MV Titan, St Vincent-flagged, taken by pirates

8117146 TITAN J8WJ2
Bulk Carrier dwt 43214 gt 24.843
built 1983 11 sumitomo
Saint Vincent & The Grenadines


vessel TITAN
Source callsign: J8WJ2
MMSI number: 376964000
IMO number: 8117146
Navigational status: Under way (engine) (0)
Vessel class: Cargo (70)
Destination: PORTSAID (ETA 20090313140000)
Last position: 2009-03-12 07:51:37 UTC (8d 5h18m ago)
Location: 36°9'6" N 27°9'24" E - locator KM36ND86TJ
Course: 136° - heading 134°
Speed: 13 MPH
Dimensions: length 190 m width 31 m draught 8.2 m

Hijacked Blue Star released

7706770 Basseterre, St.Kitts-Nevis (SKN-flag) and carrying 6,000 tons of fertilizer has been released

USN releases pirates to Bosasso

Puntland, a semi-autonomous region home to a third of the Somali population. A lively port city, Bosasso is the new Algiers. Puntland caters to its pirate population, even opening restaurants to feed the pirates’ hostages and crews. The pirates are thought to bring in close to 30 million dollars a year, and they often devote it to lavish lifestyles. Recreational drug use among the pirates is common, “They wed the most beautiful girls, they are building big houses, they have new cars and new guns.”

Pirates released for lack of evidence, well.........

The US Navy Fifth Fleet said on March 3 it has released nine Somalis suspected of piracy in the Gulf of Aden after it did not find enough evidence to prosecute them.
The nine were arrested on February 12 after an Indian-flagged vessel sent a distress call reporting that it been fired upon at night by a small skiff and that pirates were attempting to board, the Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement.

The U.S. Navy on March 3 released nine of the 16 suspected pirates it holds, saying there was a lack of evidence to prosecute the men, according to the Navy.
The nine men had been held on a Navy-contracted cargo ship since being detained in a Feb. 12 incident in which the Indian-flagged Motor Vessel Premdivya sent a distress call stating the ship had been fired upon at night by a small skiff.

The nine men have been turned over to the Puntland Coast Guard. Puntland is a semi-autonomous region of Somalia and self-proclaimed Somali state that includes the point of the Horn of Africa.

U.S. forces handed over to authorities in northern Somalia on March 2 nine pirates they captured after capsizing their boats at sea, a local official said.
The handcuffed men, paraded before reporters in the enclave of Puntland, are expected to appear in court this week, said Mohamed Said, Puntland's deputy police commander.

Malta-flag Saldanha seized by pirates near Somalia

SALDANHA
IMO NUMBER
9268992
VESSEL TYPE
BULK CARRIER
HULL TYPE
SINGLE HULL
GROSS TONNAGE
38.886 tons
SUMMER DWT
75.707 tons
BUILD
2004
BUILDER
SANOYAS HISHINO MEISHO OSAKA - JAPAN
FLAG
MALTA
MANAGER
CARDIFF MARINE ATHENS - GREECE
OWNER
TEAM UP OWNING MARSHALL ISLANDS
INSURER
STEAMSHIP MUTUAL UNDERWRITING U.K.
VESSEL DETAILS

DIMENSIONS
BREADTH EXTREME
32,26 m

BREADTH MOULDED
32,26 m

DEPTH
19,30 m

DRAUGHT
13,99 m

FREEBOARD
5.310,0 mm

LENGTH B/W PERPENDICULARS
217,00 m

LENGTH OVERALL
225,00 m
TONNAGES
NET TONNAGE
25.208 tons
COMMUNICATION
CALL SIGN
9HFM9
HISTORICAL INFO
DATE OF ORDER
2002 Jan 01

YARD NUMBER
1.215
HISTORICAL INFO

FORMER NAMES
since 2007 Nov 27 SHINYO BRILLIANCE
FORMER FLAGS
since 2007 Nov 02 HONG KONG (CHINA)

since 2004 Feb 29 PANAMA

DryShips panamax bulk-carrier

DryShips Inc. is a Marshall Islands registered company formed in September 2004.

DryShips was once the largest U.S.-listed shipping company with a market capitalization of about $5 billion. At the height of the bull run in the shipping sector, its shares touched a lifetime high of $131.07.

In contrast, the shares closed at $6.50 Monday on Nasdaq, with market capitalization of about $389 million.

Of the 13 analysts covering the stock, eight have a "sell" rating, and two analysts each have "buy" and "hold" ratings, according to Reuters data.

Panama-flag Powerful: Pirates tried in Kenya Court

Gkiolmas Christos, master of Panama-registered ship, the MV Powerful, testified against Said Mohamed Ahmed, Abdinasir Mohamed Said, Amin Osman Said, Ahmed Mohamed Omar, Feysal Ahmed Farah, Farah Said Yusuf, Hussein Mohamud Ismail and Abdi Hamud Kassim, alleged to have attempted to hijack the MV Powerful in November last year jointly with others not before senior principal magistrate Lillian Mutende in the Mombasa, Kenya court. February 18 2009
Powerful
IMO Number: 9074688
Speed - 14.0 Knots
Call Sign: 3EAT7
Ship manager MARYVILLE MARITIME INC
Ex Names - HAI JI

The technical management of our fleet is undertaken by Maryville Maritime Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Maryville Manila Inc. was established in December 1995, and is the exclusive manning- crewing agent for the Company. It consists of 15 employees in total, all managed by a very experienced Greek Port Captain.

Flag: Panama
Builder:Country: Japan
Company: Hitachi
Year: 1994
Type: Bulk carrier
Sequence: M2KF
Hull Form: H
Tonnage:
Gross Tonnage: 38,077 tons
Deadweight: 71,756 tonnes
Dimensions:
Panamax
223.70×32.20 (mb)×13.46m (733.92×105.64×44.16ft)

Indian-flagged MT Prem Divya rescued by USN

Early February 12 morning, the Indian-flagged merchant ship MT Prem Divya sent a distress call reporting it had been fired on by a small craft, whose crew attempted to board. A helicopter from the USS Vella Gulf fired two warning shots, the suspects brought their boat to a stop, USN found weapons and took the nine-man crew into custody. Black Site

PREM DIVYA
IMO NUMBER
9138599
VESSEL TYPE
CRUDE OIL TANKER
HULL TYPE
DOUBLE HULL
GROSS TONNAGE
57.950 tons
SUMMER DWT
89.999 tons
BUILD
1998
BUILDER
DALIAN NEW SHIPYARD DALIAN - CHINA
FLAG
INDIA
MANAGER/OWNER
MERCATOR LINES MUMBAI - INDIA
INSURER
NORTH OF ENGLAND P&I U.K.


HISTORICAL INFO

FORMER NAMES
since 2007 Jan 11 SEAQUEEN
FORMER FLAGS
since 2006 May 04 GREECE

since 1998 Jun 13 LIBERIA