• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


    Visit our website www.piratehorizons.com to quickly find download links for the newest versions of our New Horizons mods Beyond New Horizons and Maelstrom New Horizons!

Thagarr's Pirate News!

Or, they paid the pirates off in coins which were too heavy for the boat and it and the men sank. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shrug" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />
 
More likely the pirates just got greedy and didn't stick to the shares that were agreed too ahead of time. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/duel_pa.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":ixi" border="0" alt="duel_pa.gif" />
 
Another ransomed ship goes free!

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>MV Delight freed, 7 Indians released</b>
1/11/2009 11:38:56 AM

Somali pirates have released an Iranian-chartered ship seized in November and said on Saturday they were hopeful a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks would be freed soon.

Seven Indians and the hijacked vessel, MV Delight, have been released by the pirates and they are safe, Directorate General of Shipping said on Saturday (January 10). The pirates released the vessel and 25 crew members onboard, DG Shipping said in a statement.

MV Delight, Hong Kong registered ship, was hijacked from the Gulf of Aden on November 18. Other crew included two Pakistanis, seven Filipinos, seven Iranians and two Ghanians. The pirates, believed to be Somalians, seized the Delight on its way to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Iran's biggest shipping firm said Delight, a cargo ship ferrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran from Germany, was released on Friday, the same day a Saudi tanker was freed after a $3 million ransom was parachuted onto its deck.

Last year alone, pirates operating off the Somali coast carried out more than 130 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, turning the region into the world's most dangerous waters.

Somali pirates caused havoc in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in 2008, hijacking dozens of ships including the Hong Kong-flagged Delight and Saudi supertanker Sirius Star with its $100 million worth of crude.

Pirates holding a Ukrainian cargo ship with 33 T-72 tanks and other weapons on board said they might lower their ransom demands and release the MV Faina in the coming days.
Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which chartered Delight, said it was going to Iranian waters with its 25 crew. The company did not say whether a ransom had been paid.
"Nothing has happened to the cargo. The cargo has not been touched," said an IRISL official who declined to be named.

Iran said last month it had dispatched a warship to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian vessels.
On Friday, pirates freed Sirius Star, whose capture in November drew attention to a surge in piracy off Somalia which worsened dramatically last year as an Islamist insurgency fuelled chaos onshore.

The MV Faina, seized in September, also made headlines. Although the cargo was destined for Kenya's Mombasa port, Washington said the weapons were bound for south Sudan.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://www.timesnow.tv/Newsdtls.aspx?NewsID=26028" target="_blank">http://www.timesnow.tv/Newsdtls.aspx?NewsID=26028</a>
 
It's getting rather crazy over there though.

The Suez must be charging a first born for these companies to try to travel around it.
 
Aye mate, that it is! I think it's even worse than what was going on in the Indian Ocean a couple of years ago. A lot of company's are rerouting their merchant vessels around The Cape of Good Hope.
 
They need to start escorting their merchants through these perilous waters. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p2" border="0" alt="pirate3.gif" /> Apparently that is what China is going to be doing while calling for the international community to try to root out the causes of the piracy. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/urgh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":urgh" border="0" alt="urgh.gif" />

<a href="http://paper.sznews.com/szdaily/20081218/ca2906671.htm" target="_blank">http://paper.sznews.com/szdaily/20081218/ca2906671.htm</a>
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Ransom, Washes Ashore</b>
Published: January 11, 2009

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving part of a ransom washed ashore with more than $150,000 in cash, a resident of Xarardheere, a coastal town, said Sunday.

Five pirates drowned Friday when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $3 million ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker. Omar Abdi Hassan, the resident, said that one of the bodies had been found on a beach near Xarardheere and that his relatives were searching for the other four pirates.

“One of them was discovered, and they are still looking for the other ones,” he said. “He had $153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket.”

The United States Navy released photographs of a package dropped with a parachute onto the deck of the Sirius Star, the Saudi oil tanker, and said the item was likely to be the ransom delivery.

But five of the dozens of pirates who had hijacked the tanker drowned when their small boat capsized as they returned to shore in rough weather. Three other pirates survived but lost their share of the ransom.

Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, managing director of the British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service, said the episode was unlikely to deter attacks.

“The loss or potential loss of the ransom means the pirates will be all the more keen to get the next ransom in,” he said. “There are people lining up to be pirates.”<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Rest of the story here :
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/world/africa/12somalia.html?_r=1" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/world/af...malia.html?_r=1</a>
 
I guess that's better than hiding it in Davey Jones locker! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Exclusive: Pirate tells how five drowned</b>

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- One of the pirates who held a Saudi-owned oil supertanker off the coast of Somalia before releasing it for ransom over the weekend told CNN how five in his group drowned in an operation gone wrong.
A small aircraft drops a ransom payment during a flight over the Sirius Star on Friday.

Pirates seized the Sirius on November 15. A $3.5 million ransom payment -- down from the initial demand of $25 million -- was dropped by parachute onto the ship Friday, but the pirates delayed the vessel's release after the drownings.

"Other pirates on the shore wanted a tip from the pirates on the Sirius Star, so they started to fire in the air as our people approached the land," Libaan Jaama told CNN. "When our pirates heard the shots, they thought they would be robbed, so they tried to return to the tanker. In that quick turn the boat capsized."

Jaama said he was mourning his friends, who, along with other pirates on board, took 23 crew members hostage. The Kenya Seafarers Association said the crew -- which included citizens of Croatia, Great Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia -- was in "good health and high spirits" when the vessel was released Saturday.

The supertanker, owned by Vela International Marine Ltd., a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian-based Saudi Aramco, was the largest ship ever hijacked by pirates. The ship is a VLCC, or "very large crude carrier," and more than three times the tonnage of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the U.S. 5th Fleet said.

The tanker's capture in November sparked fears for its enormous cargo. The Liberian-flagged tanker was carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil worth about $100 million when it was captured.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Rest of the story and a couple of pictures here :
<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/12/somalia.pirates/" target="_blank">http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/0...omalia.pirates/</a>
 
Congrats on yer main page gig, Thagarr. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
Aye, congrats Thagarr! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="cheers.gif" />
 
Thank ye much mates! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" /> Now get out there and gather some news!! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/guns.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":2guns" border="0" alt="guns.gif" />

Russia strikes again!
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Russian navy saves Dutch ship from Somali pirates</b>
© 2009 The Associated Press
Jan. 14, 2009, 3:26AM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Russian navy helped foil an attack by Somali pirates on a Dutch container ship in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.

Six pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at the ship, which took evasive maneuvers while calling for help, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes but aborted their attempt to board the ship after a Russian warship and helicopter arrived at the scene, Choong said.

Pirates last year attacked 111 ships and seized 42 off the Horn of Africa, many in the Gulf of Aden. An international flotilla including U.S. warships has stopped many attacks, but the area is too vast to keep all ships safe in the vital sea lane that links Asia to Europe.

Choong said it was nevertheless getting harder for Somali pirates to hijack ships because of increased naval patrols and the vigilant watch kept by ships that pass through the area.

"The attacks are continuing but successful hijackings by pirates have (been) reduced," he said.

There have been 11 attacks in Somali waters this year, with two ships hijacked. In total, 11 vessels with 210 crew members remain in pirate hands, Choong said.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and its lawless coastline is a haven for pirates. The multimillion dollar ransoms are one of the only ways to make money in the impoverished nation.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6210099.html" target="_blank">http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6210099.html</a>
 
U.N. Contact Group on Somali Piracy board meets, decides it can do nothing at the present time ...Typical U.N. response.

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>At UN Group on Pirates Meets, Surrender is Advised, Somalia Abandoned</b>

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- Days after a $3 million ransom was parachuted to Somali pirates on a Saudi oil tanker, the UN on Wednesday hosted the inaugural meeting of the Contact Group on Somali Piracy. The Group issued a statement instruction ships' crews to, among other things, "remain calm and cooperate with the pirates" until rescued, and then "be prepared to answer questions on identity and status onboard." Chairing the meeting and Group, from the US State Department, was Mark T. Kimmel, previously a US spokesman in Iraq and most recently noted in a heavily-redacted memo by the Defense Department's Inspector General. Click here for that memo.

At the same time as the US claims leadership of the anti-pirate fight, it has tabled a resolution putting off decision on a peacekeeping mission to war-torn mainland Somalia until June 2009. As Inner City Press reported at year's end, the US backed down to the UK and its pessimism on Somalia, and veered from public statements by Condi Rice about the urgency of a UN peacekeeping mission.

In fact, even the UN's strategy in Somalia has been Americanized. UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah has called for the construction in Mogadishu of a UN headquarters that is Green Zone-like, a reference to the US' use of Saddan Hussein's guarded compounded after he was overthrown in Iraq. In Somalia, however, no such safe zone exists. Whether given the financial crisis of members states and the UN, it seems unlikely any Mogadishu Green Zone will be built.

Even on the peacekeeping mission, Ambassador Takasu of Japan, now as before a Security Council member, told Inner City Press his country feels that Somalia is not ready for a UN peacekeeping mission, there is no peace to keep.

And so the world's commitment to Somalia is essentially containment. It hasn't worked so far.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://www.innercitypress.com/un1kimmitt011409.html" target="_blank">http://www.innercitypress.com/un1kimmitt011409.html</a>
 
<i>The Dutch have had enough and want to string these pirates up.</i> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p2" border="0" alt="pirate3.gif" />




<b>The Dutch want pirates in court</b>

BY SEBASTIAAN GOTTLIEB*
16-01-2009
The Netherlands aims to bring to trial five Somali pirates who recently attacked Dutch Antilles cargo ship Samanyulo in the Gulf of Aden. The Dutch Public Prosecutor's office told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that this means calling upon an article in the country's criminal code which has never before been used. Many countries are currently struggling to decide what to do with pirates after their capture.
On January 2, the crew had managed to foil an attack by firing flares at the small pirate vessel which then caught fire. The pirates jumped overboard and were later picked up by the Danish navy. Now the Netherlands has asked Denmark to extradite the pirates to bring them to justice.
Pirate law
Never before has anyone in the Netherlands been tried for piracy, which means that the country might soon see article 381 of the criminal code, which outlaws piracy, being put to use for the first time. According to this article, the captain of a pirate ship can be sentenced to up to 12 years, while crew members can receive up to nine years.
Wim de Bruin, a spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecutor's office, believes that in this case, the Somali pirates will be able to be tried based on this law. He says,
"This is about piracy and that is illegal in our criminal justice system. Because the merchant ship was sailing under a Netherlands Antilles flag, that means that the Netherlands can start preparing a case for trial."

Rest of the story here:

<a href="http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/090116-piracy-trial" target="_blank">http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffa...16-piracy-trial</a>
 
The British Royal Navy is getting ready to kick some pirate butt!

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Navy bid to scuttle the curse of pirates</b>

By TOM NEWTON DUNN
Defence Editor

A ROYAL Navy warship will today join a new international team of pirate hunters.

HMS Portland has been ordered to track down gunmen before they can hijack merchant ships.

Once pirate boats have been identified, Lynx helicopters filled with snipers will be scrambled from the Type 23 frigate.

The Royal Marines will then board for close combat with the pirates — who use machine guns and grenade launchers to overpower crews then blackmail ship owners.

The US-led mission — expected to involve ten nations — is an assault on the chaos in waters off the Somali coast.

Pirates pocketed £100million in ransoms last year after more than 100 attacks. Previously, navies were unable to arrest the marauders due to international law.

But a series of agreements are being brokered with African governments such as Kenya who have agreed to try to lock them up.

American Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said: “We have to make it unpleasant to be a pirate — we want to capture them.”<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146305.ece" target="_blank">http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146305.ece</a>
 
Taking a cue from Thomas Jefferson eh? 'Bout time they decided to put a stop to this nonsense. These pirates be makin' a killin' fer far too long!! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p2" border="0" alt="pirate3.gif" />
 
It's been a bit slow in the waters off Somalia lately, with all those naval vessels hanging about! So it's back to the Caribbean for this one!
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Pirates attempt to rob German tourists</b>

Tuesday January 20 2009

Police continue to search for four men who on Sunday boarded a yacht in pirate fashion in Jolly Harbour and attempted to rob the passengers onboard.

According to reports the men used four kayaks, which they allegedly stole, to row to the yacht where they boarded the vessel and held the German tourists at gunpoint.

The Antigua Sun understands that the men wore masks, but only one was armed with a gun.

The bandits demanded money from the captain, another man and a woman passenger.

Further reports are that the captain attacked the masked man with the gun and a struggle ensued.

It is alleged that the perpetrator used the gun to strike the man to his face, bursting his mouth in the process.

The other man on board the yacht later joined in the fight and the men decided to call it a day and fled the vessel by jumping over board.

It is alleged that the police recovered two of the kayaks, which are still in the vicinity of the yacht. The bandits reportedly made their escape in the other two stolen vessels.

A report was made to the police. The incident reportedly occurred sometime after 1 a.m.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=280047049701202009&an=135039039201202009&ac=Local" target="_blank">http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&a...09&ac=Local</a>
 
Looks like oil tankers are becoming more of a target since the successful ransoming of the Sirius Star ...but is it really a good idea to use dynamite?? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Report: Nigeria militants attack tanker</b>
Published: Jan. 21, 2009 at 12:22 PM

LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Nigerian security sources say militants attacked an oil tanker with dynamite, kidnapping a crewman and causing serious damage to its engines.

The BBC said Wednesday the MT Meredith was believed to be still afloat off Rivers State with a 4,000 metric-ton cargo of diesel fuel, but was described as badly damaged.

One member of the Romanian crew was believed to have been kidnapped by the raiders, who were believed to be members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

MEND issued a statement contending the attackers were from a "affiliate" group, the BBC said.

The BBC said pirate attacks in the region are fairly common; however, attacks on tankers are considered unusual.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
original story here :
<a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/21/Report_Nigeria_militants_attack_tanker/UPI-52931232558569/" target="_blank">http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/21/Rep...52931232558569/</a>
 
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Somali pirates free Liberian registered tanker</b>


Posted January 24, 2009

Somali pirates have released a Liberian-flagged tanker, MT Biscaglia, with a crew of 25 Indians and three Bangladeshis after holding it for almost two months. A non-governmental organisation, Ecoterra International said this today and sources involved in the negotiations, have confirmed the release. The General Secretary of National Union of Seafarers of India, Mr. Abdulgani Serang also told PTI in Mumbai tonight that the crew of the ship, MT Biscaglia have been released and all are safe. A Directorate General of Shipping official said, the crew was released last night.

The Biscaglia was hijacked on 28th of November and also carried three security guards - two Britons and one Irish national - who jumped overboard when the pirates attacked. The chemical tanker was carrying 16,282 tons of cargo and travelling between Indonesia and Europe.

A warship on patrol nearby had sent helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived after pirates had taken control of the Liberian-flagged ship, diplomatic officials said on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak with media.

Still on board were 25 Indian and two Bangladeshi crew members, after the British security guards escaped by jumping into the water, the diplomats said.

It was the 97th vessel to be attacked this year off Somalia, where an Islamic insurgency and lack of effective government have helped facilitate an increase in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden.

The ship was being operated out of Singapore, according to Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Malaysia.

The hijacking came barely two weeks after MT Stolt Valor, which was seized on September 15 along with an 18-member crew, was released by the pirates.

At least 15 foreign vessels and around 250 crew members are still being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia.



Source: Associated Press and Hindustan Times<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Original story here :
<a href="http://runningafrica.com/news-01242009Somali-Pirates.html" target="_blank">http://runningafrica.com/news-01242009Somali-Pirates.html</a>
 
Looky <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D963KOSG0&show_article=1" target="_blank">here</a>, Thagarr! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bounce.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":b:" border="0" alt="bounce.gif" />

Thar now be a school fer thwartin' dem pesky pyrates! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p2" border="0" alt="pirate3.gif" />


Harr! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top