29.4.11

Renuar: Panamax Bulker released




EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD. owned bulk carrier to Fujairah (UAE) from Port Louis (Mauritius) hijacked 11th December 2010, 550 nautical miles off the coast of India was released April 23.



EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD.
As of December 31, 2010, Lhada Holdings Inc. owned approximately 17.0% of our outstanding Class A common shares and none of our outstanding Class B common shares, representing approximately 5.5% of the total voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Lhada Holdings Inc. is owned by a trust, the beneficiaries of which are certain members of the family of the Company's Chairman.

As of December 31, 2010, Tanew Holdings Inc. owned approximately 17.0% of our outstanding Class A common shares and none of our outstanding Class B common shares, representing approximately 5.5% of the total voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Tanew Holdings Inc. is owned by a trust, the beneficiaries of which are certain members of the family of the Company's Chairman.

As of December 31, 2010, our chairman, Mr. Gabriel Panayotides, owned approximately 39.0% of our outstanding Class A common shares and approximately 36.4% of our outstanding Class B common shares, representing approximately 37.3% of the total voting power of our capital stock. more

25.4.11

Eagle: $6 million ransom, pirates say



Somali pirates have released the Cyprus flagged, MV Eagle,
The bulk carrier was captured on January 17, about 490 miles southwest of Oman while en route on passage from Aqabar (Jordan) to Paradip (India)

Pirates claim they received a $6 million ransom for for the old bulk carrier's release.
here

21.4.11

ROSALIA D’AMATO: Giuseppe D'Amato's bulker







ROSALIA D’AMATO Bulk Carrier , 74,500 dwt, Italian flagged to Bandar Imam Khomeini (Iran) from Paranagua (Brazil) hijacked approximately 350NM South East of Salalah, Oman, in the Indian Ocean on 21 April.

It was attacked by a single skiff. Coalition warships had communications with the vessel and were told: ‘pirates onboard stay away’.


Officials with Perseveranza, the company that owns the ship, say they have been in contact with the ship's captain and report that all crew members are well.

Attacked and seized by pirates last night, right in the Arabian Sea, the Italian ship "Rosalia D'Amato." The bulk carrier is part owner Angelo D'Amato, owner of "Perseverance Navigation" and nephew of the owner of "Brothers D'Amato." . A crew of 22 aboard, including 6 Italians.Two are in Sicily, including the commander Orazio Lanza, three bells, two of Ischia, one of Vico Equense, and the first officer of Meta di Sorrento native who lives in Belgium.. The facts, as you can rebuild, occurred around 4 am, Italian time, when the boat - playing live in Brazil and Iran - was in the Arabian Sea about 400 miles off the coast of Oman. Two small boats approached on board with the pirates who have seized the Italian ship. . Everything would be done without firing with no consequences for the crew. [rough translation from Google]

In a prudent commercial management, all the owned vessels are
time chartered for long periods to important Italian and International Groups.

The Bulk carriers are chartered to Cosco , Armada Group , Cargill , North China Shipping, and others primary operators.



Giuseppe D'Amato | The President

· Perseveranza SpA is a Company owned by Giuseppe D'Amato.

Giuseppe D'Amato is the leader of a family of Shipowners that since four
generations is present in the world shipping community .

Giuseppe D'Amato is unanimously recognized as one of the most prestigious
entrepreneurs in the Italian Shipowners community.

He has been Vice President of Confitarma, the Italian Shipowners
Association, for six years; he has been Board Member of the Banca di Credito
Popolare di Torre del Greco, the biggest independent regional bank in
Southern Italy; he has been Board Member of UMS Generali Marine SpA, the
biggest Italian Insurance Company specialised in Maritime Hull and Machinery
Risks, that today is a branch of Assicurazioni Generali for transportation; he has just been awarded an honorary degree in Shipping Business at the
"Università Parthenope" in Naples.

Hanjin Tianjin: Turks scare, pirates abandon ship




Turkish frigate, TCG Giresun, of NATO’s counter-piracy taskforce, just 80 miles away from the container ship at the time of the pirate attack, first arrived at the scene. It provided necessary information to help South Korea’s 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young which arrived at the scene at 4:40 p.m..
Naval commandos of the Cheonghae Unit, a South Korean anti-piracy contingent operating off the Somali coast, boarded the 75,000-ton Hanjin Tianjin and found that all crew members remained unharmed inside the citadel, a bulletproof safety zone in the ship.

The commandos searched the vessel with 14 South Koreans and six Indonesians aboard and found no pirates aboard, officials said.


The Panamanian-registered ship owned by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. lost contact at around 5:15 a.m. Thursday when it was in waters some 460 miles east of the Somali coast. It was sailing from Spain to Singapore.

The crew members were found in the zone at around 7:30 p.m. and are currently in good health, officials said.

The commandos also discovered three live bullets of AK rifles presumed to be owned by Somali pirates and multiple footprints of bare feet, all of which indicate that pirates attempted to hijack the vessel, officials said.

here
read

20.4.11

Hanjin Tianjin: YoungMin's boxship hijacked




Hanjin Tianjin,Hanjin Shipping Co., for Singapore, 6,500 TEU hijacked 250 miles (402 kilometers) east of the Yemeni island of Socotra around 5:15 a.m. today Korea time.
Hanjin Shipping (President & CEO Young Min Kim) is Korea's largest carrier that operates some 60 liner and tramper services around the globe transporting over 100 million tons of cargo annually.

Its fleet consists of some 200 containerships, bulk and LNG carriers. The company is worth KRW 6 trillion and earning KRW 9 trillion annually.

16.4.11

Arctic Sea : to find out what really happened



Russian law enforcement authorities want the help of their Estonian counterparts to interrogate security adviser and businessman Eerik-Niiles Kross again in Russia in connection with the hijacking of the cargo ship Arctic Sea in 2009. “Russia has not submitted a new legal aid request, but different states have the same interests concerning Arctic Sea – to find out what really happened,” Chief State Prosecutor Norman Aas said. “I have given my testimony to the corresponding Estonian institutions more than a year ago. The Estonian Prosecutor’s Office then said that I have no connection to the hijacking of the Arctic Sea,” said Kross, who is Estonia’s former foreign intelligence coordinator, adding that he has heard of unofficial attempts to take him as a defendant in the case to Russia.

Drazki, Konstantin Olshansky: to Libyan waters



Bulgarian frigate F 41 "Drazki" (i.e. "Daring") is expected to join the operation on April 15 and will be manned by 160-member crew.
In 2009, Bulgaria purchased three second-hand frigates from Belgium - Drazki, Gordi ("Proud"), and "Verni" ("Faithful") and the Tsibar minesweeper.

Ukrainian Navy ship U402 'Konstantin Olshansky' arrived April 11 in Sevastopol with 113 refugees from Libya on board, 85 ethnic Ukrainians among them
The Ropucha (toad), or Project 775 class landing ships are classified in the Russian Navy as "large landing craft" (Bol'shoy Desatnyy Korabl). They were built in Poland in the Stocznia Północna shipyards, in Gdansk.

Asphalt Venture: Pirates shortchanged





Tugs stood by as Asphalt Venture was released with eight crew after a $3.5M ransom drop onboard April 15. More money was expected in the drop and seven hostages were taken and remain in Haradhere. more

13.4.11

Beluga Nomination: USD 5 m.w/ 2 tugs standing by





Beluga Nomination has been freed. The engine was turning and two tug boats were attending.
The pirates said they received $5 million early April 15 and departed.


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12.4.11

PIL Thor Nexus,:Thai-flag bulker ransomed





As of November 2007, PIL owns and operates a fleet of 106 vessels with a total TEU capacity of about 165, 272 TEUs. 32 new container vessels with a total capacity of 89, 064 TEUs will be delivered by March 2011. PIL also owns and operates a fleet of more than 334, 554 TEUs of marine containers.
$5 million ransom was delivered under EUFOR protection. more

9.4.11

Irene SL: USD 13.5 million ransom, pirates claim



USD 13.5 million ransom was paid for the Irene SL. silver fox


The Irene SL’s cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil represents nearly 20% (one fifth) of total U.S. daily crude oil imports. This one cargo is 12% of all oil coming out of the Middle East Gulf each day, and 5% of total daily world seaborne oil supply. here

Equator: tanker with $100 million in crude departs





Equator, Liberian-flagged oil tanker, departed the northeastern port of Marsa al-Hariga, [ Marsa el Hariga oil terminal in Tobruk ] carrying one million barrels of high quality light sweet crude oil, Serir/Mesla blend, crude oil, from the rebel-controlled Arabian Gulf Oil Co. The shipment, of over $100 million in oil, marks the first sale of oil by the rebel government since the uprising. back

Irene SL: released with 270,000 mt of crude oil



Somali pirates released the Greek-owned oil tanker " Irene SL" late Thursday after 58 days in captivity.

A spokesman for ENESEL SA, the manager, declined to comment on how the vessel was returned or whether a ransom was paid.

The supertanker was headed to the U.S. Gulf Coast from Mina Al Ahmadi, Kuwait, carrying 270,000 metric tons of crude oil when it was attacked and seized in early February off the coast of Oman.

The vessel N.S. Lemos & Co., plans to sail the ship to Durban, South Africa, for inspection and resupply, while also replacing the ship's officers and crew.

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8.4.11

Providence, Scranton, Whitney: gone from Libya



USN warships now on Libyan duty are the USS Kearsarge, the USS Ponce and the destroyer USS Barry.

Among those no longer participating in the Libya mission are two submarines, the destroyer USS Stout and the Mount Whitney,

According to published accounts, an unknown number of CIA officers, along with British intelligence and special forces counterparts, are working with the Libyan rebels. The CIA has its own paramilitary component, known as the Special Activities Division. But what the CIA might be doing in Libya beyond just gathering intelligence is unclear. VOA

The Special Activities Division (SAD) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) National Clandestine Service (NCS) responsible for covert operations, black operations and other "special activities". These include covert political action and paramilitary special operations. Within SAD there are two separate groups, one for paramilitary operations and another for political action The Political Action Group within SAD is responsible for covert activities related to political influence, psychological and economic warfare. The rapid development of technology has added cybA large covert operation usually has components that involve many, or all, of these categories, as well as paramilitary operations. The division is supervised by the U.S. Secretary of State

Special Operations Group (SOG) is the element within SAD responsible for paramilitary operations. These operations include collection of intelligence in hostile countries and regions, and all high threat military or intelligence operations with which the U.S. government does not wish to be overtly associated As such, members of the unit (called Paramilitary Operations Officers) normally do not carry any objects or clothing (e.g., military uniforms) that would associate them with the United States government If they are compromised during a mission, the government of the United States may deny all knowledge.
Only three Navy warships and a supply ship remain for the operation, compared with the 11 ships there when the intervention began, two defense officials said Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the data.

Susan K: AG-flagged Ostfriesland ship hijacked




3,642 gt SUSAN K, IMO 9344370, Antigua & Barbuda flagged, to Port Sudan (Sudan) from Mumbai (India) boarded by 10 pirates, hijacked 200 nm NE of Salalah, Oman; 35 nautical miles from the Omani coastline.although exact details of the attack are not known at this time. managed by Nimmrich & Prahm Bereederung of Leer, Ostfriesland. Exname is Sonja. Launch Name was Sonja. Call Sign V2CR8, IMO Number 9344370.


NIMMRICH & PRAHM BEREEDERUNG GMBH & CO. KG
shareholders 3




A tax-based partnership such as the KG in Germany, A Kommanditgesellschaft (abbreviated "KG") is the German name for a limited partnership business entity and is used in German, Austrian and some other European legal systems. In the KG there are general partners (Komplementär) with unlimited liability and limited partners (Kommanditisten) whose liability is restricted to their fixed contributions to the partnership. Although a partnership itself is not a legal entity, it may acquire rights and incur liabilities, acquire title to real estate and sue or be sued.

6.4.11

Pohjanmaa: Finns nab pirate support ship






The minelayer Pohjanmaa, the flagship of the Finnish Navy, has apparently captured a support vessel containing suspected pirates.
The seizure of the vessel took place early on Wednesday morning, some 500 kilometres south-east from Salalah in Oman.
The suspected pirates were aboard a vessel that was towing two smaller boats behind it.
The vessel attempted to escape, at which point the Pohjanmaa fired a volley of warning shots to deter the crew.
The vessel was found to contain eighteen persons believed to be pirates.
A detachment from the Pohjanmaa found material on the captured vessel that is in keeping with that used in piracy on the high seas. Other items had apparently been thrown overboard during the initial chase. No information was given of what particular objects were discovered, but it is thought likely they were weapons. The minelayer remains on station, attempting to determine the nature of the crew-members.
[photo] Units from the FNS Pohjanmaa carrying out inspection of a suspicious craft in February.

5.4.11

Equator: George Prokopiou's tanker at Tobruk






The Equator arrived at the Marsa al Hariga terminal, near the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya, at about 2 p.m. time local time. The 900-foot vessel came from the Red Sea and used Egypt’s Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean, the data show.
EQUATOR IMO number: 9296389 GRT 78845 Crude Oil Tanker 2006 Liberia Call Sign: A8GQ6 Ship manager: DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT

Dynacom Tankers Management, Ltd., a shipping company, Greece’s third-largest operator of supertankers, operates cargo vessels for the oil industry. It operates a fleet of double hulls, very large crude carriers (VLCC), tankers, and LNG carriers. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Athens, Greece with additional offices in Bombay and New Delhi, India; Singapore, Singapore; Fujaira, the United Arab Emirates; and a representation in Beijing, China.
The Greek shipowner George Prokopiou, has over the past two years led his company, DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT LTD to innovation and modernisation by putting into application a wide fleet renewal program. On the occassion of this important development, Mr George Prokopiou spoke exclusively to ELNAVI about the targets of this great effort and about its company's future prospects Mr Prokopiou said that, after many years, a fleet renewal program started about two years ago. For many years the company had managed a fleet of up to 45 tankers totalling 5,5 m dw. The age of those tankers ranged from 20 to 25 years, but with those ships the company managed to include in its clientele all major oil product companies having achieved over the past five years an average delivered crude oil quantity of 1.100.000 barrels a day. According to reports from market sources which were confirmed by Mr Prokopiou, of Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd's old tankers, some have been sold for further trading or conversion to FPSOs while others have been sold for scrap. At the same time an order was placed for newbuildings which are now under construction. This includes twelve suezmaxes, four aframaxes, and three panamaxes. These ships are being built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, NKK Onomichi, and Sasebo Heavy Industries. Six ships, of which four are suezmaxes, have already been delivered while in January 2003 three more new tankers will join DYNACOM TANKERS fleet. At present, DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT LTD's fleet includes 24 tankers whose average age is just below 11 years but in 2004 when newbuilding deliveries are scheduled to be completed, the fleet's average age will drop to eight years. The newbuilding program is Mr Prokopiou's first investment in new tankers. (2003)

4.4.11

Tromp: Dutch frigate shoots pirates







Yesterday morning a fishing boat fired on two RHIB from HMS Tromp which were approaching it. Marines on the RHIB's (Rigid-hulled inflatable boat) and militiamen in the Tromp returned the fire. During a second approach, 10 Somalis left in a fast skiff with the purpose of avoiding arrest. Marines opened fired, wounding some and the escape attempt stopped. The Somalis are apprehended.

. After it appeared that the remaining Somalis on board the hijacked fishing boat called a dhow, wanted to give themselves up, a boarding team from the Tromp boarded the suspect vessel. They found the 16-member crew, two Somalis and 6 Somali pirates. The six suspects, together with the other 10 held. On board the hijacked dhow found evidence of piracy.

While searching the liberated dhow Hr.Ms.Tromp approached a hijacked merchant ship. After a number of shots across the bow of the ship, it stopped and was then turned toward the berth where she came from.. All 16 Somalis have been transferred to the Tromp and held there until further notice. The wounded Somalis get medical care on board. The dhow's crew returned in the wake of Tromp and under its protection along coastal highway hazards and has obtained assistance. [rough Google translation]

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3.4.11

Arrilah-1: Emirati bulker recovered from pirates



37,000-tonne Arrilah-I, Liberian-flag, Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company and the National Gas Shipping Company, two subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) destined for Jebel Ali, Dubai was hijacked in the Arabian Sea, east of Oman, early on April 1. US Fifth Fleet-directed Emirati Navy forces recovered the bulker.

Florida, Scranton, Stout, Barry, Kearsarge Ponce






The U.S. Navy began the operation March 19 with 12 ships in the Mediterranean. As of April 1, nine remained: the submarines USS Florida and USS Scranton; destroyers USS Stout and USS Barry; amphibious warships USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce; the command ship USS Mount Whitney; and two supply ships, USNS Robert E. Peary and USNS Kanawha.

The subs and the destroyers are armed with Tomahawks. Marine Harrier attack planes launch from aboard the Kearsarge, and the Mount Whitney had served as a floating command post for the American admiral who was the on-scene commander until NATO took control March 31.

The Mount Whitney remains assigned to the mission but the new operational commander, Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, is working ashore at his NATO headquarters in Naples, Italy. The U.S. Navy is likely to peel more ships away from the mission in coming days, including some of those with Tomahawks. The U.S. military will continue providing a range of support, including aerial refueling, aerial surveillance and reconnaissance and electronic jammers.
President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. President Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks. Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. In order for specific operations to be carried out under the provisions of such a broad authorization -- for example the delivery of cash or weapons to anti-Gaddafi forces -- the White House also would have to give additional "permission" allowing such activities to proceed. Former officials say these follow-up authorizations are known in the intelligence world as "'Mother may I' findings." a covert action is "any U.S. government effort to change the economic, military, or political situation overseas in a hidden way."