GREEK CHEMICAL TANKER SEA-JACKED IN PROTECTED GULF OF ADEN CORRIDOR

What was circulated as information among our local observers since morning was now confirmed by EU NAVFOR: Early on the morning of 8 September, the Malta-flagged Merchant Vessel (MV) OLIB G (IMO 8026608) was pirated in the east part of the Gulf of Aden.

The MV OLIB G was sailing West in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden allegedly only with a cargo of ballast. It is not known yet if the vessel was involved in dumping or why it was just sailing with ballast.

The Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) is an area in which EU NAVFOR (Task Force 465), NATO (Task Force 508) and Combined Maritime Force (Task Force 151) coordinate the patrol of maritime transits.

The MV OLIB G, deadweight 6,375 tons, has a crew of 18, among which are 15 of Georgian and 3 of Turkish nationality. Crew and vessel are not covered by ITF Agreement and the condition of the crew is not yet known.

The vessel has as registered owners FRIO MARITIME SA and as manager FRIO VENTURES SA, both of Athens in Greece.
The attack group is said to consist of people from the Majerteen (Puntland) and Warangeli (Sanaag/SSC) clans, who had set out from Elayo.

The vessel is at present commandeered towards the Somali coast and will most likely be directed to the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia.

PIRATE STAND-OFF INVOLVES GERMAN OWNED CONTAINER-VESSEL

In a second attack in the Gulf of Aden at 0540 UTC (08h40 local time) on 08. September 2010 Antigua&Barbuda-flagged, 735-teu boxship MV MAGELLAN STAR was targeted and boarded by pirates in position 13 23 N 049 58 E.

The container vessel had delivered goods to Indonesia and was on her return voyage. The crew consists of 11 people – 1 Bulgarian national, 6 Philippines, 1 Polish national, 2 Russians and 1 Ukrainian.

The sailors locked themselves in a safe room and requested for assistance. Apparently there is at present a stand-off between the pirates and navies, which could reach the scene. Further reports are awaited.

[Update 09. Sept. 2010: MV MAGELLAN could be freed by U.S. Marines without a single shot being fired. see: beforeitsnews.com/story/168/632/Pirate_Stand-Off_on_German_Container_Vessel_Solved_by_U.S._Marines_-_no_shots_fired.html ]

THIRD VESSEL ESCAPES

A third attack has been reported on 08. September involving Jamaica-flagged 28,200 dwt MV MILTIADES with 23 Philippine-Romanian crew on her way from Suez to India with fertilizer. Reportedly six pirates were arrested in the unsuccessful attack and the vessel is said to sail free.

©2010-ecoterra/ecop-marine

STATUS OF SEIZED VESSELS AND CREWS IN SOMALIA, THE GULF OF ADEN  AND THE INDIAN OCEAN (ecoterra – 08. September 2010)

STATUS-SUMMARY:

Today, 08. September 2010, 12h00 UTC, still at least 24 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 429 seafarers – including an elderly British yachting couple – plus the lorry drivers from Somaliland suffer to be released. Request the Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor from ECOTERRA Intl. for background info and see the updated map of the PIRACY COASTS OF SOMALIA.

Please note an additional new EMERGENCY HELPLINE number: +254-719-603-176

SOMALI WATERWORLD

SITUATION:

- YOU ARE PERSISTENTLY BEING LIED TO WITH IMPUNITY
- TRENDS
- SOLUTIONS PENDING
- ECOTERRA STATEMENT and
- THE WISH-LIST FOR THE UN AND BAN KI-MOON

READ ALL AND UNDERSTAND AT: beforeitsnews.com/story/135118

HOSTAGE CASES UNDER NEGOTIATIONS:

Genuine members of families of the abducted seafarers can call +254-733-633-733 for further details or send an e-mail in any language to office[AT]ecoterra-international.org

Sea-jacked British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 60 and 58, were abducted from their 38-ft yacht S/Y LYNN RIVAL, seized October 22, 2009 en route to Tanzania, and are still held in Somalia. The yacht was recovered by the crew of UK naval vessel Waveknight, after they witnessed the transfer of the Chandlers to commandeered MV KOTA WAJAR. The yacht was brought back to England. The elderly couple is now held on land close to Adado, sometimes separated for fear of a commando attack. The case is turning more and more ugly with pirates becoming brutal, politicians ignorant and the financially incapable family intimidated by several sidelines, whose money-guided approach is undermining bids by local elders, human rights groups and the Somali Diaspora to get the innocent couple free. Some humanitarian efforts, however, have succeeded and Somali elders, respected leaders and the Somali Diaspora have renewed their demand for an unconditional release. Latest reports from the ground say that the couple is now treated better, though they often are kept separated for fear of a military rescue attempt. Since the health of both elderly people at the beginning of the year was reportedly deteriorating rapidly relief and medicine has been sent by a humanitarian organization and was received by the couple. Repeatedly rumours were spread concerning attacks, wounding or killing one of the hostages and also about a release managed by the TFG, but all these stories became so far not true. With former British Premier Gordon Brown gone, some believed that the incoming politicians under conservative Premier David Cameron maybe would be more rational and humanitarian minded, would not abandon their citizens but would extend help to solve the appalling case. Unfortunately for the elderly couple in captivity also the new government in the UK made it clear that no ransom would be paid by the British government and British MPs, who had enough and wanted to cut through, were quickly whistled back. Professor Mohamed Omar Dalha, the Minister for Rehabilitation and Social Affairs of the Somali Transitional Federal Government of Somalia had repeatedly been pleading with the hostage takers to release the couple, but to no avail. Also the direct approach by the family seems to have had some not so successful advisers, because an attempt to free the Chandlers mid June 2010 didn’t work out, while the family according to Reuters allegedly already lost the 430,000 US$ they had collected by paying that amount blindly to some people in Somalia. Most recently the British officials who still hold a firm grip on the next of kin of the abducted couple, seem to have embarked on a campaign under the motto: “If we can’t get them free, nobody else shall!” and concentrated their efforts not on uniting capable people and available resources to get a solution, but to just frustrate any independent effort. Such can be summarized as factual abandonment, though – in order to be fair – it also must be stated very clearly that neither the Transitional Federal Government, be it President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed himself, nor the Prime-Minister or several cabinet-ministers, who all promised to get the hostages free, have achieved anything. Likewise the Somali Diaspora, who apparently collected money, which now is said to have disappeared, did also not proof to be helpful. With next of kin in retreat, the British government blocking, officials incapable, the media gagged and even friends helpless, the changes of the Chandlers look bleak, while fundamentalist Al-Shabaab are approaching the area where they are held.

MV SOCOTRA 1: Seized December 25. 2009. The vessel carrying a food cargo for a Yemeni businessman and bound for Socotra Archipelago was captured in the Gulf of Aden after it left Alshahir port in the eastern province of Hadramout. 6 crew members of Yemeni nationality were aboard. Latest information said the ship was commandeered onto the high seas between Oman and Pakistan, possibly in another piracy or smuggling mission. 2 of the original crew are reportedly on land in Puntland. VESSEL STILL MISSING and/or working as pirate ship.

SOMALILAND LORRIES: Seized February 25, 2010. Seven lorries and at least 9 persons from their driver-crews of Isaaq ethnicity from Somaliland were captured by a gang of sea-shifta from Garacad in order to press their comrades free from Somaliland jails. No financial demands have been made. According to sources close to the pirates, the trucks are still being kept in a small town near the pirate lair of Garacad called Kulub. However, a counter-hijacking has taken place and negotiations to exchange the lorries and drivers from both sides are well under way.

FV AL-SHURA (AL-SHUVAL?): Seized after February 20, 2010 and most likely on 25th February with one of 9 the Yemeni sailors being killed by the Somali pirate-attackers. Allegedly the pirates now left the vessel and the dhow was returned to her owner, but independent confirmation is still awaited from Yemen. A similar dhow named AL-SHUVAL was said to have be moored off Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian ocean coast off Somalia until recently and is now observed at Dhanaane.

BB AL-NISR-AL-SAUDI: Seized on March 01, 2010. The relatively small bunker barge Al Nisr Al Saudi with a deadweight of 5,136 ton s was returning to Jeddah after delivering its cargo to Japan . The vessel therefore was empty when it was sea-jacked in the Gulf of Aden and in the vicinity of Aden port . The captain of the ship is Greek and the nationality of the 13 other crew is Sri Lankan. All crew is believed to be safe. The  ship was not registered with maritime authorities and was outside the designated route that naval warships patrol. Communications between the pirates and the owner were established soon after the capture and contrary to many other vessels the families of the hostage-seafarers are very well taken care of, though the negotiations concerning the release of the vessel and crew were at first not forthcoming. The vessel then moved from Garacad and is currently held at Kulub, from where negotiations commenced again and are near to be concluded. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) had asked the ship owner to explain the prolonged difficulties being faced by the ship’s crew in the light of complaints lodged by Sri Lankan and Greek authorities. Kamal Arri, manager of International Bunkering, the company which owns the Al Nisr Al Saudi ship, told a newspaper the insurance company had agreed to pay the ransom after the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) gave preliminary approval. “We are now waiting for the Interior Ministry’s approval,” he told Arab News on Monday, August 01, 2010. He had requested Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif to intervene in the matter to win the release of the ship and crew as quickly as possible. He said the insurance company’s refusal to provide fuel could lead to the ship drifting powerless and possibly being damaged or sunk. Arri told the paper his company had lost SR30m (US$8m) as a result of the hijack and that the insurance had agreed to pay the US$20m ransom, which sounded strange. But he later stated that he made a mistake while speaking to Arab News in how much ransom the pirates were demanding, saying: “I told the reporter that the sum was $20 million. In fact, this was the amount previously demanded by the pirates which was greatly reduced later,” said Kamal Arri, the owner of the Al-Nisr. “I am only concerned now with the safe return of all sailors on board. They were desperate. In my last telephone conversation with them yesterday (Monday 02. Aug.), the Greek captain complained that the pirates were making them sleep on deck while they were using the cabins and rooms themselves, and they have been physically beaten and tortured,” he said.

MV ICEBERG I: Seized March 29, 2010. The UAE-owned, Panama-flagged Ro-Ro vessel MV ICEBERG 1 with her 24 multinational crew members ( 9 Yemenis, 6 Indians, 4 from Ghana, 2 Sudanese, 2 Pakistani and 1 Filipino ) was sea-jacked just 10nm outside Aden Port, Gulf of Aden. The vessel was mostly held off Kulub at the North-Eastern Indian  Ocean coast of  Somalia, while negotiations have not yet achieved a solution. The USS McFaul intercepted and identified the ship on 19th May 2010, despite the pirates having painted over her name and re-named the ship SEA EXPRESS, while the vessel was on a presumed piracy mission on the high-seas. Since about 50 pirates on the ship made any rescue operation impossible without endangering the 24 crew, the naval ship followed the commandeered vessel’s movements for the next 36 hours, until it began to sail back towards the coast of Somalia.  It has transpired that the shipping company Azal Shipping based in Dubai refuses to pay any ransom and the ship is apparently not insured, though it carries very valuable cargo and it seems that the cargo owner is in charge of the negotiations. The sailors have no more food, water or medicine on board. While all the seafarers are starving, a few of them already are getting sick, though none of the sailors suffers from a serious health condition. Chief engineer Mohammed also stated that they urgently need Diesel for the electricity generators. Recently negotiations for the release started in earnest, but have not been concluded. The crew requested again humanitarian intervention as before and has now received some supplies through intervention by local elders and a humanitarian group.

FV JIH-CHUN TSAI 68 (日春財68號) : Seized March 31, 2010. The Taiwan-flagged and -owned fishing vessel with factory facility was attacked together with sister-ship Jui Man Fa (瑞滿發) , which managed to escape. The vessels are operating out of the Seychelles. The crew of Jih-chun Tsai No. 68 consists of 14 sailors – a Taiwanese captain along with two Chinese and 11 Indonesian seamen. The vessel is now held at Kulub at the North-Eastern Indian  Ocean coast of  Somalia and attempted negotiations faced serious communication problems in the beginning,  but a conclusion could be reached and the vessel is due to be released soon.

FV NN – IRANIAN FISHING VESSEL: Seized before April 02, 2010. The gang of sea-shifta, which had captured the Indian dhow MSV KRISHNA JYOT and ran out of fuel near Socotra, seized the Iranian fishing vessel and set the dhow free with her crew unharmed while going off with the Iranian fishing vessel. While the vessel had at first not come to any shore in Somalia and was believed to be used as piracy platform, some sources reported the vessel later from Kulub and now from Habo at the Gulf of Aden coast.

VLCC SAMHO DREAM: Seized April 02, 2010. The Marshall Islands-registered “Samho Dream”, a 300,000t oil tanker owned by South Korea’s Samho Shipping, was seized by three Somali pirates in waters some 1,500 km south-east of the Gulf of Aden at around 16:10 Seoul time (0710 GMT). There are a total of 24 crew members on board, including five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos. The 319,000 dwt very large crude carrier was on its way from Iraq to Louisiana of the United States. The Samho Dream, which was built in 2002, is carrying crude oil that could be worth as much as $170 million at current oil prices. The vessel had been commandeered to Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast  and is now anchored 4.6nm off the beach. The South Korean government ordered their destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin out of the Somali waters and back to its working routine in the Gulf of Aden, but still there are two warships keeping a watch close by, staging mock attacks and caused tension on board, which made the pirates to issue a statement that they would blow up the oil-tanker if the harassment would not stop and no ransom would be paid. soon. Though negotiations with the owners are ongoing no conclusion has been reached. The vessel was moved from Hobyo, where she was held since her capture until the advancement of Al-Shabaab spearheaded Hizb-ul-Islam groups, to Garacad, but was returned to Hobyo. The pirates’ demand has not been accepted by the company. Captain Kim Sung-kyu told Yonhap News in a phone call that the 24-member crew with five Koreans and 19 Filipinos is now living in sub-human conditions. Kim said the abuses are getting worse as the pirates deprive them of sleep and food and threaten to kill them one by one if a ransom is not paid. He also expressed frustration towards the Samho Shipping Company’s silence over the pirates’ latest demands, which were issued last Saturday (05. Sept. 2010). The vessel is held clearly visible off the coast off Hobyo at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast.

MV RAK AFRIKANA: Seized April 11, 2010, the general cargo vessel (IMO 8200553) with a dead-weight of 7,561 tonnes (5992t gross) was captured at 06h32 approximately 280 nautical miles west of Seychelles and 480nm off Somalia in position 04:45S - 051:00E.   The captured vessel flies a flag of convenience from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and has as registered owner RAK AFRICANA SHIPPING LTD based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and an offices in the Seychelles, while industry sources say the beneficial owner is from China. AL SINDBAD SHIPPING & MARINE from Ras al Khaimah (UAE) serves as manager. While China’s Seafarers Union, based on an outdated ITF database, first spoke of 23 Chinese nationals as crew, the shipowner says there are 26 seamen from  India, Pakistan and Tanzania on board. The actual crew-list has not been provided yet and the crew is not covered by an ITF agreement, but it could be established that the crew comprises of 11 Indians, including the captain, the second and third officer, as well as 10 Tanzanians and 5 Pakistanis. The vessel stopped briefly due to engine problems – around 280 nautical miles (520 kilometres) west of the Seychelles – but was then commandeered to Somalia and was held off Ceel Huur not far from Harardheere at the Central Somali Indian Ocean Coast, from where it was moved to Ga’an and further towards Hobyo. The captors have forced the crew to fly the Italian flag, signalling the beneficial owner of the vessel.  Negotiations are ongoing.

YEMENI FISHING VESSELS: Two Yemeni fishing vessels were seized by presumed Somali sea-gangs during the week 09th to 16th April in the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni coastguard did not specify the name of the vessels and only reported in one case the crew as comprising of three Yemeni nationals. Recent reports that the dhows might have returned to Yemen were officially not yet confirmed.

THAI FISHING FLEET: Seized April 18, 2010 with a total crew of 77 sailors, of which 12 are Thai and the others of different nationalities, the Thailand-flagged vessels operating out of Djibouti were fishing illegal in the Indian Ocean off Minicoy Island in the fishing grounds of the Maldives. All three vessels were then commandeered towards the Somali coast by a group of in total around 15 Somalis.
FV PRANTALAY 11 with a crew of 26
FV PRANTALAY 12 with a crew of 25
FV PRANTALAY 14 with a crew of 26
None of these vessels is registered and authorized by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to  fish in the Indian Ocean.
The fleet is now held off the coast at Kulub near Garacad at the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. The captors already threatened to use one of the hunter-vessels of the group as a piracy-launch, but at present all three vessels are still held at the coast, while negotiations have not been forthcoming.

MV VOC DAISY: Seized in the morning of April 21, 2010, the Panama-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier of 47,183 dead-weight tonnes, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, 190 nautical miles East South East of Salalah, Oman. The bulker was registered with the Maritime Security Centre Horn Of Africa (MSCHOA) and heading west from Ruwais, U.A.E, making for the eastern rendezvous point of the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), for onward transit through the Suez Canal. She was 280 miles from the IRTC when she was sea-jacked.  The vessel is owned by Middleburg Properties Ltd, Liberia, and operated by the Greek company Samartzis Maritime Enterprises. The 21 men all-Filipino crew  was able to raise the alarm before the four armed pirates, carrying three AK47s and one RPG, stormed onboard and cut their lines of communication. The crew is, however, said to be all right, given the circumstances. The vessel is now held off Kulub near Garacad at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Negotiations difficult.

FV TAI YUAN 227:  Seized on May 06, 2010 in an area north off the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles as it headed for the Maldives , the Taiwanese fishing boat has a crew of 28 (9 Chinese, 3 Vietnamese, 3 Filipinos, 7 Kenyans and 2 from Mozambique) . Taiwan’s foreign ministry confirmed that the vessel had been seized after the Taipei Rescue Command Centre reported the incident to  have taken place in approximate position 0105N-06750E . The ministry added that contact was made o n Friday with the pirates who made an unspecified ransom demand, while the vessel is heading towards the Somali coast . The vessel has no authorization by the Indian Ocean Commission to fish in the Indian Ocean, which, however, is partly explained by the fact that China is opposed to Taiwan as flag state. Due to the inaction of the ship-owner and the Taiwan government to free the vessel, it was used again as launch for further piracy attacks. Vessel and crew are at present held off Habo at the Puntland coast of the Gulf of Aden.

FV AL-DHAFIR: Seized on May 07, 2010 off the coast of Yemen the Yemen coastguard of the Arabian peninsular state reported. Yemen’s Defence Ministry confirmed that the 7 Yemeni nationals on board were abducted to Somalia. Yemen’s coastguard said Somali pirates captured the fishing vessel, while it was docked at a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and had taken it to Somalia. The coastguard was continuing its efforts to retrieve the boat, the Defence Ministry said, but meanwhile the dhow is said to be held at the Somali shore close to Eyl.

MT MARIDA MARGUERITE: Seized May 08, 2010, around120nm south of the Omani port of Salalah in the protected shipping corridor, the German owner-managed, US-owner-registered chemical tanker of 13.273 dwt has a crew of 22 seamen, including 19 Indians, two Bangladeshi and one Ukrainian. The vessel is flying a flag of convenience (FOC) from the Marshall Islands . The tanker was held at the north-eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast near Garacad but then changed position to a location off the Gulf of Aden Coast near Habo. Negotiations have not been forthcoming and the vessel was mid August commandeered southwards to Hobyo in a possible move to provide cover for the release of the Korean supertanker held there.

MT PANEGA [Панега] : Seized late afternoon of May 11, 2010 in the Gulf of Aden in the proximity of the internationally protected shipping corridor and approximately 100 nautical miles east of Aden (Yemen), the small Bulgarian-flagged chemical products tanker of 5,848 tonnes was en route from the Red Sea to India. The crew consists of 15 Bulgarians. The vessel was already earmarked for the scrapyard and it is presumed that the P&I insurer The West of England Shipowners shall maybe be taken for a ride. The vessel is now held at the north-eastern Somali coast in the vicinity of Garacad. Major General Buster Howes, head of Europe’s Operation Atalanta, stated that there is no information about the crew of  MT PANEGA. Local informers reported that the crew is all right, though food and clean water are low. At present the vessel and crew are held near Garacad.at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Negotiations are said to be not really forthcoming.

MV ELENI P: Seized in the morning of May 12, 2010, the Greek-owned, Liberia-flagged 72,100 dwt bulker was sea-jacked around 380 nm south-east of Salalah (Oman) in position 15°55N / 060°50E. The 23 crew comprises of 19 Filipinos, 2 Greek and one Ukrainian sailor, who are said to be unharmed. Reports say that  the vessel – then sailing under another name as SEAHORSE – had been attacked already before on April 09, 2009. The vessel is held near Garacad at the north-eastern Somali Indian Ocean coast.

MT GOLDEN BLESSING: Seized in the morning at 03h27 UTC (06h27 loc al time) of June 28, 2010, the Singapore flagged, Chinese-managed 14,300 DWT chemical tanker GOLDEN BLESSING (IMO number 9539016) was plying the waters inside the Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC) on her way from Saudi Arabia to India, when the 19 men strong all Chinese crew was overwhelmed at position Latitude: 13°23.7N Longitude: 049°58E and taken hostage in the view of a helicopter from a nearby naval vessel. Singapore’s Maritime Port Authority (MPA) confirmed the sea-jacking of the Singapore-registered ship. The 2010-built Handy tanker was then commandeered by its Somali captors  to the Somali Indian Ocean coast, where it stopped at Bargaal, but was later taken back into the Gulf of Aden, where it is held near MT MOTIVATOR at the northern Puntland shores off Habo (Xabo). The China-owned tanker carries as cargo around 15,000 m³ of highly toxic ethylene glycol - a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze,   in her 10 separated tanks, which are MARPOL certified.  Mr. Li Jingzhong, spokesman of the charterer company SHANGHAI DINGHENG SHIPPING CO, was able to contact the captain of the ship and could establish that the crew is safe. Vessel and crew are not covered by an ITF agreement. After first contacts for negotiations concerning the release had been made by the owner-managers Advance Shipping for registered owner GOLDEN PACIFIC INTL & HOLDINGS, the mediation progressed positively.

MT MOTIVATOR: At 09h44 UTC (12h44 local time) on 4 July, the tanker’s captain reported they were under small arms fire from a pirate attack in position 13°16N / 042°56E in the northern Bab Al Mandeb area – around 50nm north of the Bab al-Mandeb and approximately 18nm west of Mokha, Yemen while travellin g south when she was attacked by two small vessels in the southern Red Sea. After the initial notification of this attack, unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the Greek-owned vessel. The  capture then was confirmed early on 5. July at Latitude: 11°33N, Longitude: 045°28E in the Gulf of Aden. Position 11 ° 50 / 45 ° 00 is Point A of the internationally protected maritime shipping corridor through the Gulf of Aden, called the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). The MT MOTIVATOR, with a dead-weight of 13,065 tonnes has a crew of 18 Filipino nationals on board, though the Philippine government had ruled out that Pinoy crews could be allowed to sail these dangerous waters through the Gulf of Aden. The sea-jacked ship is a Marshall Islands flagged chemical products tanker loaded with lubrication-oil and therefore is posing the potential danger of an oil-spill. While at least one foreign warship intercepted the captured merchant-vessel’s path towards the Somali coast and shadowed the situation, it has become clear that the pirate group hails from Puntland. The commandeered vessel stopped briefly north of Puntland and intended to proceed towards the pirate stronghold of Garacad, but it is held now close to Xabo at the Gulf of Aden coast due to a dispute between the captors from Puntland and other pirate groups at Garacad. Xabo (Habo) became infamous for the holding of two tugboats and their crews for over a year. The 18 Filipino seafarers on board the MT MOTIVATOR are all accounted for and safe, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. Philippine’s executive director Enrico Fos of the DFA’s Office of the Under-secretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) said the seafarers were able to communicate with their families to let them know that all crew is well.  “The pirates have also already called the ship’s principal, but no demands have yet been made,” he added.

MV SUEZ: In the early hours at 0420 UTC of AUG 02, 2010, the MV SUEZ (IMO number 8218720) reported being under small arms fire from a pirate attack by one of 3 skiffs in position 13 02N – 048 54E and minutes later the Indian captain reported pirates on board.
After notification of the attack, attempts were made by the navies, who are supposed to protect the area, to make contact with the MV SUEZ, but to no avail. Egyptian-owned MV SUEZ was travelling under flag of convenience from Panama in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) when attacked. Immediately after the first report a helicopter was directed to the ship but pirates had already taken over the command of the vessel, EU NAVFOR reported.
Two NATO warships, HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën and USS Cole, from the NATO counter piracy task force undertaking Operation OCEAN SHIELD, and a Singaporean warship the RSS Endurance from the CMF taskforce were within forty miles of MV Suez at the time of the attack.  Despite reacting immediately and having a helicopter on the scene within 10 minutes, naval forces were unable to prevent the attack as the pirates had been able to board the ship within 5 minutes, NATO reported.
The case actually shows that though the ship was reportedly employing Best Management Practices, having barbed wire in place and fire hoses ready, the waters off Yemen and opposite Puntland are the most dangerous in the whole area. Somali sea-shifta are able to outwit and overcome any preventive measures – including arms on board, which only would drive the casualty figures higher. The incident actually highlights once again that it is high time to follow the advice to engage and help local Somali communities along the two coasts to make their coastlines safer themselves and to empower them to rule out the holding of any hostage from these innocent merchant vessels.
The MV SUEZ, with a deadweight of 17, 300 tonnes, has a crew of 24, according to NATO, while EU Navfor said 23 and the last crew-list: showed 21 with 9 Egyptians, 7 Pakistani, 3 Indians and 2 Sri Lankans. It could be confirmed in the meantime that the 23 men crew consists of 11 Egyptians, 6 Indians, 4 Pakistani and 2 Sri Lankans. Crew and shipowner do not have an ITF Approved CBA agreement and – due to overdue survey – the ship’s classification status had been withdrawn by Germanischer Lloyd since 28. 06. 2010. The detailed, actual crew list is awaited. RED SEA NAVIGATION CO. serves as ship manager for owner MATSO SHIPPING CO. INC. – both from Port Tawfiq in Egypt. Red Sea Navigation’s commercial director Mohamed Abdel Meguid said his company already paid a US$1.5 million ransom last year (actually it was  the year before) for another hostage ship, the MV MANSOURAH 1 (aka Al Mansourah), which was sea-jacked on 03. September 2008 and released against the ransom after only 23 days. As DPA reported from Cairo a day later, an official with Red Sea Navigation Company, who declined to be identified publicly, said that the company would not pay a ransom and that the matter was being handled by the Foreign Ministry in Cairo.
MV SUEZ, the merchant vessel with a cargo of cement bags destined for Eritrea, was then commandeered towards the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia and was expected at the pirate lair of Garacad in Puntland, but there pirate groups are fighting among each other and have come recently under pressure from Puntland forces. The vessel therefore  dropped at first anchor near Bargaal and then was commandeered back again to the Gulf of Aden coast of Puntland, where it was held close to Bolimoog, between Alula and Habo at the very northern tip of the Horn of Africa. Thereafter the ship was moved again to the Indian Ocean coast near Dinowda Quorioweyn.
“The pirates are treating us toughly, and they took some of the crew to unknown place to exert pressure on owners of the ship,” Farida Farouqe quoted her husband as telling her over the phone, the Xinhua news agency reported.  The alleged demands vary between one, four and six million dollars, while officially the ship owner has been reported as saying already earlier that no ransom will be paid, while the cargo-owners seem to have been negotiating.

YEMENI FISHING VESSEL: Seized August 26, 2001. The earlier reports provided by maritime observers speaking of the capture of a fishing vessel were confirmed now to the extend that the type and flag of the vessel have been identified. A Yemeni fishing vessel with at least 10 sailors on board was seized in the territorial waters of Somalia. The name of the vessel and Yemeni registration is not yet known. The Yemeni boat was sailing near the north coast of Somalia when the captors attacked it with small skiffs. They later headed toward the Somali coast.
 

THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO A WARNING TO VESSELS TRAVERSING THE SOMALI BASIN TO BE AWARE OF LARGER VESSELS BEING USED AS LAUNCHING PAD AND DECOY FOR PIRACY ATTACKS .
All vessels navigating in the Indian Ocean are advised to consider keeping East of 60E when routing North/South and to consider routing East of 60E and South of 10S when proceeding to and from ports in South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.
The Indian Government has issued a NOTICE on 30th March 2010: All Indian-flagged motorized sailing vessels are - with immediate effect - no longer permitted to ply the waters south and west of a line joining Salalah (Oman) and Malé (Maldives).
NOTIFICATION BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT
- Issued by The Directorate General of Shipping, Mumbai.
DIRECTIONS 31. March 2010
The Directorate has issued directions prohibiting the trading of mechanized sailing vessels south and west of the line joining Salalah and Male, with immediate effect.

NON-MARITIME HOSTAGE CASES IN SOMALIA:

Missing:
Briton Murray Watson and Kenyan Patrick Amukhuma are missing since 01. April 2008. They were working on a U.N.-funded project in the Juba valley, were seized by gunmen near Bua’le and taken to Jilib, 280 km (175 miles) south of Mogadishu. According to media reports they are still being held and close sources maintain that the case is one of a so far Unsuccessful Resolution with no independent proof of live since a long time. The meanwhile pennyless Kenyan-Somali spouse with 3 children of Mr. Watson appealed recently again for the release of the British researcher.

Political hostage:
French officer Denis Allex. Somali gunmen kidnapped two French security advisers working for the Somali TFG government from the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu on July 14 2009. Police said one escaped on Aug. 26 after killing three of his captors, but Marc Aubriere denied killing anyone and said he slipped away while his guards slept. A video released by Al Shabab was showing the second officer still being held  and political demands for his release were made by Al Shabab. On June 9, 2010 the video appeared on a website often used by Islamist militant groups, which said the hostage, named as Denis Allex, had issued a “message to the French people”. The video showed the captive in an orange outfit with armed men standing behind him.

CASES NOT COMPLETELY CLOSED:

MS INDIAN OCEAN EXPLORER, S/Y SERENITY, MV RIM – presumed sunken, but wrecks not positioned and secured.

BARGE NN - an unnamed barge (allegedly with chemical waste) is held at Kulule (near Bendar-Beyla) since mid March 2009. Ownership and circumstances could not yet be clarified. In the meantime local people have developed some ailments. Community awareness campaign was carried out, barge is provisionally secured. The case needs an immediate solution.

S/Y JOUPLA (aka JUMLA or YUMLA ?) - a mysterious yacht, said to hail from the Seychelles or South-Africa, with three Africans on board was kept since a long time near Dinoowda on the Indian Ocean coast of North-Eastern Somalia. Rumors say the yacht was involved in the sea-jacking of MV NAVIOS APOLLON as well as MV JAMES PARK and was then sighted near Hobyo. The yacht, initially used to smuggle drugs, is reported now to have been wrecked during the latest spree and sunk near Dinoowda Qorioweyn. The three African men reportedly still stay in Garacad as hostages, being forced to train sea-shifta.

FV INTMAS 6 [aka FV TAWARIQ 2]: Was missing since March 2009. FV INTMAS 6 (sometimes named FV TAWARIQ 2) with a crew of around 30 seamen went missing around the time when FV TAWARIQ 1 was arrested by Tanzanian authorities with the help of the South African coastguard for illegal fishing. Families of four Kenyan crew members, who were hired by a Chinese shipping agent in Kenya, are desperate to know the fate of their relatives, while the shipping agent is now held also in the Tanzanian prisons in connection with the arrest of FV TAWARIQ 1. When FV TAWARIQ 1 was seized also FV TAWARIQ 2, 3 and 4 fled from the Western Indian Ocean. TAWARIQ 4 is now anchored in Singapore, TAWARIQ 3 caught fire off Mauritius, which has developed into a hub for fish-poachers, and TAWARIQ 2 (INTMAS 6) and her multi-national crew comprised of Taiwanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Indonesians and Kenyans was missing for nearly a year. When FV WIN FAR 161 was captured by Somalis, who had followed the vessel close to the Seychelles , the other WIN FAR vessels were called back to Taiwan. The Taiwanese real shipowner of FV TAWARIQ 1, who is said to also have had his part in FV WIN FAR 161, which recently was released from Somalia with two dead sailors on board – is wanted by the authorities too. INTMAS 6 also fled from Tanzania after the arrest of FV TAWARIQ 1 – first to the Seychelles and then to Malaysia, from where now and finally all four Kenyan crew members returned to Kenya. While the vessel was reportedly sailing from Malaysia to Bangkok, her present whereabouts are unknown while investigations are ongoing.

MT AGIA BARBARA: INDIAN AND SYRIAN CREW STILL WANTED FOR MURDER – vessel escaped to the UAE from Somalia after the murder of a TFG policeman and the attempted murder of another police officer – unhindered by international naval forces. See our earlier updates for details.

FV WIN FAR 161 – The freed vessel returned under mainland China’s naval escort back to Taiwan, but an independent investigation into the death of at least one Chinese and one Indonesian sailor as well as into the involvement of the ship in the attack on US-flagged container vessel MV MAERSK ALABAMA has not yet been completed, while Hsieh Long-yan, president of the ship’s owner Win Far Fishery, continues to be elusive and evades questions asking e.g. why he lied to the Foreign Minister of Taiwan and why he didn’t facilitate relief and medical support for the crew during many month. Due to this neglect sailors died.

M.S.V. ABDUL RAZAK: Seized before February 23, 2010 and after 17 November 2008 (latest contact). The 40m ship with 9 crew of Indian nationality was captured by Somali sea-shifta. on her way from Kandala to Dubai. No information concerning the condition of the crew available.
So far the vessel had been reported only as missing or lost at sea by the owner.
Reportedly a 7 men gang of sea-shifta from Garacad, a notorious pirate den at the Indian Ocean coast of North-Eastern Somalia, is/was commandeering the vessel.
Latest informations indicate that the vessel was already misused as pirate mother-ship far off in the Indian Ocean. An intensive search by ECOTERRA Intl. along the coast revealed that it is at present not at the Somali coasts.
Upcoming information says that it might have been involved in an encounter with a French naval vessel at the end of February 2009. It apparently sunk near the UAE and all crew are said to be dead.

1 YEMENI BOAT : Missing since 11. January 2010 from Warsha Island in Alaraj area in Yemen’s province of Hudaida (not yet counted on list of pirated vessels – but mentioned here as alert). Originally two dhows had gone  missing on the same day, but one – MSV AL HADRAMI 73  – was found by EU NAVFOR with the vessel abandoned and the crew missing, which apparently had left the vessel with a skiff because the engine had broken down. The vessel was towed back to Yemen and handed over to the owner on 20th February.

Legal Dispute: MV JAIKUR I – Though difficult, all the expatriate crew could with the assistance of ECOTERRA Intl. be freed and repatriated in May 2009. The vessel is since left unattended by the shipowner, who tries to continue business as usual with clandestine shipments, incl. from WFP to Somalia, using the sister ship. The vessel is still at Mogadishu harbour and poses now an extreme environmental hazard risk, because it is crushing against the water breakers.

Legal Dispute: MV LEILA – The Panama-flagged but UAE owned Ro-Ro cargo ship of 2,292 grt with IMO NO. 7302794 and MMSI NO. 352723000 , is held at the Somaliland port of Berbera since September 15, 2009 at gunpoint and under a court order in a legal dispute between Somaliland authorities, cargo owners and the ship-owner. Somali company Omar International claims cargo damages caused by fire on MV MARIAM STAR who caught fire on the upper deck while at Berbera port in early September of 2009. MV MIRIAM STAR – a fleet-sister-ship – is likewise still at Berbera. Though difficult, all the expatriate crew could with the assistance of ECOTERRA Intl. be freed and repatriated. BOTH ABANDONED SHIPS POSE NOW A GRAVE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY HAZARD TO BERBERA PORT.

The attack by the Norwegian naval units in their commando boats against the dhows, who had not been linked to any wrongdoing,  happened within the 12nm zone, in violation of the international laws as well as the UN Security Council resolutions, whose even latest ill-set versions require a consent by the Somali government – and thereby parliament – for any action, which any foreign navy would undertake against Somalia or Somali people within Somali territory. Such consent has never been given to the Norwegians -  even not by any of the weird legal constructs the European and other navies entangle themselves with in the moment. Interestingly the European naval mission ATALANTA this time calls the Norwegian naval contingent a part of EU NAVFOR, the hastily assembled joint European naval force, while Norway is not even a member state of the European Union (EU). Therefore also the fraudulently provided covering agreements for naval operations in Somali waters do not provide any cover for this outright murder, because they were signed without the knowledge of the Somali parliament in a clandestine meeting.
An outcome of any investigation is still expected.

MV ALMEZAAN - In the third incident involving the infamous ship on 23rd March 2010 allegedly armed men on board the vessel shot and killed a young Somali man as alleged  attacker, which the ship’s captain disputed, who stated that there were no armed personnel on board the merchant ship. EU NAVFOR had launched a helicopter, who had opened fire against the two Somali boats. Spanish forces aboard the warship NAVARRA arrested six Somalis in the nearby boats, took custody of the dead man’s body and dumped all at Mogadishu harbour into the hands of AMISOM. EU NAVFOR said in later statement that the circumstances of the killing were unclear. No proper investigation in the incident was ever launched.

MV RIM – The mysterious cargo-ship MV RIM destined for the scrapyards in India was seized on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 01h31 AM . The North-Korean-flagged, originally-Libyan owned general cargo vessel MV RIM, after it had been repaired for this last trip with significant costs , was captured – en route from Eritrea to presumably Yemen  – in the north-western Gulf of Aden just south of the Yemeni coast, while it was already expected by another armed private vessel as escort. Though the coalition ship USS PORTER working closely with EU NAVFOR and a helicopter from USS FARRAGUT, both of CMF CTF 151, confirmed on February 02, 2010 that the RIM had been hijacked, EU NAVFOR headquarters declined to confirm to Somalia’s anti-piracy envoy that report  – only to report it then a day later as captured on 3rd February.
EU NAVFOR finally confirmed that the vessel was sea-jacked to the north of the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC), was not registered with MSC HOA and has had no communications with UKMTO, the British operation in Bahrain.
The relatively small coastal cargo ship of 4,800 tonnes is still listed in the ship registers as being owned by White Sea Shipping of Tripoli in Libya, while in reality it was allegedly already managed by Sea Force Maritime Co from Constanta – Romania owned by a Syrian off-shore company for her last cargo trip with a load of fine clay and with a final destination at the scrapyards in India. Reports that it actually was carrying weapons destined for the Yemen rebels persisted.
Her crew comprised of 10 men – 1 Romanian and 9 of Syrian nationality and an actual crew-list had been obtained, though the Romanian authorities had neglected an official request. The vessel and crew, however, were neither covered by an ITF Agreement nor an appropriate insurance.
The ship was at first commandeered to the Somali Gulf of Aden coast near LasKorey where it encountered Puntland forces and the pirates exchanged fire with them. Then it sailed around the tip of the very Horn of Africa to Garacad on the Indian Ocean side.
The vessel thereafter had been moved from Garacad – because local elders tried to interfere – to Kulub, where it was held for a longer period 5.3 nm off the shore at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. Negotiations between the pirates and the owners as well as a Lybian group had commenced, while nosy naval vessels nearby drew in one case fire from the pirates. Numerous sidelines opened by Somali brokers make the case difficult. The captors had threatened to kill the captain if their ransom demand - reported elsewhere as $3million – would not be fulfilled and later rumours were spread that the pirates had in mind to kill all crew and sell their organs. If rational, the reason for the high demand for a ship which was on her last leg to the scrapyards can only be found in the cargo, which – if really only clay, as stated by the owner – also wouldn’t make sense to request large sums.
The crew was held on the vessel during the last period near Ilfoshe in the vicinity of Kulub, while Lybian and Puntland sidelines competed for a long time to get hold of that ship. Allegedly even the Libyan ambassador to Ethiopia got involved form Addis Ababa.
Somali sources stated that the transported weapons had been offloaded earlier, because those who were negotiating for the release had realized that the vessel – freed together with the weapons – would never be able to deliver them to Yemen as initially arranged.
Before the crew of the vessel managed to overpower six pirates on board and to sail free at 10h10 local time on 02. June 2010, a serious shoot-out between two rival pirate groups involved in the case of sea-jacked MV RIM left 9 Somalis dead,
After the crew had killed five of their captor-guards directly off the Indian-Ocean coast of North-East S omalia and threw them overboard, the sixth went overboard alive after he had hidden himself under deck and was possibly killed too. A seventh Somali a boy of 14-15 years named “Ahmed”, who had been forced to work as cook and guard, was hailed to have smuggled the three AK47 for the killing spree on board. The killing of the Somalis was led by the only Romanian national on board: Virgil Teofil Cretu, who was said to have been a 34 year-old coxswain on his first maritime job. Other sources say that he had military training and was actually the supervisor of the crew for the Romanian/North Korean “shipping outfit” with Libyan links – with the duty to keep the Syrian captain and crew under guard and on track.
However, the Spanish frigate SPS VICTORIA (F 82) under EU NAVFOR Command , guarded the MV RIM at first against a pursuing ship the MV VOC DAISY, which was commandeered by other pirates in an attempt to re-capture the cargo vessel after the killing of the guards, and the Dutch warship JOHAN DE WITT pulled the vesse l, whose engines had stalled, from the scene and gave medical assistance to the 3 crew including to Mr. Cretu who had been injured in the shoot-out.
After reaching safer waters EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Swedish rear Admiral (LH) Jan Thörnqvist then decided to keep the crew and the Somali boy “Ahmed” on the Royal Netherlands LPD-Ship HNLMS JOHAN DE WITT (L801) , which as amphibious transport ship under commander Captain Ben Bekkering and also had Maltese soldiers from what is called a Vessel Protection Detachment on board, and to cut the lines to MV RIM after several times the lines broke in heavy weather. Thereby the vessel MV RIM and its cargo were abandoned south of Ras Hafun without calling a salvage or other rescue vessel and a grave situation posing serious risks to shipping was created by the navies. Though heavy weather and the breaking of several towing lines made the case a difficult one, it must be stated, h owever, that to produce an environmental as well as shipping hazard though cutting MV RIM loose is certainly not the mandate of navies paid by European taxpayers. The shipowner must be happy, because the naval action even saved him the costs to break the ship up in the Indian scrapyards, though the disposal of rotten vessels is still cheaper there than anywhere else but is also posing environmental hazards. Last known position of MV RIM on 5th June 2010 at 16h34 UTC was 09°44’0N and 051°32’3E drifting at 0.9 knots/hr in direction 032 degrees.
The 10 men from MV RIM were brought by the Dutch warship to Djibouti and released there on 10. June 2010, but the final fate of “Ahmed” is unknown to date. He left the Dutch warship Johan de Witt alive and well fed, medically looked after and was neither dumped in Somalia nor Djibouti as some media suggested. The Dutch Defense ministry states that he was taken to Yemen, to a refugee camp, because a return to Somalia was deemed to risky, for fear of reprisal attacks. Ahmed himself indicated that he didn’t want to be brought back to Somalia, says the ministry, which couldn’t confirm his age. Since the refugee camps in Yemen are ‘open’, Ahmed in theory could already just have left it. It is a shame that none of the governments directly concerned by the case of MV RIM could provide a better reward for him.
An official investigation has apparently neither been launched in Romania, Syria, North-Korea , Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Spain or in the Netherlands, nor by the EU or the US.

With the latest captures and releases now still at least 24 seized foreign vessels (26 sea-related hostage cases since yacht SY LYNN RIVAL was abandoned and taken by the British Navy) with a total of not less than 429 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 142 incidences with 123 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

EMERGENCY HELPLINE: sms/call +254-719-603-176 / +254-733-633-733
East Africa ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE:  +254-714-747-090 (confidentiality guaranteed) – email:  office[at]ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme  : Call: +254-734-437838 or +254-714-747090 or SMS to +254-738-497979

ECOTERRA Intl. is an international nature protection and human rights organization, whose Africa offices in Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania also monitor the marine and maritime situation along the East African Indian Ocean coasts as well as the Gulf of Aden. ECOTERRA is working in Somalia since 1986 and does focus in its work against piracy mainly on coastal development and pacification.

N.B.: This status report is mainly for the next of kin of seafarers held hostage, who often do not get any information from the ship-owners or their governments, and shall serve as well as clearing-house for the media. Request for further details can be e-mailed to: somalia[at]ecoterra.net (you have to verify your mail).

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