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.”

earlier

SININ: IRISL handymax bulker hijacked

approximately 350 nautical miles East of Masirah (Oman) in the North Arabian Sea, having sent out a distress signal, saying she was under attack, February 12, USN aircraft photographed 2 suspected pirate skiffs on board the vessel, now headed for the Somali coast.
9274941 SININ 9HOD8 Bulker 52466 2005 Malta

Sinin (Ex: Laurinda) 52,466 DWT, Bulk Carrier, Built 2005
Owners/Managers are Irano-Hind Shpg. Co., Built at Tsuneishi Cebu, Malta Flagged, BV Classed, Length Overall of 189.99 m., Length Between Perpendiculars of 182.87 m., Draught of 12.02 m., Beam of 32.26 m., Gross Tonnage of 30,064, B. & W. Engine, Speed of 14.50 kts at 28.50 tonnes per day, Heavy Fuel Oil, Horsepower of 10,600B at 116, Bunker Capacity of 2,386 tonnes.
Owner/Manager Details
Irano-Hind Shipping Co. Ltd.
Specialised Details
Grain Capacity of 67,756 cu.m., Fore & aft hatches, Hydraulically operated, 5 Holds, 5 Hatches, 4 Crane(s) with a safe working load of 30 tonnes.
Additional information
IDENTIFICATION: Exname is Laurinda. Handymax Bulker, Call Sign 9HOD8, IMO Number 9274941. DIMENSIONS/TONNAGES: Moulded Depth of 17.00 m., Tonnage of 24,910 Panama Canal Net, 28,402 Suez Canal Net, 17,927 International Net and 51,637 Dwt (long). ENGINE DETAILS: Engine Description 2 S.A. 6-cyl., Engine Model 6S50MC, 1 fixed pitch Propellor. CARGO HANDLING: Bale Capacity of 65,601 cu.m. SAFETY AND OTHER DETAILS: Last known special survey in May 2005, Ballast Capacity of 15,407 tonnes.


Jun 12, 2002:- The Shipping Corporation of India will continue to be a partner with the Iranian government in the Irano Hind Shipping Co after disinvestment.

According to senior officials, New Delhi has conveyed to Teheran that it stands committed to the joint venture even after its privatisation which is expected to take place by next month.

SCI has a 49 per cent equity holding in the joint venture company which has a majority holding by the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

Sources said the reassurance to the Iranian government has been informally conveyed since the joint venture was conceived as a government-to-government partnership way back in 1974.

The government has decided to offload 51 per cent equity in SCI in favour of a strategic partner while at the same time passing off 3.12 per cent shares to the employees. The government currently holds 80.12 per cent stake in the public sector shipping giant.


Iran o Hind Shipping Company
Also Known As:
Keshtirani Iran Ve Hend Sahami Khass
Irano Hind Shipping Company
Iranohind Shipping Company (PJS)
IHSC
Iran and India Shipping Company
Iran Hind Shipping Company
Irano Hind
Irano Hind Shiping Co. (P.J.S)
Irano-hind Shipping Company
Irano-hind
Irano-hind Shipping Co
Iran and India Shipping Co.
Iranohind Shipping Co.
Keshtirani Iran Ve Hend Sahami Khass
Iran O Hand Shipping Co.
IranoHind Shipping Co. Ltd.

Subsidiary of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL - see separate entity record); listed in Annex III of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 of June 9, 2010, requiring states to freeze its assets within their territories and to prevent assets from being made available to it (with some exceptions); on September 10, 2008, added to the Specially Designated National (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezing its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRISL and affiliates provide logistical services to Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL - see separate entity record); owns six oceangoing vessels transporting crude oil and bulk and general cargo; subsidiaries include ISI Maritime Limited and Jaladhi Shipping Services (India) Private Limited; other subsidiaries reportedly include BIIS Maritime, Imir Ltd., and Isim Atr Ltd.; established as a joint venture between IRISL (51 percent) and Shipping Corporation of India-SCI (49 percent); reportedly established in 1975; commercial director is Ardasheer Yousefi.

Frigia: Garanti bulker ransomed, released

Frigia IMO: 7507485
Malta flagged Turkish owned (Garanti Finansal Kiralama, a subsidiarty of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS, Istambul) cargo ship MV FRIGIA, has been released, deadweight 35,000 tonnes. The pirates abandoned the ship. The ship's release came through negotiations but would not say whether a ransom was paid. earlier read more

Malta to train somalis

Malta is participating in anti-piracy operations through the deployment of an AFM officer in the EU operational command centre in Northwood, near London. Maltese-flagged ships had been among vessels that were taken over by pirates and the majority of migrants who come to Malta do so because of the state of instability and anarchy in Somalia, Maltese personnel may also help train the Somali law and order forces. The training of the Somali personnel would be an EU operation. The training would take place in Uganda. The intention is to train up to 2,000 Somali troops, which will complement other training missions and bring the total number of better-trained Somali soldiers to 6,000.

The government is now confined to a few small blocks of the capital, Arabic: مقديشو‎ Maqadīshū; , with an African Union force from Uganda and Barundi protecting critical sites.

Arctic Sea: No bullet holes found on Arctic Sea

The ship’s captain showed it off in the early hours of January 4 that is, before Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), checked the ship on that evening.
The ship’s bridge is what interested the NBI the most.
Everything is in place: the steering and navigation equipment, the device which sends the AIS positioning signal, and the satellite telephone. According to the report, the hijackers kept the crew locked in their cabins. However, it would appear that the locks on the doors could be opened from the inside without a key.
There are no bullet holes in the walls of any of the cabins. What if a hiding place had been built into the structures of the ship during the vessel’s refurbishment in Kaliningrad? It is very hard to say just standing on the deck.
The Maltese flag on the masthead flutters in the wind. The riddle of the Arctic Sea is no closer to being solved.
The" Hijackers" of the Arctic Sea, more than six of them, most ethnic Russians living in the same neighborhood in the Estonian capital Tallinn, were set up, part of a cover meant to save the Kremlin embarrassment about a secret Russian AA missile sale to Iran gone bad. The six men awaiting trial in a Moscow jail, are facing more than 20 years in prison on charges of kidnapping and piracy.In Tallinn, Alexei Bartenev, the brother of another of the alleged hijackers, says he received a letter from accused hijacker Igor Borisov. an unemployed roofer before the "Arctic Sea" incident. by regular mail, drawing attention to the defendants' plight. "They're trying to make it clear they're no kind of pirates," he says. Bartenev says the men are being held in relatively good conditions, but under "complete isolation."

On January 23, the vessel with another load of sawn timber, approaches Algeria.

Ariana: helicopter dropped $2.6 m onto its deck

"We've paid the ransom and we are waiting for the pirates to release the Ariana," Spyros Minas, head of Alloceans shipping, declining to disclose the amount of ransom paid.

Maltese-flagged Ariana and its 24 Ukrainian crew were seized on May 2 north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East from Brazil.

Earlier on Thursday, a pirate source that a helicopter had dropped $2.6 million (1.59 million pounds) onto its deck.

"We have taken a $2.6 million ransom to release the Greek ship," one of the gang, Farah, said by telephone. "We are now dividing the money and will disembark in the afternoon."

Arctic Sea: Phantom Vessel Off Majorca

The Maltese-flagged vessel suspected by some of carrying AA Russian missiles destined for Iran, intercepted by the Russian Navy, and released, in time, and freshly painted, at Malta free of any trace of such cargo, is now off Palma , the major city and port on the island of Majorca.
While Russian reports stated The Arctic Sea cargo vessel is unloading its cargo of timber in the Algerian port of Bejaia under close scrutiny by the country's national security officials, such arrival and departure information has not been found in the usual web sites.
Also from Russian reports: Russian courts decide not to hand the case to investigators in Malta or Sweden.

Ariana: Deep pockets may come to rescue

The ultimate interest in the maltese-flag Ariana IMO 8014150 has been in liquidation since 2008 due the subprime mortgage crisis, but the Logothetis family of Greece has picked up this fleet for a song -$325 million, thus making a release more likely.
The Logothetis family of Greece has re-entered the shipping sector with a big splash as Lomar Corporation announced a $325m purchase of the UK based Allocean fleet.
According to the announcement, the $325m deal involves the purchase of the shares of Allocean Ltd and the Allocean Charters group of companies, both subsidiaries of Allco Finance Group, which entered administration and receivership in November last year.
Lomar, a subsidiary of the Libra Group, announced the acquisition of 26 modern ships today belonging to Allocean, ending days of speculation over the sale of the ships.

The fleet comprises of bulk carriers, container ships, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tankers, platform supply vessels (PSV), anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTS), a chemical tanker and a products tanker.

The acquisition brings Lomar’s total fleet size to 32 owned and managed vessels including three newbuildings currently on order. The purchase of Allocean represents a major re-entry into ship ownership for Lomar following its sale of 67 ships from 2004-2006.

According to the announcement, the $325m deal involves the purchase of the shares of Allocean Ltd and the Allocean Charters group of companies, both subsidiaries of Allco Finance Group, which entered administration and receivership in November last year.
Alloceans Shipping Company Ltd (Greece)
ALLOCEAN SHIPPING (UK) LIMITED
Allco Finance Ltd.
Allco Finance Group Limited
Shipping - Allco own or manage 38 shipping vessels with another 23 on order.

Allco is now in liquidation, after previously being in administrative receivership, following difficulties in refinancing debt and a share price fall of 99% since the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Arctic Sea on the move with 'warship'

The Russian embassy in Madrid had requested and received permission for the Arctic Sea, which is being towed by a tug under the escort of a warship, to call at the port of Las Palmas, adding that the convoy was 14 miles off the coast and should arrive closer to evening, a Spanish marine spokesperson said.

Arctic Sea never left Islands

Russian defense officials said September 10 that the Arctic Sea will be handed over to Malta, and the Ladny frigate will return to its Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, Crimea, and that both ships are now in one of the ports on the Canary Islands. RIA Novosti

Authorities previously said the "Arctic Sea" would arrive in the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in mid-September.

Arctic Sea: Netanyahu to Moscow? meets Putin ?

According to the reports, Netanyahu and Putin discussed arms deals between Russia and Iran and the kidnapping of the "Arctic Sea" vessel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mysterious 'disappearance' for about 10 hours on Sep. 07 could be explained with a secret visit to Russia. The purpose of the quick trip was to discuss the sale of weapons to Iran with Russian officials. In particular, they discussed the sale of S-300 anti-missile batteries that the ayatollah's regime intends to deploy to protect its nuclear sites, in order to protect them from possible Israeli attacks to destroy the Islamic Republic's future possibility of acquiring nuclear warheads. Netanyahu, accompanied by his national security adviser and a military aide, boarded a chartered plane in a secluded area of Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport on Monday and flew to Russia, returning late at night. Spokesmen for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the two leaders did not meet Netanyahu on Monday, but did not explicitly deny that the visit took place.

Mikhail Voitenko believes Nato knew exactly what had happened to the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea.

A Nato spokesman said the alliance had been in contact with Russia throughout the crisis, but would not say anything more.

Russian Arctic Sea crew back home

NTV television says 11 crewmen arrived Saturday in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. It aired footage Sunday of reunions with relatives on a railroad platform. Russian authorities have charged eight men of different nationalities of hijacked the the Arctic Sea which was on it way from Finland to north Africa with timber. The investigation into the hijacking is made more complicated by the fact that the ship flies under the Maltese flag, the shipping line is Finnish, but is under Russian ownership, the entire crew are Russian, and the hijackers are apparently from the Baltic countries.

Arctic Sea: cargo tipped into the Atlantic

Published reports quote an anonymous high-ranking Russian Navy source who claims the pirates are believed to have been recruited as stooges by the intelligence services of a European Union country to intercept the ship and thwart the delivery of the missiles, according to a Russian newspaper, citing secret services sources in Russia. The paper suggested that the illegal cargo may have been tipped into the Atlantic, or have been secretly unloaded by the Russian navy which found the ship close to the Cape Verde islands off the west coat of Africa.

Some maritime security experts suspect the men had not been on the ship at all, but were part of an elaborate cover-up. The Russians seem to be treating the Arctic Sea as a pirate ship, rather than a ship captured by pirates. The Basmanny District Court has issued a writ seizing the ship, and the Russian navy is towing the vessel to Novorossiysk, apparently without stopping to unload its timber in Algeria. And rather than being released, the crew has apparently been detained in Moscow for what Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, called “urgent interrogation.”

The original destination of the Arctic Sea was Algeria. The ship is being towed by the Russian Navy.
“I am surprised that the ship wasn’t refuelled in Cape Verde. Fuel is available in all harbours. Perhaps the navy wants to keep the ship in its own hands.”

The Finnish owners of the vessel’s cargo said they were simply shipping redwood for windows and doors in Algeria.

“We sold the timber to three customers in Algeria.” He declined to give the customers’ names.

The police have not questioned the company about the ship and its freight. Rets Timber, a joint venture between Europe’s largest papermaker, Stora Enso Oyj, and UPM-Kymmene Oyj, Kari Naumanen, chief executive officer at Helsinki-based Rets. Most of the lumber came from other companies. here

The Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets, citing Russian security sources, said the Arctic Sea was smuggling arms and that the hijackers were stooges hired by the intelligence service of an EU member state to intercept it. Suspected hijacker, Russian Dmitry Bartenev’s brother said he believed that the hijacking suspects had been caught up in “political games.”

“I think they were framed, and it is not just my opinion, everybody who knows them also thinks so,” Alexei Bartenev. “They were seeking a job and got involved in a political conflict, were made hostages of a political game.” He did not elaborate.
Sweden, Malta and Finland have been called upon by Russia to help answer questions in the investigation into the hijacking and disappearance this summer of the "Arctic Sea" freighter. "But what else it is actually transporting. It has yet to be clarified," Nikolai Makarov, chief of Russia's general staff, told reporters during an official visit to Mongolia.

"We want to make sure that there is nothing but timber on board this ship. The motive for the seizure is simply not very clear," said Makarov.

Authorities in Finland, which the Arctic Sea departed from on July 23, have said it was not carrying any radioactive cargo.

Arctic Sea: Love that Chendin 2/dul/dhool

The Foreign Ministry said that, when the ship was intercepted, its captain claimed it was the North Korean vessel Chendin-2, and was headed from Havana to Sierra Leone with a cargo of palm wood.

It said North Korea had asserted that was impossible, saying the Chendin-2 was docked at an Angolan port at the time. The Russian navy's search of the ship ''confirmed the suggestion that it was really the Arctic Sea."

1. How did the Arctic Sea's captain know about the Chendin-2. Can you find it?
2. The Russians needed to ask the North Koreans? What about binoculars. The Maltese-flagged ship says 'Arctic Sea' on the bow and stern, Or does it?
3. Why the Foreign Ministry and not the Investigative Committee in charge of the hijackers?

Crew in custody for protection as witnesses

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has not received any information on why the crew was also being held, and if they were suspected of wrongdoing.
Russian prosecutors said 24 August that the crew had been placed in custody, because they needed protection as witnesses. The Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS) of Russia has denied a mass media report that crew members of the Arctic Sea dry cargo ship, on being freed from the pirates’ detention, are held in the Lefortovo investigation ward in Moscow, the FPS spokesman said investigation FPS ward-2, just as any other investigation ward in Russia, holds persons only on court ruling.

The Federal Penitentiary Service did not specify the whereabouts of 11 crewmembers of the Arctic Sea taken to Moscow.

Mikhail Voitenko, editor of Russia's Sovfracht has said: "The only sensible answer is that the vessel was loaded secretly with something we don't know anything about."

Arctic Sea: If the Finns packed guided missiles

Dmitry Rogozin: That was ugly speculation. When a country like ours encounters a problem like this, one often gets the most outlandish speculation. One Estonian admiral astonished us with his cynicism and incompetence.

SPIEGEL: ... who do you mean?

Rogozin: I don't want to say the name, but I mean the former head of the Estonian armed forces, the EU rapporteur on piracy.

SPIEGEL: You are referring to Admiral Tarmo Kouts.

Rogozin: He suggested Russia was transporting rockets or guided missiles to Iran on the ship. The admiral of this seafaring power appears to have problems with geography. It's quicker to reach Iran via the Caspian Sea. The speculation that arose about this was simply nonsense, irresponsible.

SPIEGEL: There was also a rumor that the Arctic Sea had loaded an ominous freight in Kaliningrad before it set sail.

Rogozin: It's nothing more than Russophobia. Kaliningrad is rubbish too. If the Finns packed guided missiles in along with the timber, that would be up to them.

Arctic Sea: truth will never come out

Crew members have told Russian news reporters that they have been told not to disclose "state secrets", while well-informed Russian marine journalists have said they are now wary of commenting further on the case. And the explanations proffered by the alleged pirates have raised more questions than they answer. When quizzed on Russian state TV last week, Mr Lunev said he was working with an ecological group, who approached the Arctic Sea for help when their own inflatable ran out of petrol. But when asked what the group's name was, he answered: "I don't know. It was some private organisation."

Even the suspects' extensive tattoos - normally a reliable guide to identifying different sub-tribes of the Russian Mafia - have caused bafflement. "It is clear they are not our criminals, said Alexander Sidorov, the author of Russian Criminal Tattoos book, after examining TV footage.

"Security Police [Estonia] said that it’s possible to say on that photo and video material published in the international media, that suspects are similar with people, about whose involvement Security Police has earlier information."

Äripäev - Baltic Business News

According to the Estonian Security Police and the chief prosecutor's office the six residents of Estonia held by Russia in connection with the case include one Estonian citizen, two Russian citizens and three persons of undefined citizenship.

Foreign Minister Paet said: "It's regrettable that it took the Russian authorities so long to inform Estonia, even though the Russian minister of defense supplied information to the media already at the beginning of this week. In accordance with good practice one would inform the countries concerned about the detention of offenders before informing the public."