Somali piracy threat worsening by the week, say shippers

Pirates leave a merchant vessel (not shown) for the Somali shore, while under observation by a US Navy ship, in this picture taken on October 8, 2008

Somali piracy is worsening by the week and governments lack the political will to tackle the crisis, which is threatening world trade routes, shipping industry officials said today.

Shippers have warned that more than 40 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes through the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea and is at risk from seaborne gangs, who are able to operate ever further out to sea and for longer periods, using captured merchant vessels as motherships.

Striken 7,000-ton gasoline tanker is towed to safety following collision in English Channel

A stricken tanker loaded with a type of gasoline was being towed to safety today after colliding with a huge cargo vessel in the English Channel.

All 13 crew of the 6,970-tonne YM Uranus were rescued by helicopter after the Maltese-flagged vessel was in collision with the 179,000-ton Hanjin Rizhao about 60 miles west of the Brittany coast in north-west France.

No one was hurt in the incident and none of the Uranus cargo - a specialist gasoline product called heavy pygas - is thought to have escaped.

The boat took in some water, but that inflow has stopped, and the cargo tanks were not breached, international ship manager V. Ships said, confirming that there had been no pollution of the waters.

'I think the danger is behind us now,' V. Ships spokesman Patrick Adamson confirmed.

He said the company would cooperate fully with investigators.

Listing heavily: The YM Uranus after the collision with a Panamanian bulk container off the Brittany coast

Sinking: The 400ft, Maltese-flagged YM Uranus was carrying 6,000 tonnes of solvent after the collision

Attack caused damage to Japan tanker

nvestigators have found traces of explosive on a Japanese supertanker damaged near the Strait of Hormuz last week and conclude the ship was the target of an attack, the United Arab Emirates news agency said today.

The 31 crew aboard the 333-metre-long M.Star (picture) reported an explosion shortly after midnight on July 28, injuring one seaman but causing no oil spill or disruption to shipping in the strategic waterway.

Japanese PM to meet Okinawa Governor as U.S. base relocation deadline draws close

People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. People staged a mass rally Sunday in the village of Yomitan on the western coast of the Okinawa Island, demanding the central government relocate a U.S. marine base outside of the southernmost prefecture.

People take part in a rally as a part of a mass rally in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2010. 

Okinawa citizens opposed to relocating U.S. marine facility within Japan's southernmost prefecture staged a sit-in protest in front of the Diet members' buildings on April 27, 2010.

Okinawa citizens opposed to relocating U.S. marine facility within Japan's southernmost prefecture staged a sit-in protest in front of the Diet members' buildings on April 27, 2010. 

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will meet Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima on May 4 to discuss the thorny issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Japan's southernmost prefecture, political sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

Hatoyama's visit comes on the back of a mass protest rally held Sunday in which 90,000 local residents and politicians, including the governor, gathered in the village of Yomitan in Okinawa to call for the relocation of the Futemma base outside the island.

Sources also revealed Wednesday that Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa submitted to Hatoyama a set of proposals for modifying an existing bilateral accord reached in 2006 between the U.S. and Japan to relocate the Futemma base from the crowded residential area of Ginowan to a less densely populated coastal area of the U.S. Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa Prefecture.

North Korea torpedoed South's navy ship-Navy 'Was Warned of N.Korean Human Torpedoes'

Tension in the Korean Peninsula is expected to heighten as a local newspaper says that the South Korean military intelligence submitted a report to President Lee Myung-bak saying that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of a Navy ship that killed 46 sailors. South Korean newspaper Yonhap said in a report that the strengthening of North Korea’s guerrilla warfare was the basis for the South’s suspicion that the Cheonan was hit by a submarine torpedo.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young also said in a report to Parliament that North Korea was the suspect in the tragedy. A South Korean investigator also claimed that “external explosion” probably caused the Cheonan to break on March 26.

North Korea has denied any involvement in the sinking, accusing instead South Korean President Lee of using the issue to bolster his party ahead of a coming local elections. Political analysts believe that it is highly unlikely that the South will react violently regardless if it was proven that the North fired at the Cheonan for fear of scaring investors.



The North is reportedly operating a brigade of suicide attack squads each in its East Sea and West Sea fleets. But it is still unclear whether the Navy corvette Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean human torpedo on March 26.

South Korea's military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy ship last month, based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States, a news report said on Thursday.

The Yonhap news report appears to be the clearest sign yet that Seoul blames Pyongyang for what would be one of the deadliest incidents between the rivals since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. It puts more political pressure on President Lee Myung-bak, but analysts do not see it triggering a war.

The military's intelligence arm sent the report of "certain" North Korean involvement to the presidential Blue House soon after the incident, Yonhap quoted a high-ranking military source as saying.

Lee's government has come under criticism for what many see as its overly cautious handling of possible links to North Korea. It has called for a thorough investigation of the sinking, thought to have killed 46 sailors.

Three British tourists injured after cruise liner hits harbour wall in Egypt

Three people were killed after a Costa Europa cruise liner collided with the dock in Sharm el-Sheik resort in Egypt

The Costa Europa can be seen tilting after the accident, which is believed to have been caused by fierce winds

The ship was en route to Sharm el-Sheikh from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Safaga

Three British tourists have been injured and three crew members have been killed after a cruise ship carrying 1,473 passengers hit a harbour wall in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Costa Europa, which is owned by Italian cruise liner company Costa Crociere, suffered damage to its right side after hitting the pier as it docked in the early hours of the morning.

'We sadly have to confirm the death of three crew members,' the company said in a statement.
Three British tourists were in a stable condition in hospital, according to officials, and a fourth crew member had also been taken to hospital.

The company said remaining guests had disembarked and were being accommodated in hotels while flights were arranged back to their destinations.

The accident is believed to have been caused by fierce winds.
An Indian and a Brazilian were among the crew members killed, said Salah Hashem, an Egyptian official at the harbour.

The nationality of the third is not yet known.

'The ship, Costa Europa, hit the pavement of the harbour earlier this morning causing a big hole in the ship's body... the deaths and injuries occurred due to the strength of the crash,' he said.

The ship, which was en route to Sharm el-Sheikh from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Safaga, was on an 18-day regular cruise from Dubai to Savona in Italy.

Tanker collision sends oil into Texas waterway

A barge collided with a tanker on Saturday in the port of Port Arthur, Texas, sending thousands of gallons of crude oil into the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.


The tanker was carrying crude oil to Exxon Mobil Corp's refinery in Beaumont, Texas, located north of Port Arthur. The waterway, through which tankers carry oil to four refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, remained shut on Saturday night.

A 15-foot-by-8-foot (4.6 meter-by-2.4-meter) hole was torn in the side of the 807-foot (246-meter) tanker Eagle Otome in the collision with a barge being moved in the port, the Coast Guard said. No injuries were reported due to the crash.

Vapors from the estimated 450,000 gallons of spilled crude oil triggered warnings of a hydrogen sulfide release near the port where three refineries are located, leading authorities to recommend nearby residents leave their homes.

"I think about 12 people went to the shelter," said Port Arthur Police Chief Mark Blanton. "The vapors quickly dissipated."

The crude oil spill was being contained by booms put out by state and federal environmental agencies.

The remaining crude oil on the Eagle Otome will be loaded on another ship and the tanker will be moved out of the waterway by early next week.

Refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont have a combined refining capacity of 1.15 million barrels, equal to about 6.5 cent of the total U.S. capacity.

None of the refineries in Port Arthur and Beaumont have reported problems since the waterway was closed. Refineries store significant amounts of crude oil in giant tanks on their grounds.

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Get Trucker stuffs.

Somali pirates hijack two ships off East African coast-Somali pirates seize two more vessels

The St James Park issued a distress call on Monday night saying it had been attacked by pirates

Somali pirates have captured two ships with 45 crew off the East African coast, officials say.

A UK-flagged chemical tanker, the St James Park, was reportedly captured in the Gulf of Aden on Monday while on its way to Thailand from Spain.

Its 26 crew hail from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Georgia, India, Turkey and the Philippines.

The Navios Apollon, a Panamanian-flagged Greek cargo ship with 19 crew, was hijacked north of the Seychelles.

The 50,000-tonne carrier - which had been sailing from the US state of Florida to India - was boarded on Monday by 10 men in speedboats, according to the Greek coastguard.

Pirate attacks have been common off the Somali coast and international navies have been deployed to counter them.

'No contact'

The St James Park issued a distress call on Monday night saying it had been attacked by pirates, said the International Maritime Bureau

The tanker, which was carrying a cargo of chemicals used to make plastics, had changed course and was now heading towards the northern coast of Somalia, said Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers Assistance Programme.

"It is expected to arrive there later this evening," Mr Mwangura told AFP news agency.

The ship's owner-operators told the BBC they were working for "the early and safe release of our crew members on board".

A spokesman for Zodiac Maritime Agencies said the company had had no contact with the St James Park or the pirates but was in contact with the European naval force in the area.

The waters around Somalia are among the most dangerous in the world.

Correspondents say the upsurge in piracy in the region is a consequence of the failure to find a solution to Somalia's continuing political disarray.

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