PIRATE STAND-OFF ON GERMAN OWNED CONTAINER-VESSEL SOLVED WITHOUT SHOTS BY U.S. MARINES
U.S. Maritime Raid Force Recaptures Ship From Somali Pirates

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, owned by German firm Dr. Peters, 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 sailors – 1 Bulgarian national, 6 Philippines, 1 Polish national, 2 Russians and 1 Ukrainian. The seafarers locked themselves in a safe room and requested for assistance. The crew not only managed to lock themselves into a secure compartment before the pirates came onboard, but also could stop the engines, leaving the vessel adrift to be reached by naval forces.
Though informed, the European Union’s anti-piracy force off Somalia, EU NAVFOR, stated to SAPA and other sources that it had no information on the hijacking and as RIA Novosti quoted was unaware of the incident.
At first no further details were available, a spokesman for shipping industry services company DS Schiffahrt GmbH & Co. told RIA Novosti.
A stand-off ensued overnight between the pirates on the vessel and those navies, which could reach the scene.
The CTF-151 flagship, TCG Gökçeada, a Turkish frigate, was the first ship on scene, responding to the distress call received from MV Magellan Star and two additional warships assigned to CTF-151, USS Dubuque (LPD 8) and USS Princeton (CG 59) arrived in the vicinity of the attack to provide support to Gökçeada.
CTF-151 is one of three task forces operated by the 25 nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). CTF-151 was established in January 2009 in order to deter, disrupt, and suppress piracy, protecting maritime vessels of all nationalities and securing international freedom of navigation.
The three warships from the CMF then surrounded the hijacked vessel and keept watch overnight until the rescue operation was staged.
At approximately 5 a.m. local time (03hoo UTC), Sept. 9, 24 U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force (MRF) aboard USS Dubuque (LPD 8) operating under Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151), boarded the MV MAGELLAN STAR while it still was occupied by the Somali pirates and seized control of the vessel.
“It was a very successful mission,” Lieutenant John Fage, spokesperson for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet stated, “Not only did it secure the safety of the crew, it was all done with no shots fired and there have been no injuries or casualties reported.”
All nine Somalis were taking into custody, pending further disposition. Fage said the suspected pirates were being held on board the Magellan Star and would be transferred to another CMF warship. It is, however, not yet clear if, or where, the suspected pirates will stand trial.
Juergen Salamon, owner of the German shipowner company Dr. Peters, praised the crew for managing to turn off the engines to prevent the pirates from maneuvering the ship.”The captain and his people acted very prudently, we are proud of them,” he told German Press Agency dpa.
This successful mission by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) secured the safety of the ship’s crew and returned control of the ship to the civilian mariners.
It was a rare scene of bloodless military action against Somali pirates and though usually such hijackings end without casualties when ransom is finally paid and hostages are usually treated ‘well’ by their captors, the crew and their families are extremely happy that the vessel was freed.

GREEK BULKER ESCAPED UNHARMED
While MV OLIB G was sea-jacked by the Somali attackers, a third attack has been reported involving Jamaica-flagged 28,200 dwt MV MILTIADES with 23 Philippine-Romanian crew on her way from Suez to India with fertilizer. Reportedly six of eight pirates were arrested in the unsuccessful attack and the vessel is said to sail free, but no detailed report has been released by the navy involved.

The three very well co-ordinated attacks at the same morning, however, show once again that Somali sea-shifta are capable of successfully changing tactics and strategy and make it clear that the real solution to the piracy problem has to come from a pacified Somalia with improving living conditions, which will make piracy again an issue of the past.

©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

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