US Navy said to be poised to assist latest pirate victim

May 21, 2008
Author: P&S

Indian reports suggest that the United States Navy is poised to intervene in the highjacking of the Jordanian cargo ship Victoria, which was seized by armed Somali pirates at the weekend. Ten of the crew of 21 on board the ship are Indian nationals, the others being Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Kenyans and Tanzanians.

The ship was taken on Saturday while en route to Somalia with a cargo of sugar that had been donated by Denmark. The pirates subsequently forced the ship to sail towards the port of Hobiyo near Elmaan, some 500km northeast of Mogadishu. Coalition warships are reported to have been following the ship and monitoring its whereabouts but haven’t intervened.

An unchecked report from Somalia states the ship has been taken to the port of Haradhere, not far from Hobiyo but this cannot be confirmed. The same source claimed that Islamists took possession of Haradhere at the weekend, which has some significance. When the Islamists were in control of Somalia piracy was quickly outlawed.

The vessel’s managers have denied they have received demands for ransom from the pirates although this is the normal reaction once a ship has been taken captive in this part of the world. The matter of paying a ransom is sensitive and no ship owner and certainly no country likes to admit having given in to demands from pirates.

Nevertheless there is irrefutable proof that ransoms have been paid over prior to the release of a number of ships – one of the latest being the French luxury cruise yacht Le Ponant owned by shipping giant CMA CGM. After a ransom was paid and the ship and crew released, French special forces attacked the pirates lair in Puntland, killing several pirates and capturing others while also recovering much if not all of the money, which had been paid in cash.

French marines takes back yacht

Apr 14, 2008
Author: P&S

French marines have captured most of the pirates who seized the cruise yacht Le Ponant off the northern Somali coast a week ago.

The crew of the yacht, which is owned and operated by French shipping company CMA CGM, was released by the pirates after, it is believed, a ransom has been paid over.

The crew was taken by the French to Djibouti for repatriation back to France. The pirates meanwhile remained on board the vessel along with the ship’s master, Patrick Marchesseau who remained as a hostage until the ransom was paid. The French military had meanwhile set up a monitoring position.

Once the ransom was paid and with the pirates showing signs of leaving the scene (a small village on the coast of Puntland in northern Somalia), the French marines attacked, using helicopters to prevent the pirates from making a getaway by motor vehicle. French sources claimed no-one was injured but independent reports suggest that several of the pirates and other Somalis villagers who had gathered nearby were either killed or injured.

In France the rescued crew, consisting of 22 French nationals, six Filipinos, a Cameroonian and a Ukrainian were taken to the Elysée Palace for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and CMA CGM chairman Jacques Saade. The captured pirates meanwhile are being held on the board French Navy helicopter carrier FNS Jeanne d’Arc off the Somali coast.

It is expected the Le Ponant will motor to Djibouti with a French Navy crew on board but under the command of the yacht’s master.

The attack on the pirates which followed the release of the crew is the first time that swift retribution has been carried out on Somali pirates and is one of the more swift conclusions reached. During the period when the Islamic Courts held power in Somalia they outlawed piracy and on one occasion when pirates seized a foreign ship Islamic authorities forced their way on board the vessel when it was brought into port and took the surviving pirates away while releasing the ship.

The French foreign minister this weekend called for more UN involvement in combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. He said the international community should “mobilise for a determined fight against acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.”


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The French helicopter carrier Jeanne d’Arc on which the captured pirates are being held, seen in this picture in Cape Town last month. Picture by Ian Shiffman