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| EMS River |
EU MSC(HOA) reports:
MV EMS RIVER pirated in the Indian Ocean:
In the early hours of 27 December, the MV EMS RIVER was pirated approximately 175 nautical miles North East of the port of Salalah, Oman.
The 5,200 tonne general cargo ship, which is Antigua/Barbuda flagged and German owned, was on her way to San Nicolas, Greece from Jebel Ali in the UAE at the time of the attack. She has a crew of 8 (1 Romanian, 7 Philipinos) and is carrying a cargo of Petroleum Coke. The pirated vessel MT MOTIVATOR was in the vicinity of EMS RIVER throughout the attack which further enforces the current pirate modus operandi of the use of motherships.
There are now 26 vessels and 609 hostages being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
A warning from
NATO, which reports 4 or more captured vessels are being deployed by the pirates as "mother ships" - greatly extending the range and operation environment of the pirates:
- Hannibal II reports indicate is in the vicinity of Socotra
- Motivator is reported in the area of 15°21N 057°52E
- York and Golden Wave are assessed to be heading out to the deep Somali Basin.
- Polar, Thor Nexus, Ems River and Shiuh Fu No.1 maybe heading back to the anchorage off Somalia.
- Additionally one unknown Dhow is unlocated.
Gee, it's almost like the pirates are operating like a navy or something.
More from NATO:
December 28 2010
---ALERT UPDATE--- Indian ocean
Latitude: 17°57N Longitude: 057°43E
Alert number 577 / 2010.
Reference previous Alert number 573 / 2010.
At 1303 UTC a merchant vessel was reported under attack in position 17 57N 057 43E.
***This vessel has been hijacked***
and now is in pos 15°21N 057°52E crs 211° spd 11
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December 28 2010
WARNING Indian ocean
Latitude: 12°27N Longitude: 055°07E
Alert number 576 / 2010
Reference: previous alert number 575 / 2010.
At 0600 UTC 28 Dec a Pirate Action Group consisting of pirated vessel Hannbal II acting as mothership was reported in position 12°27N 055°07E Course 226°, speed 11 kts.
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December 27 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 13°30N Longitude: 055°48E
Alert number 575 / 2010
Reference: previous alert number 574 / 2010.
At 2320 UTC 27 Dec a Pirate Action Group consisting of pirated vessel Hannbal II acting as mothership was reported in position 13°30N 055°48E Course 212°, speed 11 kts.
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December 27 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 15°10N Longitude: 056°22E
Alert number 574 / 2010
Reference: previous alert number 570 / 2010.
At 1337 UTC 27 Dec a Pirate Action Group consisting of pirated vessel Hannbal II acting as mothership was reported in position 15 10N 056 22E Course 165, speed 14 kts.
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December 27 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 17°57N Longitude: 057°43E
Alert number 573 / 2010.
Reference previous Alert number 572 / 2010.
At 1303 UTC 27 DATE / a merchant vessel is currently under attack by Pirate Action Group operating from hijacked vsl Motivator acting as mothership position 17 57.7N 057 43.8E Course 175, spd 5 kts.
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December 27 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 18°10N Longitude: 057°50E
Alert number 572 / 2010.
At 0623 UTC 27 DEC a merchant vessel is currently under attack by Pirate Action Group incl hijacked vessel acting as pirate motherhip and a skiff in position 18°10N 057°50E.
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December 27 2010
WARNING Somali basin
Latitude: 07°20 N Longitude: 049°50 E
Alert number 571 / 2010.
At 1330 UTC 26 Dec a Pirate Action Group consisting of pirated vessel acting as mothership was reported in position 07°20 N 049°50 E Course 050°, speed 5 kts.
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December 26 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 11 16N Longitude: 054 45E
Alert Number 570 / 2010
At 0325 UTC 26 Dec a Pirate Action Group consisting of pirated vessel acting as a mothership was reported in position 11 16N 054 45E Course 050, speed 10kts.
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December 26 2010
WARNING Indian Ocean
Latitude: 14 28S Longitude: 055 15E
Alert number 569 / 2010
At 0802 UTC 26 Dec / a Pirate Action Group consisting of a pirated vessel acting as a mothership was reported in position 14 28S 055 51E, crs 115 spd 13kts.
It's easy to know where the pirates have been, since they leave a trail of attacks and captured ships. I suppose detaching a few ships or aircraft to keep tabs on the mother ships to know exactly where the mother ships are at any given moment is just too hard or is being doing and is being kept very quiet for some reason.
Right now, however, it seems all the proactive measures are being taken by the pirates.
And that should be taken very seriously, indeed.
Why cant we (or some other nation / group of nations) stop, search and remove the threat of these Motherships, and return them to their previous owners? If nobody wants them - why not just put a round from a main gun through the hull? I just dont understand how a ship the size of an oil tanker can be a known mothership for more than a week.
ReplyDeleteThe ocean is really big -- that is how a large ship can be a mothership for a significant length of time. Throw in the possibility of a captured ship going to sea with at least a portion of the captured crew onboard running the engines, and that greatly limits the amount of force that can be used to sink a ship.
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