Russia wants freedom to tackle Somali pirates
MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti)
Russia has asked Somalia for freedom to tackle the country’s pirate problem amid growing concern for the fate of a captured ship’s crew, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. A Russian naval vessel is en route to east African waters to join an international naval group, which has surrounded a Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina, after it was seized by Somali pirates on Sep 25. The Faina, which was carrying tanks and heavy weapons, has a crew of 17 Ukrainian nationals, two Russians, and one Lithuanian on board. “To ensure freedom of action in the fight against piracy directly in Somali territorial waters, the Russian Foreign Ministry has asked for consent from the Somali Republic’s Transitional Federal Government to grant the Russian Federation the status of a ‘cooperating state,'” the ministry said. The Faina‘s Russian captain died of a heart attack after the vessel was seized. The pirates holding the ship have demanded an $8m ransom, and have threatened to kill the hostages if a military operation is launched against them. The Neustrashimy (Fearless) missile frigate is tasked with protecting Russian vessels, and foreign ships with Russian crew members, from potential pirate attacks. Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, which has no effective government and no navy to police its coastline. Somali pirates have seized around 30 ships so far this year off the coast of the east African nation. The Yemeni president said on Thursday that countries affected by piracy will gather for a conference on maritime security in the region.
The mystery of MV Faina hijacked in Somalia unveiled by BBC
Israeli Revealed as owner of South Sudan bound weapons ship
Shuun Ishaq, PR Inside, Oct 8 2008
Registration documents gathered by BBC included the confirmation that the ship hijacked by Somalia pirates belonged to a Jewish investor residing in the self proclaimed state of Israel, and not a Ukrainian ship. More information reveal the reported Ukrainian owner company by the name of Tomax Team as nothing but a mere operator based in the Ukraine, employing crews from Ukraine and Latvia. The crisis surrounding the destination of its cargo were further resolved when transportation codes with “GOSS” (an acronym for Government of South Sudan) were found amongst the documentations to solve the deepening mystery. The Israel based owner Vadim Alperin was further investigated to have acquired this ship from a Russian state auction during the era of Boris Yeltsin. The ship was refurbished and later conveniently registered to fly the Belize flag. Other ships by the same owner where found to be operating as casinos including one based in the Gulf to entertain rich Arab clients. Vadim Alperin was once quoted to be a “Mossad brother” running a number of clandestine front companies including one Kenyan Meat export company enjoying “good trade” with middle eastern countries covertly used for gathering intelligence from countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Kenya maintains weapons were legally purchased by its army, although its own government is now mired in a web of embarrassments as weapons procurement of this size has not been declared despite being a member of United Nations weapons transparency programme UNROCA. For many years, the Khartoum based Sudan government accused Israel of supplying arms and providing training to South Sudan rebels. Kenya is now proofed to be providing the logistical support for arms shipment to South Sudan, a role similar to Chad’s support given to Darfur rebels which has caused the two countries to be in a state of war against each other. Israel once supplied illicit weapons to South Sudan from within Ethiopia’s territory, but had lost influence since the Eritrean independence. As relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia had soured, it became impossible to continue this route and sought other alternative routes to get to its Uganda weapons storage for South Sudan militias through Kenyan territories. It is extremely rare for ships to be registered to indivitual investors such as Mr Alperin.
Russian warship may free Somali pirates’ hostages by force
MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian warship Neustrashimy may use force against pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the Somali coast in September, a senior Navy official said Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, Somali Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Handule said his country’s President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had authorized Russia’s military to fight pirates off Somalia’s coast and on land. “This permission allows the warship to use the whole range of the weapons on board,” the Navy official said. “We are not excluding a takeover of the vessel by force to free the crew, which includes Russian citizens.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry earlier cited the Faina‘s owner, Tomax Team Inc., as saying there were three Russians, 17 Ukrainians and one Latvian on board the ship when it was seized. However, Nyna Karpachyova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights ombudsman, said that the real owner of the ship, which was carrying 33 T-72 tanks and other military equipment, was an Israeli citizen, Vadim Alperin. Karpachyova also said that relatives of the hostages on board the ship would ask the Ukrainian government to prevent the liberation of the Faina by force. The pirates said earlier that they would kill a hostage if an attempt was made to free the hostages by force. The ship’s captain, Russian Vladimir Kolobkov, earlier died of a heart attack. Russia’s Navy sent the Neustrashimy missile frigate to waters off the Somali coast to fight piracy and protect Russian vessels in the region on September 24. The ship’s armament includes SS-N-25 Switchblade anti-ship missiles, SA-N-9 Gauntlet SAM, a 100-mm gun, torpedoes and depth charges. The frigate also carries a Ka-27 ASW helicopter. Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, which has no effective government and no navy to police its coastline. The International Maritime Bureau said more than 30 incidents of piracy were registered in the region in 2007. More than 30 attacks have been committed so far this year off the coast of the East African nation.
Niqnaq 