Tuesday, 28 December 2010

Somali pirates free German chemical tanker
Topic: somali pirates, bbc news

28 December 2010 Last updated at 09:52 ET

Pirates in the port of Hobyo, file image

Pirates are said to get rich from the ransoms they are paid

PIRACY CRISIS

by Natalie Duval, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Somali pirates have freed a German-owned chemical tanker, reportedly after a $5.5m (£3.6m) ransom was paid.

The Marida Marguerite, with a crew of 19 Indians, two Bangladeshis and one Ukrainian, was seized in May by pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

Kenya-based officials said a ransom was paid, but there was no independent confirmation.

Pirates now hold 25 vessels and 587 hostages after they seized another German-owned ship on Monday.

The EU's Indian Ocean anti-piracy force (Navfor) said in a statementthat the cargo ship Ems River was taken in the early hours, about 200 miles (325km) north-east of the port of Salalah in Oman.

The ship was on its way to Greece from Dubai at the time of the attack, carrying a cargo of petroleum coke.

The EU said it had an eight-strong crew of one Romanian and seven Filipinos.

One Tuesday afternoon, the Marida Marguerite was sailing to safe waters, according to Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

He said $5.5m was paid to release the ship. The vessel's owners have not yet commented.

Officials and companies rarely comment on the payment of ransoms, though analysts say such deals are widespread.

Posted by biginla at 7:51 PM GMT

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Sunday, 14 November 2010

Somali pirates free UK couple Paul and Rachel Chandler
Topic: somali pirates, bbc news

14 November 2010 Last updated at 12:17 ET

by Natalie Duval, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

Click to play

Will Ross on what lies ahead for the Chandlers, seen here hours after their release

A retired British couple have been released by Somali pirates after being held captive for more than a year.

Paul, 60, and Rachel Chandler, 56, from Kent, were seized from their yacht off the Seychelles in October 2009.

Mrs Chandler said: "I'm enjoying being free". The couple said they were fine, but will undergo medical checks.

On release they were taken to Adado, then Mogadishu, and have now arrived in Kenya. The BBC held off reporting the release due to an injunction.

It observed the terms of the order obtained by the Chandlers' family which was intended to stop news organisations covering their release until they were safely out of Somalia.

Mr Chandler told the BBC: "We're fine, we're rather skinny and bony but we're fine."

Rachel Chandler and her husband said they were fine after their ordeal

The couple were told they were to be released two days ago, he said.

"We were told on Friday in a way which gave us some confidence to believe it. Otherwise we'd been told we'd be released in 10 days almost every 10 days for the past nine months. So we'd taken all these suggestions with a pinch of salt."

Asked if he had felt their lives had been in danger during captivity, he said: "That's something we'll talk about later, but we were not really directly endangered by the gang, after the initial seizure."

The husband and wife both stressed that the conditions of their captivity were not important, with Mr Chandler saying: "You can see from our state that we suffered no serious physical harm."

However, he added: "We were beaten once."

Prime Minister David Cameron described the release as "tremendous news".

"We will ensure that they are reunited with their family as quickly as possible.

"I unreservedly condemn the actions of those that held the Chandlers for so long. Kidnapping is never justified."

Family 'overjoyed'

At a brief press conference at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Mrs Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, said: "We are among decent everyday people, with Somali people... and not with the criminals.

"To home now, with our family and friends," she added.

“Start Quote

The trauma will have been terrible for them, and they'll need a lot of help and support.”

End Quote Baroness Kinnock

The couple are now in the British High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.

A statement issued by the Chandler family, issued once the couple had arrived in Nairobi, said that although the couple looked to be in "relatively good health... we cannot yet be certain how the difficulties that they have had to endure in recent months will have affected them physically and emotionally".

There was no official word on whether a ransom was paid, but the BBC's Frank Gardner said it was "the best part of $1 million".

A payment of about $430,000 (£267,000) was made in June, but did not result in the release of the Chandlers, he added.

Media speculation was thought to have influenced the pirates, and so the family opted for a super-injunction banning coverage of the kidnap.

Our correspondent said it was thought unlikely any of those responsible will be brought to justice in Somalia, a country without an effective government since 1991.

The Chandler family statement said: "The family believes it would be irresponsible to discuss any aspect of the release process as this could encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments, something that we are sure none of us wants."

Paul Chandler said he hoped to return to sea

Earlier in the Somali capital Mogadishu, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed met the couple and said the government was pleased they had been freed.

He said the government had "exerted every humanly possible effort to bring you back to your loved ones".

Trauma and recovery

Baroness Kinnock, who was involved in the case during her time as Foreign Office minister for Africa, said: "The trauma will have been terrible for them, and they'll need a lot of help and support."

She said there had been "a lot of activity" in the Foreign Office, but it was difficult to make contact with the pirates.

Any ransom payment by the UK government would "cause an escalation of this kind of activity", she said.

In June, the couple asked Prime Minister David Cameron whether he was willing to negotiate with the kidnappers.

But the Foreign Office said at the time that the UK government's policy of "not making or facilitating substantive concessions to hostage-takers, including the payment of ransoms, is long-standing and clear".

Earlier this year their captors threatened to kill the couple if their demands for $7m (£4.4m) were not met.

Posted by biginla at 6:18 PM GMT

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Saturday, 6 November 2010

Somali pirates receive record ransom for ships' release
Topic: somali pirates, bbc news

6 November 2010 Last updated at 12:02 ET

by Natalie Duval, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

The Samho Dream's 24 crew members are said to be in good condition

PIRACY CRISIS

Somali pirates are reported to have received a total of $12.3m (£7.6m) in ransom money to release two ships.

They are believed to have been paid a record $9.5m (£5.8m) for Samho Dream, a South Korean oil tanker, and nearly $2.8m (£1.7m) for the Golden Blessing, a Singaporean flagged ship.

"We are now counting our cash," a pirate who gave his name as Hussein told Reuters news agency. "Soon we shall get down from the ship."

All crew are believed to be unharmed.

The Samho Dream supertanker was hijacked in the Indian Ocean in April and its crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos were taken hostage. It was carrying crude oil worth $170m (£105m) from Iraq to the US.

Although released it is still within Somali waters and the ship's 24 crew members are said to be in good condition.

Andrew Mwangura, co-ordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme in Mombasa, told Reuters that the ransom would be the highest paid out to pirates since they started hijacking ships in recent years.

From Jan-Sept 2010:

Pirates boarded 128 ships
Guns used in 137 incidents and knives in 66
One crew member killed, 27 injured, 773 taken hostage

Source: IMB

"They initially demanded $20m. What I can confirm is that negotiators tell me they agreed to make the drop with an amount in excess of $9m.

"This would be the highest sum paid out to pirates so far," he said.

The BBC's Kevin Mwachiro in Nairobi says the size of the payment is likely to change the rules of engagement when it comes to securing the release of ships held by Somali pirates. They are currently holding at least 25 vessels.

Earlier reports said the pirates had received $9m for Samho Dream and $7m for the Golden Blessing, but this was later revised.

The Golden Blessing has 23 Chinese crew.

According to a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau, a maritime watchdog, ship hijackings hit a five-year high in the first nine months of 2010, with Somali pirates responsible for the majority.

SOUTH ASIA

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by Natalie Duval, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

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From other news sites

Mirror.co.uk Freed hostage couple leave Somalia 43 mins ago

CNN British couple freed, held more than a year by Somali pirates 45 mins ago

The Independent British couple are finally released by Somali pirates new 1 hr ago

Reuters UK British couple freed by pirates arrives in Kenya 2 hrs ago

The Scotsman British couple freed by Somali

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by Natalie Duval, BBC News Analyst, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla

PIRACY CRISIS

From Jan-Sept 2010:

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