BULGARIAN TANKER FREED BY SOMALI PIRATES

MT PANEGA [Панега] was seized late afternoon of May 11, 2010 in the Gulf of Aden in the proximity of the internationally protected shipping corridor and about 100 nautical miles east of Aden (Yemen).
The small, Bulgarian-flagged chemical-products tanker of 5,848 tonnes MT PANEGA was en route from the Red Sea to Pakistan and then India. The vessel was already earmarked for the scrapyard and at first it was assumed that the P&I insurer – the West of England Shipowners – were targeted by a fraudulent arrangement.
The crew consists of 15 Bulgarians. Major General Buster Howes, head of Europe’s Operation Atalanta, stated shortly after the sea-jacking that EU NAVFOR had no information about the crew of  MT PANEGA. Local informers reported during the ordeal that the crew was all right, though food and clean water were often low. Vessel and crew were mostly held near Garacad.at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Negotiations finally were successful and the vessel with its crew unharmed was released against a ransom.
Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa Coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) confirmed the release early Thursday and informed that the crew was all right, given the circumstances, which later was confirmed by a Naval Force spokesman, quoting the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A representative of shipowner Navigation Maritime Bulgare (NAVIBULGAR) confirmed that all 15 crew were in good health and none needed any special medical care.
“Representatives of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the fifteen sailors were in a good health and none of them need urgent medical care,” a statement from the Ministry said. “The ship has been released this morning. We know that the 15 sailors are in good health,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Vesela Cherneva  told Reuters, but she declined to comment on whether a ransom was paid.
The Bulgarian Ministry said it would send a consular official to meet the freed crew members when they arrive at a port and help them get the necessary documents for their return to Bulgaria. It further said Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has spoken with the relatives of the crew members and that the Foreign Ministry was also working with Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar to ensure that the sailors returned to Bulgaria as soon as possible.
The vessel is currently being towed eastwards.

©2010-ecoterra/ecop-marine

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With the latest captures and releases now still at least 23 seized foreign vessels (25 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 414 crew members (incl. the British sailing couple) plus at least 9 crew of the lorries held for an exchange with pirates imprisoned by Somaliland or counter-jacked other lorry-crews, are accounted for. Despite a directive by the Philipine government that no Pinoy seafarers should ply these dangerous routes there are now 81 Filipinos currently held captive by pirates: 18 on board the MT Motivator, three on board the FV Tai Yuan 227, 19 on board the MV Eleni P, one on board the MV Iceberg 1, 19 on board the MT Samho Dream, and 21 on board the MV Voc Daisy . The cases are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed too. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases for Somalia and the mistaken sinking of one sea-jacked fishing vessel and killing of her crew by the Indian naval force. For 2009 the account closed with 228 incidences (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 68 vessels seized for different reasons on the Somali/Yemeni captor side as well as at least TWELVE wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces.
For 2010 the recorded account around the Horn of Africa stands at 144 incidences with 125 attacks by Somali sea-shifta resulting in 48 sea-jackings on the one side and the sinking of one merchant vessel (MV AL ABI ) by machine-gun fire from the Seychelles’s coastguard boat TOPAZ (11 Somalis now jailed for 10 years in the Seychelles) and the wrongful attack by the Indian navy on an innocent Yemeni fishing vessel on the other. Sea-jacked MV AL-ASSA – without its original Yemeni crew – was used as pirate vessel and likewise sunk with Somali captors released on land.
The naval alliances had since August 2008 and until May 2010 apprehended 1090 suspected pirates, detained and kept or transferred for pr osecution 480,  killed at least 64 and wounded over 24 Somalis. (Actual independent update see: bruxelles2.over-blog.com/pages/_Bilan_antipiraterie_Atalanta_CTF_Otan_Russie_Exclusif-1169128.html). It must, however, be noted that most navies have become since the beginning of 2010 less than transparent and do neither report properly to the Somali government nor through their media outlets on the real number of casualties and injuries.
Not documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (although not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail – like the S/Y Serenity, MV Indian Ocean Explorer.Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: ORANGE / IO: YELLOW  (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon. Starting from mid February until early April as well as around October every year an increase in piracy cases can be expected. With the onset of the monsoon winds and rough seas piracy cases decline.
If you have any additional information concerning the cases, please send to office[at]ecoterra-international.org – if required we guarantee 100% confidentiality.
For further details and regional information see the Somali Marine and Coastal Monitor and the updated map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA. See the archive at www.australia.to and news on www.international.to

© This compilation may be reprinted and republished as long as the content remains unaltered, and ECOTERRA Intl. is cited as source .