Latest piracy news (November 22, 2011)
(BRUSSELS2) According to the latest report established by the NGO Ecoterra, 28 merchant ships and 19 smaller boats were, on 20 November, in the hands of pirates who are still holding 482 hostages. A slightly lower balance sheet on the Eunavfor side (which only counts merchant ships): 10 ships and 243 sailors in the hands of pirates. The activity of piracy in recent days, however, has experienced a slight weakening, according to the latest daily notes from NATO. Two areas remain delicate: the Strait of Bab el Manded in the north, and that of Mozambique in the south, where several pirate skiffs seem to operate.
"Saxon" Common Survey Pool
Dutch and Germans will form a joint investigation team on piracy. The news was announced by the Dutch public prosecutor's office on Thursday (November 17). This team will focus on the criminal ramifications of piracy, its financing, the negotiators, the sponsors of piracy. The team will include military police and police investigators from the Dutch side, the investigation service of the Land of Lower Saxony and the federal police in Berlin, as well as members of Eurojust and Europol. For investigators, there are a number of links between the various piracy cases that need to be traced.
Algerian sailors recount their captivity
The Algerian sailors of the MV Blida who have just been released told their ordeal to fellow journalists. " Initially, we were afraid of a murderous assault. Afterwards, they killed us psychologically every day,” says Mohamed Aït Ramdane, the machinist at AFP. Going three to four days without food, water unfit for consumption, beaten if necessary, detention by Somali pirates looks like anything but a cakewalk. They were very thin, with red eyes, in loincloths or in military uniform. " In the evening, the pirates chewed their khat, drinking lots of tea. And they were often drunk,” tell the sailors. The boat changed places often. Their release, they owe it to the money paid. “On the day of our liberation, the leader of the pirates came with nearly 150 men. A plane dropped a bag full of money. (…) The leader of the pirates went up on the bridge with the Ukrainian captain and both counted the money”.
Road accident in Somalia
In Somalia, five pirates were injured, two of them seriously, in a road accident on Sunday (November 20), according to Somalia report. They lost control of their Toyota Hilux 4X4. On board, a pirate leader, Mohamed Argooste, suspected of being involved in the capture of the Greek chemical tanker Liquid Velvet. The injured were transported to Yemen for treatment according to local sources.
A British private guard murdered in Reunion
A British private guard, Carl Davies, was found dead on Reunion Island on November 9. A murder according to the first elements of the investigation as revealed by an autopsy performed Thursday, November 17. The 33-year-old man, former special forces, provided protection for the ship Atlantic Rider was raped and killed, injured in the head by a knife. An investigation was launched, entrusted to the criminal brigade of the departmental security.
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