"},"Ship name":{"wt":"MV ''Biscaglia''"},"Ship namesake":{"wt":""},"Ship owner":{"wt":"Winged Foot Shipping LLC, of the [[Marshall Islands]]{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/28/somalia.pirates.chemical.tanker/index.html|title=Three escape pirate-hijacked tanker|date=November 28, 2008|publisher=cnn.com|accessdate=2008-11-30}}"},"Ship operator":{"wt":"Ishima (International Ship Management) Pte. Ltd., of Singapore{{cite web|url=http://www.ishimaship.com/|title=News|publisher=.ishimaship.com|accessdate=2008-11-30}}"},"Ship registry":{"wt":""},"Ship route":{"wt":"From [[Dumai]], Indonesia, to [[Barcelona]], Spain, via the [[Suez Canal]]{{cite news|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/yet-another-ship-hijacked-near-gulf-of-aden-25-indians-among-crew-lead-changing-dateline_100124860.html|title=Yet another ship hijacked near Gulf of Aden, 25 Indians among crew|date=November 28, 2008|publisher=thaindian.com|accessdate=2008-11-30}}"},"Ship ordered":{"wt":""},"Ship awarded":{"wt":""},"Ship builder":{"wt":"Odense Staalskibsværft A/S, of [[Odense, Denmark]]"},"Ship original cost":{"wt":""},"Ship yard number":{"wt":""},"Ship way number":{"wt":""},"Ship laid down":{"wt":""},"Ship launched":{"wt":"8 August 1986"},"Ship sponsor":{"wt":""},"Ship christened":{"wt":""},"Ship completed":{"wt":"1986{{cite ship register |register=DNV |id=23567 |shipname=Vessel BISCAGLIA |accessdate=2008-11-30 }}"},"Ship acquired":{"wt":""},"Ship commissioned":{"wt":""},"Ship recommissioned":{"wt":""},"Ship decommissioned":{"wt":""},"Ship maiden voyage":{"wt":""},"Ship in service":{"wt":""},"Ship out of service":{"wt":""},"Ship renamed":{"wt":""},"Ship reclassified":{"wt":""},"Ship refit":{"wt":""},"Ship struck":{"wt":""},"Ship reinstated":{"wt":""},"Ship homeport":{"wt":"Monrovia"},"Ship identification":{"wt":"{{IMO Number|8406339}}, Signal Letters: A8FH3"},"Ship motto":{"wt":""},"Ship nickname":{"wt":""},"Ship honours":{"wt":""},"Ship honors":{"wt":""},"Ship captured":{"wt":"November 28, 2008"},"Ship fate":{"wt":"Scrapped 2013, Alang."},"Ship notes":{"wt":""}},"i":2}},"\n",{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Infobox ship characteristics\n","href":"./Template:Infobox_ship_characteristics"},"params":{"Hide header":{"wt":""},"Header caption":{"wt":""},"Ship type":{"wt":"[[Chemical tanker]]"},"Ship tonnage":{"wt":"{{DWT|27,350}}"},"Ship displacement":{"wt":""},"Ship length":{"wt":""},"Ship beam":{"wt":""},"Ship height":{"wt":""},"Ship draft":{"wt":""},"Ship depth":{"wt":""},"Ship hold depth":{"wt":""},"Ship decks":{"wt":""},"Ship deck clearance":{"wt":""},"Ship ramps":{"wt":""},"Ship ice class":{"wt":""},"Ship power":{"wt":""},"Ship propulsion":{"wt":""},"Ship sail plan":{"wt":""},"Ship speed":{"wt":""},"Ship range":{"wt":""},"Ship endurance":{"wt":""},"Ship boats":{"wt":""},"Ship capacity":{"wt":""},"Ship complement":{"wt":""},"Ship crew":{"wt":"30"},"Ship time to activate":{"wt":""},"Ship aircraft":{"wt":""},"Ship aircraft facilities":{"wt":""},"Ship notes":{"wt":""}},"i":3}},"\n|}"]}" id="mwAg">
The MV Biscaglia was a chemical tanker managed by Ishima Pte. Ltd. of Singapore and held by Industrial Shipping Enterprises Management Company LLC of Stamford, Connecticut, USA. [6]
On November 28, 2008 the ship was carrying palm oil [7] in the Gulf of Aden and was hijacked by Somali pirates. The attack took place within the Maritime Security Patrol Area [4] and was attributed to six pirates armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades in a high-speed skiff. [7] The ship was the 97th to be hijacked off the coast of Somalia in 2008. In addition to the three security guards who escaped by jumping into the sea, 25 Indian and two Bangladeshi were members of the crew. [1]
The two British and one Irish guard, were employed by British-based security company Anti Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), of Poole, Dorset. All three were military-trained, two being former marines and one a former paratrooper, [7] and were "... on board the vessel to provide logistical support and non-lethal defensive counter-measures." according to Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program. [8]
They did what they felt they had to do to save their lives and the lives of the crew. They were unarmed. They had no other option. As far as I'm concerned they deserve a medal. (Nick Davis, Head, APMSS, November 29, 2008)
Unarmed, the security guards attempted to repel the attackers for about 40 minutes by firing water cannon, zigzagging the skiff, and using a LRAD, [7] a non-lethal weapon that fires focused sound beams producing excruciating pain. A distress signal was received at 0447 hours UTC by the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre, in Kuala Lumpur. [4] After the pirates boarded the ship and continued to shoot at the security force, the guards managed to escape by jumping overboard. They were rescued from the sea by a German navy helicopter, [10] and taken first to the French light monitoring frigate Nivôse before being transferred to the Jean de Vienne , a F70 type anti-submarine frigate of the French Marine Nationale . [7]
The incident caused the usefulness of LRADs to be called into question by Lloyd's List. [11]
The vessel was finally released on 24 January 2009 thanks to the efforts of Capt Satya Sahoo and his team from Ishima and the owners ISEC. All crew of the vessel at the time of its release were reported as being in good health. [12]
Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea affects a number of countries in West Africa as well as the wider international community. By 2011, it had become an issue of global concern. Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea are often part of heavily armed criminal enterprises, who employ violent methods to steal oil cargo. In 2012, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Oceans Beyond Piracy and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Program reported that the number of vessels attacks by West African pirates had reached a world high, with 966 seafarers attacked during the year. According to the Control Risks Group, pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea had by mid-November 2013 maintained a steady level of around 100 attempted hijackings in the year, a close second behind the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia.
The action of 28 October 2007 was part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa, the military operation defined by the United States for combating terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The incident occurred when United States Navy units acted to interdict piracy in the region.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).
MV Manifa is an oil tanker formally owned and operated by Vela International Marine. With a length overall of 330 m (1,080 ft) and a capacity of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m3) of crude oil, she is classified as a very large crude carrier or VLCC. Vela is based in the United Arab Emirates and is a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian state oil company Saudi Aramco. Sirius Star is one of Vela's 24 tankers, of which 19 are VLCCs. Since her launch, the ship has been registered in Monrovia under the Liberian flag of convenience. She has since been reflagged to Saudi Arabia
The MV Powerful is a Danish-flagged cargo ship owned by Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. of Greece. It was attacked with the intention of hijack by Somali pirates using assault rifles on 11 November 2008 in the Gulf of Aden off the Horn of Africa. Its capture was thwarted by the Royal Marines of the British frigate, HMS Cumberland, as well as the crew of a Russian Neustrashimy-class frigate.
Anti Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS) of Poole, Dorset, England is a British company established in 2008. Its director is Nick Davis, a former British Army pilot. The company's goal is to provide for the safety and security of merchant ships as they make passage through the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) in the Gulf of Aden. The security team commonly includes a Team Leader and two other guards. The team members have prior experience in a variety of organisations, including Royal Navy, British Army and British police. The company's interim deck watch team provides non-lethal ship security through known high risk piracy areas, using necessary equipment, including long range acoustic device (LRAD). APMSS provides early warning of a potential pirate attack.
Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval ForceSomalia, is an ongoing counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the European Union (EU), in support of United Nations resolutions 1814, 1816, 1838, and 1846 adopted in 2008 by the United Nations Security Council. Since 29 March 2019, the operational headquarters is located at Naval Station Rota in Spain, having moved from London as a result of the British withdrawal from the EU.
The Close Range Naval-91 is a naval version of the Medak 30mm automatic gun installed on the Sarath Infantry fighting vehicle, a variant of the Russian BMP-2 manufactured in India under license by the AVANI. The Medak gun itself is based on the Russian Shipunov 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon.
Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden was a naval operation by the Republic of Korea Navy against Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea. The operation was spurred by the pirates' seizure of the South Korean chemical tanker Samho Jewelry. In response, the South Korean government sent a destroyer and 30 naval commandos to retake the ship and rescue its crew. After trailing the tanker for several days and fighting a preliminary engagement that neutralized four of the pirates, the South Korean forces retook the ship by force on January 21, 2011, in a successful boarding action that resulted in the deaths of eight and the capture of five out of thirteen pirates.
Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council, the program was terminated on 15 December 2016 by NATO. Operation Ocean Shield focused on protecting the ships of Operation Allied Provider, which transported relief supplies as part of the World Food Programme's mission in the region. The initiative also helped strengthen the navies and coast guards of regional states to assist in countering pirate attacks. Notably, the Italian Military Support Base in Djibouti contributed to anti-piracy efforts as part of NATO's Operation Ocean Shield, utilizing naval vessels such as the ITS Mimbelli and ITS San Marco in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, and off the coast of Somalia. Additionally, China, Japan and South Korea sent warships to participate in these activities.
The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) is a security force based in Puntland, an autonomous region in northeastern Somalia. As of May 2024, the PMPF had around 4800 personnel. The force is eventually expected to comprise 10,000 personnel.
Operation Allied Protector was an anti-piracy military operation undertaken by NATO forces from March – August 2009 in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Guardafui Channel to protect maritime routes from pirates within the International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). It was the second NATO anti-piracy operation in area following Operation Allied Provider and was succeeded by Operation Ocean Shield.
Piracy in Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the beginning of the country's civil war in the early 1990s. Since 2005, many international organizations have expressed concern over the rise in acts of piracy. Piracy impeded the delivery of shipments and increased shipping expenses, costing an estimated $6.6 to $6.9 billion a year in global trade in 2011 according to Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP).
Operation Dawn 8: Gulf of Aden was a naval operation carried out by the Royal Malaysian Navy against pirates in the Indian Ocean on 20 January 2011. In response to the hijacking of MV Bunga Laurel, the Malaysian Shipborne Protection Team deployed an attack helicopter and 14 members of the naval counter-terrorism group PASKAL in two rigid-hulled inflatable boats to retake the vessel and rescue the crew. After one night of trailing the tanker, the Malaysian forces successfully retook the ship by force on 20 January 2011, resulting in the wounding of three and the capture of four out of 18 pirates, and all 23 vessel crewmembers rescued.
Floating armouries are vessels used to store military grade weapons. Being in possession of military-grade weapons in most jurisdictions is highly controlled. In the early twenty-first century, piracy in international waters became a serious issue for shipping companies. In response, services that supply weapons on the high seas, often referred to as floating armouries, were implemented. These armouries provide transfer services to private maritime security companies (PMSCs); the controlled weapons are available in international waters, but never enter patrolled territorial waters—they are delivered by an armoury to a client's vessel, and returned, in international waters.
2023 in piracy was marked by 120 events of maritime piracy against ships, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). 105 vessels were boarded, nine additional attacks attempted, two fired upon, and four vessels hijacked.
2022 in piracy resulted in 115 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau. 288 acts of global piracy and robbery were recorded by the MICA Centre. Piracy had substantially increased in the Gulf of Guinea; the year began with five incidents each month, through March, in the Gulf, where acts of piracy had become heightened during 2015 through 2020, while, overall, piracy incidents declined globally.