Sailor dies in clash with pirates north of Seychelles

A German ship-owner has confirmed the death of a sailor during a failed bid to free a cargo ship seized by Somali pirates off the Seychelles last week.

A Seychelles patrol ship opened fire while trying to free the Beluga Nomination on Wednesday, the head of Bremen-based Beluga told German media.
One pirate was killed and the others shot dead a crewman in retaliation, Niels Stolberg said.
Mr Stolberg described the response to the hijacking as a "disaster"
Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in recent years by capturing cargo vessels in the shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa, and are currently reported to be holding 29 ships, along with hundreds of crew members.
It is unusual for pirates to shoot a captive and navies patrolling the region to protect shipping are reluctant to use force because of the risk to captured crews.

Image source: BBC News

'Fit of anger'
The cargo ship, which is 9,775 dead weight tonnes, was captured last Monday by armed pirates using a skiff, 390 nautical miles (722km) north of the Seychelles.
A Seychelles patrol boat appears to have reached the hijacked vessel first, with a Danish warship from Nato's counter-piracy force only arriving after the fatal clash.
When the Seychelles boat opened fire the pirates "evidently lost control", Mr Stolberg told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
In the ensuing confusion, reports suggest the crew tried to overwhelm their captors, and two crew members managed to escape.
"The pirates shot dead one of our men, probably in a fit of anger," Mr Stolberg said.
Nato spokeswoman told the BBC News website that when the Danish ship, the Esbern Snare, reached the scene, the master of the Beluga Nomination urged it to keep its distance because of the earlier clash.
"We did not want to inflame the situation so we backed off," the spokewoman said.
Nato, she added, could not comment on the actions of the Seychelles patrol boat.
The Seychelles authorities are expected to make a statement on the incident later this week.

'Disaster'
Two members of the Beluga Nomination's 12-strong crew - made up of Poles, Filipinos, Russians and Ukrainians - managed to escape in a life boat and were picked up two days later by the Danish ship.

The German ship owner described attempts to rescue them as a "disaster".
"The crew spent two and a half days in a reinforced room but nobody came to help them," he said.
"The international community has failed. An absolutely uncoordinated intervention like that is totally incomprehensible."
Mr Stolberg added that the cargo ship's navigational equipment had been damaged in the shooting and the pirates had called out another captured ship, the York, to assist it in reaching the Somali coast.
Pointing out that the pirates had been exhausted and disorientated after the shooting, he criticised both the Nato force and EU NAVFOR, the EU's counter-piracy force, for failing to intervene.
The spokesman for EU NAVFOR, confirmed for the BBC News website that the MV YORK had drawn alongside the Beluga Nomination, and the two ships were proceeding north towards Somalia together.
But he stressed that both vessels had been hijacked and any attempt to intervene would put the lives of the captive crews at risk.

Hate to say "We told you so, but..."

In an editorial item on our parent site published in November 2010, we asked a question... Citadels; Safe? For How Long? Following the recent hijack of the MV BELUGA NOMINATION, once one delves past the confusion of what actually occurred over a 4 day period surrounding the capture, the article seems rather prophetic.
The incidents mentioned in the article related to the MV BBC ORINOCO where "the crew locked themselves in the ship's engine room and the steering compartment and communicated with their agents, UK MTO Dubai via email"; MV MAGELLAN STAR - 'rescued' by US Marines; MV GO TRADER - pirates abandon vessel; MV BELUGA FORTUNE - 'rescued' by Royal Navy frigate. That's right; another Beluga vessel had used their citadel, successfully.

BELUGA NOMINATION, however, saw the Bremen-based owners stating their frustration over the lack of response from the counter-piracy warships in the Horn of Africa region. The BELUGA NOMINATION, carrying luxury yachts and speedboats (may be useful to a pirate chief) had been reported attacked on 22 January. The crew had gone into the citadel and remained there for over 2 and a half days, having sent out a distress call. Compounded by the confusion over 4 days of information concerning the incident, such as being reported to be 390NM off Seychelles, or 800NM depending on which report is to be believed. Moving on. The fact that the crew was holed up for days, as opposed to hours, gave the pirates more than enough time to work on breaching the citadel; which they eventually managed to do through the ceiling, which would indicate that the citadel was actually somewhere within the housing!. Imagine the growing fear of the crew as they await rescue, listening to the pirates working at prying their prey from its shell...

The nearest warship was over 1000 nautical miles away, reported to be awaiting an humanitrian aid vessel on its way to Somalia. The Seychelles Coast Guard was somewhat closer, but the bad weather precluded any opportunity to render assistance. Read more in the blog, Manu's News. As stated throughout the counter-piracy operations by the various coalition forces, warships "can't be everywhere", much to the annoyance of the Beluga shipping company who accused NATO, the European Union and the responsible coastguards of a breakdown in communications and operations.Spending millions each year on training, equipment and insurance, only for another of their vessels to be taken, is clearly galling. The company is now a leading voice in asking the German government to deploy armed naval personnel on German-flagged and -owned vessels transiting the dangerous shipping lanes.

But back to the citadels. The differing standards, if any are actually applied, in the provision of citadels can be such polar opposites it is hard to see how this can be properly governed. It's like the 'recommendations' in the Best Management Practice book, just recommendations. The different vessels, security plans, national and/or flag state regulations are too diverse to see BMP enforced, so how can citadels be enforced. BELUGA NOMINATION and MV LEOPARD a few weeks earlier, have seen confidence shaken on that score.

OCEANUSLive believes in the viral diffusion of information. If the ships had a secure, real-time, information exchange capability with various authorities, Company Security Officers and the like, the chances of being left for so long would become very slim. As part of a layered defence mechanism, OCEANUSLive supports the process of registration with MSC(HOA) and reporting to UKMTO. It's better if the vessel whereabouts is known by the authorities when transiting high threat environments. Even better when you can communicate in real-time!

If any CSO would like to discuss how to create compartment lockdown throughout a vessel, so that access can be controlled at every door or compartment (much like high security prisons, government complexes, and even oil platforms), we are in a position to provide a security consultant to listen to your needs. Why cede the whole ship to the pirates if they get on board when you can lock their access in a layered defence approach? Send us an email at team@oceanuslive.org .