Pirates hacked shipping company, cherry-picking targets based on cargo / Boing Boing
▻http://boingboing.net/2016/03/03/pirates-hacked-shipping-compan.html
Pirates hacked shipping company, cherry-picking targets based on cargo / Boing Boing
▻http://boingboing.net/2016/03/03/pirates-hacked-shipping-compan.html
Oil is now so cheap even pirates aren’t stealing it any more - Quartz
▻http://qz.com/619281/oil-is-now-so-cheap-even-pirates-arent-stealing-it-any-more
▻https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/oil-tanker-zeus-e1455795985436.jpeg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1
Stealing the oil from a ship is no mean feat.
Oil tankers are enormous, and ships that carry expensive cargo are designed to be difficult to board. Stealing can mean hijacking the original tanker, disabling its tracking devices, taking it to a location where it can’t be spotted, and transferring thousands of heavy barrels to a different vessel that can then be sailed away. Stealing crude also means finding a buyer for it, or else getting involved in the messy and dangerous business of illegal refining.
Over the past six months, the price of oil has plunged due to a global oversupply. And for some pirates, it’s just not worth stealing it any more.
Sharp rise in piracy and maritime crime
▻https://www.controlrisks.com/en/our-thinking/analysis/sharp-rise-in-piracy-and-maritime-crime
Piracy and armed robbery at sea around the world increased by 10% last year, driven by a rise in the number of cases recorded in South-east Asia and the Americas. Control Risks’ Maritime Risk Analysis team recorded 682 maritime security incidents globally in 2015. The data includes cases of activism, terrorism, militancy, armed assaults during periods of unrest, and piracy and armed robbery at sea, with armed robbery accounting for 87% of incidents recorded.
By contrast, activity levels in East and West Africa dropped, continuing the downward trend seen since 2011 and 2014 respectively. Despite a drop in activity in West Africa, the region (Nigeria specifically) continues to witness the second highest number of offshore kidnaps worldwide, only beaten by South Asia, with most recorded off Bangladesh.
Of the incidents recorded in the Middle East and North Africa, the majority of cases were linked to onshore instability within Yemen and Libya, including cases of terrorism and militancy, or assaults by pro-government forces on port infrastructure or maritime assets within, or in the vicinity of ports.
The capture of a floating armory and its crew reveals a strange industry on the high seas - Quartz
▻http://qz.com/593272/the-capture-of-a-floating-armory-and-its-crew-reveals-a-strange-industry-on-the-
The case of the Seaman Guard Ohio, a ship impounded by India for the past three years along with its crew, is one of high drama. For the men who were on board when the ship was seized, there’s been nothing exciting about the months since October 2013, and so far, no Hollywood ending. In a decision that shocked many—like the families waiting at home—the 35 men were sentenced Jan. 12 to more time in prison by an Indian court.
Récit complet et trafics d’#AdvanFort
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/628105
Maritime ‘Repo Men’ : A Last Resort for Stolen Ships
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/world/americas/maritime-repo-men-a-last-resort-for-stolen-ships.html
Sri Lanka Bans Private Floating Armouries - The New Indian Express
▻http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/Sri-Lanka-Bans-Private-Floating-Armouries/2015/11/16/article3130540.ece
Sri Lanka has banned private floating armouries, but Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) will be allowed to function (...) following a major scandal over the functioning of the Lanka-based PMSC, Avant Garde Maritime Security Services Ltd (AGMSL).
(...) the controversial company, which ironically was a Joint Venture (JV) with the Defence Ministry’s security firm Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd (RALL). The JV, entered into in 2012, has since been cancelled. (...)
From 2009 to 2012, the Navy was the repository of weapons that were lent to the PMSCs for anti-piracy operations in the Red Sea area. After the setting up of the RALL-AGMSL JV, which acquired two floating armouries, the Navy lost revenue to the tune of LKR 1.2 billion (US$ 8.4 million), according to a report.
Several illegalities in the operation of the RALL-AGMSL JV were discovered after the exit of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in January this year. The AGMSL’s floating armouries had sailed in the high seas with weapons that were not authorised, police and the Navy alleged.
In October, one of its floating armouries had sailed into Indian waters off Minicoy, and also entered Maldivian waters, thus exposing itself to punitive action by the Indian and Maldivian navies.
Permission to enter Galle port was taken from the Defence Ministry, but only at the end of the journey. When the vessel entered the port, it had 861 weapons on board, but authorisation had been given for only three specified weapons and three Sea Marshals. The vessel’s crew had kept its route a secret and also lied about their captain’s identity. Besides, there are money laundering and corruption cases against the AGMSL, which are being investigated.
Arrests and prosecutions – a positive response to piracy | 2015 | Articles | News and Media | ICC - International Chamber of Commerce
▻http://www.iccwbo.org/News/Articles/2015/Arrests-and-prosecutions-%E2%80%93-a-positive-response-to-piracy
Despite an overall global reduction in serious piracy attacks this year, the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) cautions against complacency in its 2015 report for the year to 30 September.
Southeast Asia cracks down
Number of incidents reported to IMB, Q3 2015
In Southeast Asia, a piracy crackdown appears to be bearing fruit, with only two hijackings reported in the third quarter of the year. Indonesian and Malaysian authorities have also arrested and in some cases prosecuted, members of product tanker hijacking gangs, notably those behind the MT Sun Birdie and MT Orkim Harmony attacks.
“The robust actions taken particularly by the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities - including the arrest of one the alleged masterminds - is precisely the type of deterrent required,” said IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan.
The two hijackings, on a small product tanker in the Straits of Malacca and a fishing vessel 40-miles west of Pulau Langkawi, were among 47 incidents the IMB PRC recorded globally between July and September.
To date 190 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships have been officially counted this year, the greatest number in Indonesia, which tallied 86 mainly low-level incidents, followed by Vietnam with 19 low-level reports.
Illegal overfishing and the return of Somalia’s pirates - Al Jazeera English
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/illegal-overfishing-return-somalia-pirates-151006111159994.html
A hundred years ago, it was a bustling port that served the vibrant fishing community living along Somalia’s coastline, the longest on mainland Africa.
Now, Durduri is a sun-bleached, wind-swept, white-sand graveyard of stone structures. There is no harbour, no jetty. The drying and smoking house is just a tumble of bricks.
This is one of many historical coastal trading towns that have risen and fallen with empires. When the busy trade routes moved away, fishing was one of the few lifelines left.
Talk to locals now and you will find this too has dried up - they say there are no more fish in the sea. They blame not the pirates who brought the attention of international law enforcement to Somalia’s waters, but the foreign fishing boats that have plundered sea-life stocks.
Inside Somalia’s Eyl, families pay for piracy crackdown
And if things don’t change, they say, a return to piracy will be their only way of survival.
#pêche #supêche #piraterie #mer #Somalie via @albertocampiphoto
Piraterie dans l’#océan_Indien : menace régionale mais enjeux internationaux (T 683)
La maitrise de l’espace maritime, comme celui de l’océan Indien, est devenue un enjeu majeur pour les pays traversés par le flux du commerce mondial parce qu’il est vital pour leur économie. Face aux actes de piraterie, ils doivent lutter efficacement contre cette menace par une mutualisation des forces, tout en définissant une nouvelle stratégie maritime globale afin d’assurer la sécurisation des voies d’approvisionnement.
▻http://fr.calameo.com/books/0005581157e4c28606642
#piraterie #piraterie_maritime
cc @fil @reka signalé par @ville_en
cc @ocean71
Refugees claim Greek coastguard are ROBBING them in the Mediterranean | Daily Mail Online
▻http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3225321/Pirate-rogue-element-Greek-coastguard-ROBBING-migrants-gunpoint-punctur
Masked gunmen from the Greek coastguard’s special forces have turned pirate and are robbing refugees in boats in the middle of the Mediterranean, migrants and aid-workers claim.
Migrants have told MailOnline shocking stories of how ’commandos’ wearing balaclavas and armed with guns have struck in dozens of attacks between Turkey and Greece during July and August.
La face cachée de la #piraterie
Depuis une dizaine d’années, l’Occident a redécouvert la #piraterie_maritime. De la #Somalie au #Nigéria, des #Caraïbes aux archipels asiatiques, des hommes profitent des faiblesses de leur Etat pour prendre d’assaut des navires de commerce et de particuliers afin de les rançonner. Nous avons enquêté pour comprendre les raisons de la réapparition de ce fléau et avons découvert un monde et des pratiques que la haute mer seule protège par son absence de témoin.
ps. @ocean71 est sur seenthis !
@ocean71 : voici des articles/cartes en lien avec la « piraterie maritime » publiés sur @visionscarto ▻http://visionscarto.net/tag/piraterie_maritime
[#Enrica_Lexie] Italian marines case: UN tribunal asks India, Italy to suspend all trials against accused - Firstpost
▻http://www.firstpost.com/world/italian-marines-case-un-tribunal-asks-india-italy-to-suspend-all-trials-a
the President of the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Vladimir Golitsyn asked the two countries to submit the initial report in the entire incident by 24 September.
The judge said pending a decision by the arbitral tribunal, “Italy and India shall both suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the...arbitral tribunal or might jeopardise or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render.”
un peu de #corruption maintenant dan ce dossier :
PM Narendra Modi offers amnesty to Italian marines in exchange for proof against Sonia Gandhi
▻http://www.saharasamay.com/nation-news/676584572/pm-narendra-modi-offers-amnesty-to-italian-marines-in-exchange-f.html
#Piraterie et #banditisme maritime
▻http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/var/storage/libris/3303331600404/3303331600404_EX.pdf
via @ville_en (twitter)
cc @reka @fil
Le retour des pirates. La piraterie maritime au large de l’#Indonésie et de la #Somalie
▻http://www.laviedesidees.fr/IMG/pdf/20090904_frecon.pdf
Murder at Sea: Captured on Video, but Killers Go Free - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/world/middleeast/murder-at-sea-captured-on-video-but-killers-go-free.html
The oceans, plied by more ships than ever before, are also more armed and dangerous than any time since World War II, naval historians say. Thousands of seamen every year are victims of violence, with hundreds killed, according to maritime security officials, insurers and naval researchers. Last year in three regions alone — the western Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa — more than 5,200 seafarers were attacked by pirates and robbers and more than 500 were taken hostage, a database built by The New York Times shows.
Many merchant vessels hired private security starting in 2008 as pirates began operating across larger expanses of the ocean, outstripping governments’ policing capacities. Guns and guards at sea are now so ubiquitous that a niche industry of floating armories has emerged. The vessels — part storage depot, part bunkhouse — are positioned in high-risk areas of international waters and house hundreds of assault rifles, small arms and ammunition. Guards on board wait, sometimes for months in decrepit conditions, for their next deployment.
(...)
Radar advancements and the increased use of so-called fish-aggregating devices — floating objects that attract schools of fish — have heightened tensions as fishermen are more prone to crowd the same spots. “Catches shrink, tempers fray, fighting starts,” Mr. Southwick said. “Murder on these boats is relatively common.”
#mer #piraterie #pêche #meurtres
et des photos des #armureries_flottantes (#arsenaux_flottants en bon français)
Discerning threats is difficult. Semiautomatic weapons, formerly a pirates’ telltale sign, are now found on virtually all boats traversing dangerous waters, they said. Smugglers, with no intention of attacking, routinely nestle close to larger merchant ships to hide in their radar shadow and avoid being detected by coastal authorities. Fishing boats also sometimes tuck behind larger ships because they churn up sea-bottom sediment that attracts fish.
Somali-Based Pirates Down But Not Out | Inter Press Service
▻http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/07/somali-based-pirates-down-but-not-out
While the economic cost of Somali piracy has fallen and considerable progress has been made in deterring pirate operations, the latest attacks on Iranian fishing vessels by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean may be another signal that it is too early to cut back international counter-piracy efforts, according to a new report.
(...) "We still haven’t addressed the root causes of piracy. There are still ungoverned spaces on the coastline. There is still unemployed youth that might be attracted to piracy.” — Jon Huggins
(...) As reported by Foreign Policy, young Somali pirates in Hargeisa and Bosaso are detained in the same prisons as members of the al-Shabab militant group.
Stowaways and Crimes Aboard a Scofflaw Ship - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/world/stowaway-crime-scofflaw-ship.html?emc=edit_na_20150717&nlid=67621834&ref=he
CHIOS, Greece — The rickety raft made of empty oil drums and a wooden tabletop rolled and pitched with the waves while tied to the side of the Dona Liberta, a 370-foot cargo ship anchored far from land in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa.
“Go down!” yelled a knife-wielding crew member, forcing two Tanzanian stowaways overboard and onto the raft. As angry clouds gathered on the horizon, he cut the line.
Gambling on a better life, the stowaways had run out of luck. They had already spent nine days at sea, most of the time hiding in the Dona Liberta’s engine room, crouched deep in oily water. But as they climbed down onto the slick raft, the men, neither of whom knew how to swim, nearly slid into the ocean before lashing themselves together to the raft with a rope.
As the Dona Liberta slowly disappeared, David George Mndolwa, one of the abandoned pair, recalled thinking: “This is the end.”
Parrikar’s comments weaken case for removal of piracy high risk area off Indian shores - The Times of India
▻http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Parrikars-comments-weaken-case-for-removal-of-piracy-high-risk-area-off-Indian-shores/articleshow/46683135.cms
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s comment that Somali pirates are “shifting their locations” towards India has punched a hole in the country’s ongoing case in international forums for a rollback of the extended piracy “high risk area (HRA)” that covers the entire Arabian Sea. (...)
“It weakens our stand that the HRA zone should revert to west of 65 degree east longitude because the piracy threat remains widespread off Somalia, Oman, Yemen and Gulf of Aden. It was in June 2010 that the HRA was extended eastwards till 78 degree east longitude,” said an official.
What strengthens India’s case is that there has been no piracy attack east of the 65 degree longitude, or within 450 nautical miles of the Indian coast, since April 2012 due to sustained anti-piracy patrols by the Coast Guard and Navy.
Italian Marines row hits PM Narendra Modi’s EU plan - The Times of India
▻http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Italian-Marines-row-hits-PM-Narendra-Modis-EU-plan/articleshow/46569875.cms
les relations diplomatiques et commerciales entre l’UE et l’Inde sont abîmées par l’affaire de l’Enrica Lexie
#Nigeria and its neighbours: Big fish (or shark) in a small pond | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21645750-nigerias-ills-spill-across-its-borders-big-fish-or-shark-small-p
Illegal fuel can be dangerous: people have been burnt alive in accidents with it.
Sabotage of Nigerian gas pipelines also upsets the country’s neighbours. (...)
#Ghana is another country in the region that has been hurt by Nigeria’s shortcomings—in the supply of gas. Nigeria has consistently failed to fulfil a contract to supply its neighbour with 120m cubic feet a day. (...)
Fuel-smuggling and gas hold-ups are not the only way in which Nigeria affects its region. Since its population, of 170m or so, and its economy are both by far the biggest in Africa, it has a huge influence in almost all spheres. Some of it is beneficial. (...) In the past decade or so Nigeria’s armed forces and its diplomatic muscle have helped end wars in Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. Yet Nigeria is also an exporter of insecurity
3 millions de Somaliens menacés - BBC Afrique
▻http://www.bbc.co.uk/afrique/region/2015/02/150219_somalia_merchants_bank
Un nouveau rapport indique que trois millions de Somaliens qui dépendent des transferts d’argent de l’étranger risquent de souffrir de la faim si les canaux de réception de ces envois de fonds sont bloqués.
Cette mise en garde conjointe de 3 ONG intervient deux semaines après que la Merchants Bank de Californie - qui traite 80 % des transferts d’argent des États-Unis en Somalie - a fermé ses services.
La banque est préoccupée par le fait que ces fonds tombent dans les mains du groupe militant al-Shabaab.
Un antimonde contemporain : la #piraterie moderne dans l’#océan_Indien, Jérôme Lageiste*
Dans le sillage de l’émergence d’une géographie sociale, l’analyse de la #piraterie_moderne agissant dans des #zones_de_non-droit révèle l’importance de solutions politiques.
Afrique de l’Est : « Sur la Trace des Pirates » traque l’argent sale découlant de la #piraterie_maritime au large de la #Corne_de_l’Afrique - HCH24 -Afrique de l’Est
▻http://www.hch24.com/actualites/02/2015/afrique-de-lest-sur-la-trace-des-pirates-traque-largent-sale-decoulant-de-la-
Etablissant un modèle dit « de l’argent pirate », l’étude analyse les investissements réalisés par un échantillon de 59 « pirates financiers » afin d’éclairer sur le nombre de secteurs – qu’il s’agisse des entreprises légitimes ou criminelles – qui ont été financées par l’argent des rançons. Soulignant la place importante des #pirates_financiers, le rapport estime qu’entre 30% et 75% de cet argent termine entre les mains de ces financiers. Les « pirates fantassins » à bord des navires ne reçoivent qu’une fraction des recettes avoisinant les 1% et 2.5% du total.
Government plans to end ambiguity on probe agencies in high seas - The Economic Times
▻http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/government-plans-to-end-ambiguity-on-probe-agencies-in-high-seas/articleshow/45928005.cms
suite à l’affaire de l’Enrica Lexie :
NEW DELHI: To end ambiguity over who will probe crimes committed in international waters, the government is planning to designate agencies empowered to investigate unlawful activities offshore.
Enrica Lexie // Italian marines committed blatant murder from 125 metres: NIA - Economic Times
▻http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-09/news/57883779_1_two-indian-fishermen-marines-nia
Contrary to Italy’s case that its two Marines killed two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012 out of mistaken identity, suspecting them to be pirates advancing towards the ship they were guarding, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claims to have proof that the Marines used deadly force without any provocation and that they had no reason to believe that the boat approaching them had pirates on board.
European Parliament adopts resolution on Italian marines, India disapproves - The Economic Times
▻http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/european-parliament-adopts-resolution-on-italian-marines-india-disapproves/articleshow/45908242.cms
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution asking India to allow the return of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen, drawing a sharp reaction from New Delhi which termed the step as not “well advised”
L’Asie du Sud-Est nouveau point chaud pour la piraterie - Asie-Pacifique - RFI
La piraterie a baissé ces dernières années dans lemonde, sauf en Asie du Sud-Est, a indiqué le Bureau maritime international (BMI). Dans son rapport annuel, le BMI indique que 245 actes de piraterie ont été commis en 2014, une baisse par rapport à l’année précédente (264). Cette baisse est liée à la multiplication des patrouilles internationales au large de l’Afrique de l’Est. Une des autres principales zones à risque, c’est le golfe de Guinée, sur la côte ouest de l’Afrique, déclare sur RFI le directeur du BMI Pottengal Mukudan.
▻http://www.rfi.fr/asie-pacifique/20150114-asie-sud-est-nouveau-point-chaud-piraterie-golfe-guinee/?ns_mchannel=fidelisation&ns_source=newsletter_rfi_fr_monde&ns_campaign=email&ns