAN watch

Panelists talked about recent attacks on international commerce in the Gulf of Aden and increased threats to trade by piracy. Among the topics they addressed were a growing threat posed by Somali pirates, the impact on political stability and maritime security of the seizure of ships and cargo, and potential responses by the international community to the problem.

Private Guards onboard?

For $30,000, Nick Davis will arrange a team of three private guards to travel on a boat and scare away potential pirates. He has teams now on seven ships in the Gulf of Aden.