new york state office of homeland security maritime sector open source week in review 11 - 17...

8/8/2019 New York State Office of Homeland Security Maritime Sector Open Source Week in Review 11 - 17 September 2009

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Maritime Sector:

Open Source Week in Review11-17 September 2009

New York State Office of Homeland Security

Intelligence Division

This product is designed to provide agencies and personnel with a maritime interest situational awareness of worldwide eventsand developments in the maritime sector as reported in the Open Source domain. No operational, classified or law enforcementsensitive information is contained within the report. This information has been compiled by the NYS OHS Intelligence Division.

For questions, comments, suggestions or additional information please contact Intelligence Analyst John Fusco at [email protected].

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 1

Open Source Week in Review Highlights ...................................................................................................... 2

Areas of Interest ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Terrorism, Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea ................. .................. ................. ................. .................. ... 4

Homeland, Port and Maritime Security .................................................................................................. 20

Drugs, Smuggling, Illegal Weapons Shipments, Immigration, Border Security, Humanitarian ............ 29

US Navy, US Coast Guard, International Navies, etc. ................. ................. .................. ................. ....... 33

Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Shipping, Commerce and Trade .............................. ............ 40

Miscellaneous ......................................................................................................................................... 46

Geographic Region(s) of Interest ................................................................................................................ 49

Featured Vessel(s) of the Week ................................................................................................................... 50

NATO Shipping Centre Piracy Update ....................................................................................................... 52

This Week in US Naval History .................................................................................................................. 53

This Week in US Coast Guard History ....................................................................................................... 55

National Maritime-related Documentation ................................................................................................ 57

Useful Maritime-Related Website Links ..................................................................................................... 58

This weekly product is designed to provide agencies, organizations and personnel with a maritimeinterest, situational awareness of worldwide events and developments in the maritime sector as reported

in the open source domain. It is a compilation of Open Source information only; no operational,classified or law enforcement sensitive information is contained within the report. This information has

been compiled by the NYS OHS Intelligence Division.

Ninety percent of intelligence comes from open sources. The other ten percent, the clandestine work, is just

the more dramatic. The real intelligen ce hero is Sherlock Holmes, not James Bond.

- Lieutenant General Samuel V. Wilson, USA (Ret),former director, Defense Intelligence Agency


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Open Source Week in Review Highlights

Terrorism, Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea

An attack was launched by US Special Forces, originating from a US Navy warship off the coast, intoSomalia killing wanted al- Qaida terrorist Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan. Nabhan has been tied to several

attacks including the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in which more than 200were killed and close to 4,000 were injured. He was also wanted in connection with the 2002 suicidebombing of an Israeli-owned hotel which killed ten Kenyans and three Israelis, as well as a failed attack on an Israeli aircraft, both in Mombasa, Kenya.

The Somali pirate captured during the hostage taking incident aboard the MV Maersk Alabama appearedin a Manhattan federal court this week where he pleaded not guilty to piracy charges. AbdiwaliAbdiqadir Muse was indicted on ten counts including piracy and hostage-taking and could face life inprison if convicted.

According to the commander of the anti-piracy Combined Task Force-151 (CTF-151), US Navy RearAdmiral Scott Sanders, pirate skiffs are being intercepted every few days by the int ernational navalforces in the region. Currently there are about six ships assigned directly to CTF-151. In addition toCTF-151, there is the European Union Operation Atalanta and the NATO Operation Ocean Shield.Several other nations have sent their own ships and operate independently of the organized task forcesincluding Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, India, Japan South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia andIran. In total there are approximately 30 warships now on patrol in the waters off Somalia. Recently,Russian and Chinese naval forces together escorted a convoy of 18 commercial ships through the Gulf of Aden. According to Russian media reports, Russian naval forces have escorted over 100 Russian andforeign commercial ships and thwarted several attacks so far in 2009. According to reporting, in 2009international naval forces have encountered 542 suspected pirates, released 315 and have handed 212over for prosecution. Now that the monsoon season has ended, pirate attacks are expected to increase.

An attack on a North Korean commercial vessel by Somali pirates armed with rocket propelled grenadesand assault rifles was repelled by the ships crew using Molotov cocktails and distress rocket flares. One

of the ships crew was reportedly woun ded and the ship sustained some damage. According to theInternational Maritime Bureau this was the 156th attack of the year. A Greek merchant ship, MV Irene EM , and its 21 crew seized in April was released this week after the pirates were paid a $2 millionransom. There are approximately six ships and 100 crew still being held hostage by Somali pirates.

Four suspected pirates captured last week by the German Navy frigate Brandenburg were released andreturned to Somalia along with the body of a fifth individual who was killed when warning shots werefired at the skiff they were sailing in. According to a statement posted on the German Bundeswehrwebsite, it was decided not to send the four suspects to Kenya for prosecution since they were not surethey would be convicted.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Malaysia pirates attacked two tankers, a Panama-registered tanker Pacific Harmony and a Malaysia-registered chemical tanker MMM Kingston. It is believed the same group of pirates was responsible for both failed attacks. Approximately 50% of the worlds oil tanker traffic sailsthrough region, which provides ships with the shortest route between the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Homeland, Port and Maritime Security

A safety zone has been established by the US Coast Guard around a small island just off the coast of Maine in order to protect fishermen from unexploded ordnance dating back to the 1940s and 1960s. Seal


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Island was used by the US Navy as a bombing range until it was placed under the jurisdiction of the USFish and Wildlife Service in 1972. According to US Coast Guard Commander Michael Sams, the head of prevention for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, the request to establish the safety zone camefrom the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Drugs, Smuggling, Illegal Weapons Shipments, Immigration, Border Security, Humanitarian

Tensions between Russia and Georgia continue to escalate as the Russian border guards have nowindicated that all vessels in violation of Abkhazias maritime border would be detained. Georgia stillconsiders the breakaway Abkhazia to be part of its territory and recently seized a Panamanian-flaggedtanker and its cargo of gasoline and diesel fuel as it attempted to reach Abkhazia. The Abkhazian foreignminister has indicated that Abkhazia would use force if necessary in order to stop Georgia from seizingvessels. Russia has recognized Abkhazia and signed mutual assistance treaties with Abkhazia and SouthOssetia.

Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Shipping, Commerce and Trade

Italian authorities have reported that a sunken ship carrying 120 barrels of suspected radioactive wastemay have been sunk by the Calabrian mafia. It is believed there may be as many as 30 other such vesselsoff the Italian coast. This vessel, identified as the Ndrangheta , was discovered in approximately 500meters of water about 20 nautical miles from the coast of southern Italy.

The oil spill which began over three weeks ago in the Timor Sea off the western coast of Australia isreportedly leaking about 400 barrels a day, with approximately 1,200 tons of oil having already leaked.This would be the third largest spill in Australias history. According to a spokesperson for theAustralian Maritime Safety Authority, "We've got two observation flights daily across the area and wehave our vessels, spoons and skimmers to recover oil off the surface of the water and in addition to thatwe have got another vessel that is doing disbursement spraying as necessary," she said.


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Areas of Interest

Terrorism, Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea

Counter-Piracy Task Force Flagship Hosts Yemen Sea Service OfficersSource: U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=38924 Published: 17 September 2009

USS ANZIO, At Sea Commander of Combined Task Force 151, Rear Adm. Scott E Sanders, and Capt. Frank JOlmo, commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, hosted senior members of the two Yemenimaritime forces aboard the CTF 151 flagship this week. The visit promoted cooperation between the Yemeni Navy,Yemeni Coast Guard and the Combined Maritime Forces.

Aden District commander, Yemen Coast Guard Col. Lofta Al Barati and Aden District commander, Yemen NavyBrigadier Radman Shamsan were flown out to the USS Anzio by one of the ship's SH-60 Seahawk helicopters fortheir two hour visit.

"Cooperation with the maritime forces in the surrounding countries is critical to the long-term success of our

mission" said Sanders. "Having this opportunity to discuss our counter-piracy operation with senior officers fromboth the Yemen navy and coast guard is a significant step towards stopping piracy" he added.

USS Anzio was patrolling the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden and moved out of these shipping lanes to launch a helicopter for the ferry flight from Aden. This was the first U.S. helicopter flightinto Aden in more than four years.

Captain Keith Blount RN gave the Yemeni officers a brief on the operations of the CTF 151 ships in the region. Hestressed the benefits to be gained by all forces in working together. He said "We are able to gain a greaterunderstanding of the usual pattern of life in the Gulf of Aden by speaking to those who see it every day. Only byworking together will we win our fight against piracy", a statement that was endorsed by Cmdr. Lofta Al Barati of the Yemen coastguard.

The Yemen officers were shown the medical center aboard USS Anzio which is able to deal with severe gunshotwounds or similar injuries and include an Expeditionary Resuscitation Surgical System. The surgical team isavailable to deal with some of the most serious injuries and the team demonstrated their response to an injury.

While touring the remainder of USS Anzio, Sanders said, "the turning point has been the willingness by merchantmariners to defend themselves, by the prudent defensive measures that many have adopted." "CTF 151 is here towork with them and support them every step of the way."

CTF 151 is a multinational task force established in January 2009 by the Combined Maritime Forces headquarteredin Manama, Bahrain, to conduct counter piracy operations under a mission-based mandate to actively deter, disruptand suppress piracy in order to protect global maritime security, and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations.

The number of military units assigned to the force flow in CTF 151 is constantly changing as ships and aircraft froma variety of countries assign units to the task forces. Nations including the UK, Turkey, South Korea, Japan,Australia, Denmark, Singapore and the U.S. have conducted operations as part of CTF 151.

Piracy off the Horn of Africa is a threat to the security of all nations and requires an international solution. Thepresence of coalition naval vessels in the region demonstrates our commitment to regional security and stability. Tocontinue to counter and deter piracy successfully, coalition efforts must be complemented by proactive measures bycommercial shippers, regional governments, and the international community.
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Teen Somali Piracy Suspect Due Back in Manhattan Court Source: 1010 WINS http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5239999.php?contentType=4&contentId=4708438 Published: 17 September 2009

A Somali teenager accused of leading a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa is facing aNew York judge. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse has pleaded not guilty to piracy charges. He appears in Manhattan

federal court on Thursday afternoon.

Authorities say Muse was the only surviving pirate of a group that attacked the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama off the Somali coast in April. The ship was carrying humanitarian supplies. Muse was indicted on 10 counts includingpiracy and hostage-taking. He faces a mandatory life term if convicted of the most serious charge.

His lawyers have denied the government's claim that Muse is 18. His family has said Muse is as young as 15

Lawyers: alleged Arctic Sea pirates needed helpSource: Associated Press http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGMWEnaCdQQYsfVwZJjeIVkgLzgQD9AOHGV00 Published: 16 September 2009

MOSCOW Lawyers for eight men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea freighter as it passed through the BalticSea said Wednesday their clients are peaceful seamen who were merely practicing maritime skills when their boatran into trouble.

They said the eight defendants who have been charged in a Russian court with abduction and piracy had donenothing wrong and only climbed onto the freighter off Sweden to seek help because their inflatable rubber boat wastaking on water.

The comments were the latest addition to the saga of the Arctic Sea, whose alleged hijacking, subsequentdisappearance and rescue by Russian naval ship prompted wide speculation about the ship's cargo and itsdestination.

Russian authorities have said the freighter, loaded with Finnish timber, was boarded July 24 by armed men, whobeat the crew and forced them into submission before leaving in an inflatable boat.

Six days later, the ship disappeared after passing through the English Channel.

The Kremlin then announced on Aug. 17 that a Russian frigate had intercepted it off western Africa, thousands of kilometers from the Algerian port where it was supposed to deliver its load of timber two weeks earlier.

A Russian shipping expert and an EU anti-piracy official have speculated that the vessel was carrying clandestinecargo, possibly surface-to-air missiles for Iran or Syria. Russian officials have dismissed the allegations.

One of the lawyers, Omar Akhmedov, told reporters that the suspects were practicing navigation in the Baltic Seawhen they got lost and their rubber boat began taking on water. They accidentally reached the Arctic Sea and askedfor help, he said.

Akhmedov said his client, Dmitry Savins, and the others were trying to practice their seafaring skills beforeapplying for job with a Spanish environmental protection company. He wouldn't name the company.

Another lawyer, Egon Rusanovs, said that Savins and others were desperate to find new jobs amid highunemployment in the Baltic nations. Most of the eight come from Estonia and Latvia.

The eight are being held in Moscow's high-security Lefortovo prison; lawyers argued that keeping the suspects incustody violated Russian law.
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5239999.php?contentType=4&contentId=4708438http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5239999.php?contentType=4&contentId=4708438http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5239999.php?contentType=4&contentId=4708438http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGMWEnaCdQQYsfVwZJjeIVkgLzgQD9AOHGV00http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGMWEnaCdQQYsfVwZJjeIVkgLzgQD9AOHGV00http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGMWEnaCdQQYsfVwZJjeIVkgLzgQD9AOHGV00http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGMWEnaCdQQYsfVwZJjeIVkgLzgQD9AOHGV00http://www.1010wins.com/pages/5239999.php?contentType=4&contentId=4708438


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Meanwhile, Russian investigators who had remained on board the Arctic Sea to inspect it as part of the officialinvestigation, prepared to hand the ship over to authorities of Malta, whose flag the freighter was flying. The federalInvestigative Committee said the transfer will take place on the Canary Islands over the next two days.

Key Outcomes of 4th Plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of SomaliaSource: US Department of State http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129267.htm

Author(s): Office of the Spokesman, Washington, DCPublished: 16 September 2009

International efforts to combat piracy in the Horn of Africa region received a boost when the Contact Group onPiracy off the Coast of Somalia, chaired by Japan, convened its fourth plenary at the United Nations in New York on September 10. At the meeting, Contact Group participants:

Agreed that Piracy in the Horn of Africa Remains a Serious Shared Security Challenge. 17 new countriescame to the table in New York, bringing the Contact Group to 45 participating nations, seven internationalorganizations (the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union, INTERPOL, the InternationalMaritime Organization, NATO, and the UN Secretariat), and two major maritime industry groups, BIMCOand INTERTANKO, taking part as observers.Assessed how improving coordination of international naval patrols is making a positive contributiontoward improving maritime security in the waters off the Horn of Africa. An unprecedented internationalarmada of 20 Contact Group participants, including the United States, NATO, the EU, China, India, Japan,Malaysia, Russia, and Singapore are working together at sea to help safeguard regional shipping. Theseefforts are complemented by Contact Group work to help Somalia and its neighbors to improve their abilityto secure their own territorial waters.Approved a new UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund to help defray the expenses associated with prosecutingsuspected pirates . All governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector will be able tocontribute to this trust fund, which will complement the International Maritime Organizations International Trust Fund that is building maritime security and judicial capacity among countries near theHorn of Africa and Gulf of Aden. During the plenary, the United States also called for an examination bysubject matter experts of the various illicit financial systems and flows that help to sustain piracy off thecoast of Somalia.Expanded political support for the New York Declaration. The Declaration is a political commitment by

nations to enact internationally recognized best management practices to protect vessels against pirateattacks. The United States, Cyprus, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom signed theDeclaration. These six new signatories along with Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas, and the Marshall Islands,who introdu ced the Declaration in May 2009, account for more than fifty percent of the worlds shippingby gross tonnage.

As Secretary Clinton has said, piracy is a 17 th Century problem that demands a 21 st Century solution, AssistantSecretary for Political Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro told participants at the September 16 Global MaritimeInformation Sharing Symposium. The Contact Group is encouraging international cooperation among navalpatrols, promoting shipping self-protection measures, arranging for the prosecution of suspected pirates, and

building the capacity of countries victimized by piracy.

Assistant Secretary Shapiros remarks are available at http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htm> . To learnmore about the United States and international communitys response to piracy off the coast of Somalia, visithttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/piracy/index.htm .

Somali Pirate Sorties Are Being Thwarted, Naval Forces SaySource: Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aR3K894IS_VI Author(s): By Gregory ViscusiPublished: 16 September 2009
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129267.htmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129267.htmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129267.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/piracy/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/piracy/index.htmhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aR3K894IS_VIhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aR3K894IS_VIhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aR3K894IS_VIhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aR3K894IS_VIhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/piracy/index.htmhttp://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/sept/129267.htm


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Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Somali pirates are venturing out again as monsoon winds abate and are being met by anincreased naval presence that has been able to intercept them before they carry out attacks, say commanders of aU.S.-led force.

The southwestern monsoon kicked up high waves in the Indian Ocean over the past few months, reducing activityby pirates who typically use light skiffs for their assaults.

The weather is now relatively calm and pleasant, and every few days we intercept a skif f carrying pirate paraphernalia, U.S. Rear Admiral Scott Sanders, commander of Task Force 151, said in a telephone interview fromthe USS Anzio off the Somali coast. Because of our close cooperation with the EU and NATO, weve been able tointercept the skiffs before they attack.

The six warships of Task Force 151 are joined by vessels from Pakistan, Australia, Turkey and Korea. It operatesalongside Atalanta, a European Union fleet, and a North Atlantic Treaty Organization fleet. Countries such asIndia, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have sent ships on their own to protect theircountrys shipping.

Altogether, there are about 30 warships in the area, compared with fewer than 20 in May when attacks peaked, theU.S. Navy says. Pirates have attacked vessels off the coast of Somalia about 140 times so far this year, with a surgein April and May, the U.S. Navy said. A total of 28 ships have been seized this year, and pirates are still holdingfour vessels for ransom.

Since the start of July, when the monsoon hit full force, there have been 13 attacks and only one boat seized. Therehas been one attempted pirate attack so far this month.

International Cooperation

International cooperation is helping intercept the pirates, Sanders said.

In late August a Japanese patrol aircraft detected a skiff in the Gulf of Aden, said Sanders, who took over command of 151 from a Turkish admiral last month. The Dutch flagship of Atalanta se nt a helicopter to intercept,as did a Korean ship. Then a Norwegian fast boat sent a boarding party. Thats the sort of cooperation we see everyday.

The Norwegians found six Somalis with weapons, ladders and extra fuel. There wasnt any fishing equipme nt. The Norwegian sailors destroyed the paraphernalia and let the men return to shore because they werent caught doinganything illegal.

The German Navy says it killed a suspected pirate Sept. 7 when it fired on a skiff that refused warnings to stop. Hisbody was turned over to Somali authorities a week later.

Pirates HeldSo far this year, naval forces have encountered 542 suspected pirates and released 315 and turned 212 over forprosecution. Eleven presumed pirates have been killed in the encounters. Four are still being held while their statusis investigated.

Early in the year, most pirate attacks were in the Gulf of Aden, a choke point for the Suez Canal thats used by33,000 ships a year. With naval forces patrolling a security corridor through the Gulf, pirates in March shifted theirattacks farther out into the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Somalia.

We have a lot of assets in the area now, and they will go where they need to go, said British Captain Keith Blount,chief of staff of Task F orce 151. Weve got them spread out along the transit corridor in the Gulf of Aden, but wehave enough to move in and out of the Somali Basin when needed. The coast of Somalia is about as long as theeast coast of the U.S.

Taking Diplomatic Action Against PiracySource: US Department of State http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/129258.htm Author(s): Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Political-Military AffairsRemarks to the Global Maritime Information Sharing Symposium, National Defense UniversityPublished: 16 September 2009

Washington, DC As prepared
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Thank you, Captain McCarthy, for the introduction and opportunity to speak this morning.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to join you this morning at this important gathering.

Let me take a few minutes to talk about the State Departments role in leading the diplomatic effort to combatpiracy off of the Somali coast.

As Secretary Clinton has said, piracy is a 17th century problem that demands a 21st century solution.

Each year, 33,000 commercial ships pass through the Gulf of Aden, making it one of the worlds busiest shippinglanes.

In 2007, there were 19 pirate attacks on ships. In 2008, the number of attacks grew to 122. In the first nine monthsof 2009, the number of attempts on commercial vessels has already reached 140.

Piracy is no longer occurring just off the coasts of Somalia and Yemen. It has spread to an area of over a millionsquare miles across the Gulf of Aden and the West Indian Ocean, and there have recently been pirate attacks in theRed Sea.

We all understand that piracy is a result of the decades of failed governance in Somalia. Somalia cannot controlcriminals in its territory, and the international community is limited in our ability to conduct law enforcement in theglobal commons of the high seas.

The United States Government is dedicating significant effort and resources to help the Somali Transitional FederalGovernment build its capacity to govern. However, that is a long term effort that will not curb piracy in the nearfuture.

In the meantime, we are taking energetic action to restore security to the maritime industry and humanitarianassistance shipments to eastern Africa.

Last week, 47 nations and international organizations participated in the fourth plenary meeting of the ContactGroup on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

The State Department created and convened this forum in January 2009, months before any U.S. ship came underattack.

After the attack on the Maersk Alabama, Secretary Clinton demanded additional actions and we have respondedwith a vigorous agenda for the Contact Group.

The Contact Group is encouraging international coordination among naval patrols, promoting shipping self-protection measures, arranging for the prosecution of suspected pirates, and building the capacity of countriesvictimized by piracy to interdict and prosecute these maritime criminals.

At the meeting last week, we encouraged members to adopt straightforward priorities: (1) implement bestmanagement practices in commercial fleets to minimize their vulnerability to pirate attacks; (2) discourage ransompayments to pirates; (3) prosecute pirates in national courts when national ships and crews are attacked; and (4)support capacity building programs to help countries in the region better prevent pirate attacks and to prosecute

pirates and their enablers.

The biggest challenge we are facing is prosecuting those accused of piracy. Many countries have inadequate orantiquated national laws dealing with this particular crime. Some states with adequate legal frameworks and judicialcodes lack the political will to prosecute even when their interests are directly attacked by pirates.

The United States decision t o prosecute the suspected pirate captured during the Maersk Alabama incidentdemonstrates our resolve to prosecute when we are victimized by pirates. We continue to urge other affected statesto prosecute as well, and the Contact Group has created legal approaches to help them do so.


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For instance, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries have arranged with Kenya to prosecuteand incarcerate piracy suspects seized by our naval forces when affected states are unable or unwilling to prosecute.

Last week, the Contact Group approved the creation of an international trust fund to help defray the expenses of pirate prosecutions in regional or other courts. The fund was specifically created in such a way that the commercialshipping industry can contribute to prosecution; it will allow donors to specify how their contributions are to beused.

In an unprecedented move, the United Nations, which will administer the fund, agreed to limit its overheadexpenses to eight percent of fund contributions. This means that ninety-two cents of every donated dollar willdirectly support prosecution or related initiatives.

Funding is important, but so is the availability of witnesses who can provide statements for debriefing and/ortestimony at trials. Allowing competent authorities access to vessels, manifests, and other records may be vital tothe successful prosecution of pirate suspects. It is important that commercial shipping companies whose ships andcrews have been attacked by pirates support the prosecution of their attackers.

We continue to press affected states to help prosecute those who attack their ships, take their sailors as hostages, orseize their cargo and again, your voices are important in making the case to these governments.

We are als o searching for ways to disrupt the flow of money between pirates and their financial enablers. Piratesfinancial flows operate outside formal institutions, through cash transactions in a complicated network built onpersonal relationships.

We know that the young pirates who undertake these attacks receive only a small percentage of the millions of dollars in ransom being paid. We need to better understand the financing of pirate activities and the flow of moniespaid, and to develop strategies to discourage this enterprise. We are working with other agency and internationalpartners to find ways to disrupt the investment and distribution network of pirates.

And we are also working with naval forces in what has arguably become the most nationally diverse maritimeoperation in history. The European Union fielded the first naval operation in its history to protect World FoodProgram shipments to eastern Africa. NATO established OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD, to which the UK,Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the United States have contributed frigates to counter-piracy operations.

China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore have deployed naval task forces to escort national shipping andhave joined in the international effort to combat piracy. This international armada is unprecedented, and we hopeour counter-piracy cooperation at sea will form the basis for international efforts to combat other transnationalmaritime threats like smuggling and trafficking in arms, drugs, and human beings.

Given the vast area across which pirates are operating, naval forces no matter how large or robust will never bein a position to rapidly respond to and thwart all pirate attacks. Effective defensive counter-measures by merchantvessels will remain pivotal to preventing their capture by pirates.

We appreciate that the use of armed security on merchant ships is a complex and controversial matter. Everysovereign nation has the right to determine whether they will allow armed vessels or security teams within theirterritory, and should they do so, what the fees for related arrangements would be.

As we assess this and other possible security measures, we recognize that industry has an important role to play inthis debate, and we welcome your input as to the most effective ways to enhance the security of your commercialvessels. Ultimately, the goal of the United States Government is to support the long-term interests of our shippingindustry in ways that are commensurate with both security and commercial competition.

Apart from the question of armed security, we want to see commercial security measures fully implementedaccording to the International Maritime Organizations International Ship and Port Security Code architecture. Asyou well know, best management practices must be implemented in order to be effective.

We are encouraging flag states to push for the implementation of piracy counter-measures in their commercial


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fleets, and we welcome public commitments to this effort. Indeed, just last week, Cyprus, Japan, Singapore SouthKorea and the United Kingdom joined the United States in signing the New York Declaration, a non-bindingpolitical statement committing ship registry states to promulgate internationally-recognized best managementpractices to prevent pirate attacks.

The New York Declaration was first proposed and signed by the four largest ship registry countries Panama,Liberia, Bahamas, and Marshall Islands at the Contact Group meeting on May 29. Last weeks new commitments

continue our momentum in this area, and we will continue to urge more countries to sign in support of thisimportant effort by and on behalf of commercial shipping self-protection.

If all commercial fleets worldwide were to adopt such self-protection measures, we would stand a much betterchance of significantly reducing the success rate of pirate attacks.

As the U.S. Government encourages other governments to prevail on their shipping industries to adopt thesemeasures, I ask that you prevail on your foreign industry counterparts to do the same. If you can demonstrate thatadopting self-protection measures is benefiting your business, then that would be a powerful example and incentivefor your peers around the world to do the same. We are, I hope, on the right track in this regard.

Combating piracy must be a collaborative effort that leverages not only our military strength and diplomaticengagement, but also the experience of the shipping industry that is directly impacted by this criminal activity.

Sharing information through industry-government conferences such as this is a positive start toward the goal of amore effective public-private partnership in countering piracy. I regret that my schedule does not allow me to sit inon some of the other presentations, particularly from the private sector, to fully honor the two-way exchange of information, but I trust that you will have a fruitful dialogue throughout the day.

Thank you for your time and attention this morning.

German navy releases suspected pirates after thwarting attack Source: Earth Times http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/285711,german-navy-releases-suspected-pirates-after-thwarting-attack.html Published: 15 September 2009

Berlin (dpa) - The German navy has released four suspected pirates, captured last week in an operation to prevent asuspected piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden, the Bundeswehr said Tuesday. A fifth suspect had died when theBrandenburg navy frigate attempted to stop a suspicious-looking boat off the coast of Somalia on September 7. Thiswas the first fatality caused by the Bundeswehr mission.

The body is to be returned to Somalia in coordination with the International Red Cross, according to a statementpublished on the Bundeswehr website. The four men were released after German officials - consulting with theEuropean Union-led Atalanta operation headquarters - decided not to extradite them to Kenya for prosecution.

EU experts said they were not sufficiently sure that the men would be convicted in Kenya. The German governmentdid not want to prosecute as no German interests had been damaged. Consequently, the men were released onMonday afternoon, within sight of the Somali coast.

Russian, Chinese warships escort large convoy off Somali coast Source: RIA Novosti http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090915/156133332.html Published: 15 September 2009

VLADIVOSTOK, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Admiral Tributs destroyer and the Chinese Zhoushanfrigate have successfully escorted a convoy of 18 commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden, a Pacific fleet spokesmansaid on Tuesday.
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"An 18-vessel convoy has passed through the dangerous Gulf of Aden under protection of the Russian and theChinese warships," the official said.

Admiral Tributs has immediately formed another convoy of six ships and started escorting it to the Bab-el-MandebStrait. The third Russian task force from the Pacific Fleet, led by the Admiral Tributs destroyer with two helicopterson board, arrived in the Gulf of Aden on July 30.

The previous two task forces from the Pacific Fleet were led by Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Panteleyevdestroyers. The fleet's warships have escorted over 100 Russian and foreign commercial ships and thwarted severalattacks by pirates since January 2009.

The Pacific Fleet will send a fourth task force, comprising a missile destroyer, two support ships and a navalinfantry unit, to the Gulf of Aden after Admiral Tributs finishes its current anti-piracy mission in the region at theend of October.

Around 35 warships from the navies of 16 countries are currently deployed off Somalia's coast to counter frequentpirate attacks on key trade routes. Pirate attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia have amounted to 148 since the beginning of the year, with over 40 ships captured and at least 270 takenhostage.

Key al Qaeda operative killed in U.S. strike, Somalia saysSource: CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/15/somalia.strike/index.html Published: 15 September 2009

(CNN) -- Somalia said a senior al Qaeda operative tied to several attacks in East Africa was killed Monday in a U.S.strike in southern Somalia. Intelligence sources have confirmed to the Somali government that Saleh ali SalehNabhan was killed, Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said Tuesday.

"We welcome that attack because those people targeted were murderers, and they are unwanted and unwelcome inSomalia," Gelle said.

U.S. special operations forces used a helicopter to fire on a car Monday in southern Somalia , killing several people,including one they believed was Nabhan, U.S. officials told CNN earlier. Nabhan, 30, was born in Kenya and had

been tied to attacks that included the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to thesources.

More than 200 were killed, and 4,000 wounded in those attacks, most of them Kenyans.

The United States targeted Nabhan in an airstrike in southern Somalia near the Kenyan border in March 2008, U.S.officials said at the time. In February 2006, the FBI announced that Nabhan was wanted for questioning inconnection with the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel and the unsuccessful attack on an Israeli charter

jet in Mombasa, Kenya.

Ten Kenyans and three Israelis -- including two children -- were killed when three suicide bombers detonated a carbomb outside Mombasa's Paradise Hotel in November 2002. The bombing took place within minutes of anunsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli charter jet, which was taking off with 261 passengers and 10 crewmembers.

President Obama signed off on Monday's operation, a senior U.S. official said. The United States had beenmonitoring the situation for days and had intelligence that Nabhan was in the area, the U.S. officials said. Theofficials who talked to CNN are familiar with the latest information on Monday's strike but did not want to beidentified because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The U.S. helicopter flew from a U.S. Navy warship offshore, while the ship kept watch on the operation, one of thesources said. The warship was ready to rescue the American troops if they got into trouble.
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Farmers in the southeastern town of Barawe, Somalia, said they witnessed the assault. They said helicoptersattacked a car and its occupants and that at least two people died. The witnesses said some helicopters landed andthat some of the injured or dead were pulled into at least one helicopter.

A U.S. official said the troops landed to take away the body believed to be that of Nabhan for positive identification.Nabhan is believed to be an associate of al Qaeda member Harun Fazul, who was indicted in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies.

The U.S. military has long sought Nabhan because he is believed to be deeply involved in al Qaeda's East Africanoperations, a senior U.S. official said last year. Journalist Mohammed Amiin Adow and CNN's Ed Henry andBarbara Starr contributed to this report.

Somali pirates still holding 20 Filipinos: govt Source: AFP http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hIjxEpYfyQHnvBmFahbKINeKOgOA Published: 15 September 2009

MANILA Twenty Filipino sailors remain in the hands of Somali pirates, the government said on Tuesday, a dayafter the release of 22 seamen from a Greek-owned merchant vessel who had been held for five months. TheDepartment of Foreign Affairs said it was working to help the repatriation of the 22 freed sailors whose ordealbegan on April 14 when the MV Irene was hijacked while sailing through the Gulf of Aden.

It said the local agency that recruited the Filipinos had informed the government that negotiations for their releasehad been successful, but gave no details as to whether a ransom had been paid. Filipino sources said last month thatthe pirates were demanding 2.8 million dollars to free MV Irene and its crew.

As a policy, the Philippine government does not pay ransom to kidnappers, but it has given shipowners a free handin negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino seamen. The Kenya-based East African Seafarers AssistanceProgramme said on Monday that 21 Filipino seamen had been freed along with the MV Irene, but the foreign affairsdepartment clarified that all 22 had been released.

The department said there were now 20 Filipinos still in the hands of Somali pirates. Seventeen of them were seizedon the Win Far 161 when it was hijacked on April 6 and three from the MV Charelle were taken hostage on June 13.The Philippines is the world's leading supplier of merchant ship crewmen, with over 350,000 Filipinos manning oil

tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide, exposing them to piracy attacks.

North Korean ship fights off Somali pirates Source: Associated Press http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD9ANKPCO0 Author(s): By EILEEN NG (AP)Published: 15 September 2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Somali pirates tried but failed to hijack a North Korean cargo ship when crewmembers fought back with improvised fire bombs and sped away, a maritime official said Tuesday. The ship wasadrift off the Somali coast near Mogadishu on Sept. 5 for engine work when the crew saw 10 pirates approaching intwo speedboats, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in KualaLumpur.

The North Korean ship immediately started its engine and moved away, and the captain called the IMB for helpwhen the pirates, dressed in military clothing, began firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Choongsaid.

The crew fought back with improvised molotov cocktails bottles filled with kerosene or similar fluid and setalight by a wick or rag. The crew also fired distress rocket flares at the pirates, and the ship escaped "after thecaptain increased speed," Choong said.
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The captain later told the IMB a U.S. warship arrived at the scene, but the pirates had fled, Choong added. He couldnot confirm it was a U.S. ship. One of the 30 North Korean crew members was injured, and the ship was damaged,Choong said. The ship was heading to the Middle East when it was attacked. It was not clear where the ship wentafterward.

The incident raised the number of attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year to 156. So far, 32 ships havebeen hijacked and five remain held by pirates along with 102 crew members, Choong said. Somalia has not had an

effective government since 1991 a power vacuum that has allowed the pirates to operate freely around Somalia's1,900-mile (3,060-kilometer) east African coastline, along one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The U.S. government last week warned of an increase in piracy off Africa's east coast because the monsoon hasended and Somali pirates will have easier access to passing ships.

FACTBOX-Ships held by Somali pirates Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLE85978 Published: 14 September 2009

Sept 14 (Reuters) - Somali pirates freed a Greek-owned ship on Monday after the gang received a $2 million ransomfor the vessel and its 21 Filipino crew, one of the pirates said. The Irene E.M. bulk carrier was seized on April 13 inthe Gulf of Aden, where gangs from Somalia have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by targeting vesselsusing the strategic shipping lanes that link Europe to Asia.

Here is a list of some ships believed to be still under the control of Somali pirates:

SERENITY: The catamaran sailing for Madagascar from the Seychelles with three people aboard, was seized inMarch 2009.

INDIAN OCEAN EXPLORER: Seized March 2009. The 35-metre boat was built in Hamburg for oceanographicresearch. It accommodates about 12 passengers. Pirates have freed the seven crew.

WIN FAR 161: Taiwanese tuna boat, seized April 6, 2009.

SAMARA AHMED: Seized April 10, 2009. The Egyptian fishing vessel was captured with 16 crew.

MOMTAZ 1: Seized April 10, 2009. The Egyptian fishing vessel was taken with 18 crew.

ARIANA: Seized May 2, 2009. The Ariana was seized north of Madagascar en route to the Middle East fromBrazil. The 24 Ukrainian crew were said to be unhurt. The ship, flying a Maltese flag, belongs to All Oceansshipping in Greece.

VICTORIA: Seized on May 5, 2009. The Antigua and Barbuda- flagged cargo vessel was hijacked by eight piratesin the Gulf of Aden on its way to the port of Jeddah. The 146-metre ship has a crew of 11 Romanians.

CHARELLE: Seized on June 12, 2009. The 2,800-tonne cargo ship carrying about nine crew, was attacked 60 milessouth of Oman. Lloyds reported the vessel was owned by shipping firm Tarmstedt International.

HORIZON-1: Seized on July 8, 2009. The 34,173 dwt bulk carrier, believed to be carrying sulphate, was hijackedwith 23 Turkish crew aboard.

* PIRACY KEY FACTS:

-- Piracy attacks around the world more than doubled to 240 from 114 during the first six months of the yearcompared with the same period in 2008, the ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB)said in July.

-- The rise in overall numbers is due almost entirely to increased Somali pirate activity. In the first half of 2009
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attacks soared to 148 from 25 in the same period a year ago.

-- Of those 148 attacks, 31 resulted in successful hijackings by Somali pirates, including one attack off Oman'scoast. In 2008, there were 111 incidents including 42 vessels hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

-- Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal.

Sources: Reuters/Ecoterra International/International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre/LloydsList/Inquirer.net

(For main story please click on [ID:nLE87527]) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the topissues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;)

Freed Seychelles sailors home after Somali ordealSource: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSLD487000 Author(s): By George ThandePublished: 13 Sept 2009

VICTORIA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Three sailors from the Seychelles seized by Somali pirates in March arrived homeon Sunday but declined to comment on their ordeal. The sailors were freed this month only to be arrested by theauthorities in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland and accused of being part of an illegal prisoner swap.

Puntland accused Seychelles of exchanging 23 suspect pirates caught in the Indian Ocean archipelago's waters forits three citizens -- a charge the government denied. Puntland finally said on Wednesday it planned to release thesailors.

The three, Conrad Andre, Gilbert Victor and Robin Samson, looked tired and frightened when they were met at theairport by Transport Minister Joel Morgan, who heads the Seychelles' anti-piracy task force. The sailors declined tocomment on the hijacking or their seven months in captivity. They said they would prefer to talk to the authoritiesfor security reasons, because the pirates were closer to the Seychelles than previously thought.

Maritime security groups warned in May of a surge in the number of pirate "mother ships" operating in theSeychelles archipelago's expansive territorial waters. The U.S. military said last month it would be deployingunmanned reconnaissance aircraft in the skies above the Seychelles to bolster anti-piracy efforts.

"We know a lot of what (the sailors) are saying but I would like to say that we have stepped up surveillance togetherwith our international partners," said Morgan.

"The U.S. air force cargo plane behind you, for example, has just off-loaded a lot of equipment to be used inensuring our waters are safe," he told reporters at the airport.

Pirate attacks worldwide more than doubled to 240 during the first half of 2009, driven by a surge in hijackings inthe waters off the Horn of Africa, according to an International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre report inJuly. While there has been a relative lull in Indian Ocean waters in the past few months because of monsoon rains,analysts fear the number of pirate attacks will mount again soon. (Writing by David Clarke)

Multinational Force Keeps Pirates at BaySource: Navy.mil Story Number: NNS090914-13 http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=48273 Author(s): By Ian Graham, Special to American Forces Press ServicePublished: 14 September 2009

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Piracy often is romanticized in popular culture, from children's toys to pulp novels andmajor motion pictures, but for those who work on the high seas, piracy is a dangerous and harmful reality. To
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combat piracy around the Horn of Africa, the Combined Maritime Forces created Combined Task Force 151 inJanuary to deter, disrupt and suppress piracy and maintain free channels for ships navigating the area.

Navy Rear Adm. Scott Sanders, vice commander for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and British Royal NavyCapt. Keith Blount, the task force's chief of staff, discussed counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and theInternationally Recognized Transit Corridor in a Sept. 11 "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.

A major facet of their mission in the long term is to help nations bordering the gulf -- such as Yemen and Somalia --build their naval capacity, so they can deter piracy themselves.

"It stands to reason, the more capacity we can build is in the interest of the international maritime community,"Blount said. "As much as we can, we will push forward with them. We just have to make sure that exactly the rightcircumstances are set for a meaningful engagement that will be a benefit for both sides."

More than 30 ships and aircraft from 17 nations including the United States, China, Russia, India, Malaysia, SouthKorea, the European Union and NATO nations patrol the gulf. Task force officials want to foster better relationswith nations using its area of operation, which also includes the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. So far, Sanders said,that portion of the mission is going quite well.

"I had [Dutch Navy] Commodore Pieter Bindt of the European Union here last week on the USS Anzio, and he said-and I didn't prep him with this line- 'This is the maritime strategy at work each and every day in the Gulf of Aden,'"Sanders said. "At the end of the day, that makes us all very proud. Every time we end another day without a piracyattack, we feel pretty good about ourselves, and we've had a lot of those nights lately, I can tell you that."

Another part of their operation is maintaining open communication with ships passing through the gulf andproviding guidance should they be approached or attacked by pirates. Primarily, he said, they encourage captainsnot to surrender immediately or give up their ship. Because the area of operations is fairly small, simply takingevasive maneuvers can give enough time for a member of the task force's fleet to come to the scene of an attack,Sanders said.

"We can't be every place, but in the [Internationally Recognized Transit Corridor], there usually isn't a ship too far,"Sanders said.

Sanders and Blount said that no ship that's taken the proper countermeasures within the corridor has beensuccessfully boarded by pirates -- though there have been instances in which ships were boarded after straying fromthe measures the task force prescribes.

"The reason the IRTC was put in place was to properly coordinate the movement of ships from one end of the Gulf of Aden to the other, and it's been quite successful," Blount said. "But what we've found is that despite the numberof military units we have patrolling, if the merchant ships weren't doing their bits, they could still be pirated."

He said it's to merchant mariners' "enormous credit" that they've been more courageous and active in taking anti -piracy measures. It's created an environment in which pirates are less brazen and spend more time hiding andlooking for an easy target.

"Captain Blount did say 'courageous,' and that is not to be underestimated," Sanders said. "It's extremely stressfulout here, and what the maritime community is doing, they can't be applauded enough. They're taking a lot of risks.

We're backing them up, but they're taking a lot of risks."

The results Sanders has seen while commanding the task force have been beyond imagination, he said. If he didn'twitness it every day, he added, he couldn't possibly fathom the goodwill it's created.

"No matter what country you're from or what your politics are, piracy is not in your national interest," Sanders said."There's a level of confidence. ... It's one of those things where you can read about it, but when you actually see thislevel of cooperation happening at sea, it's really remarkable."

For more news from Combined task Force 151, visit www.navy.mil/ctf151 .
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Chris Dwyer, Tracking Ships, Terrorists and Pirates Source: The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091400433.html?wprss=rss_politics/fedpage Published: 14 September 2009

From the Partnership for Public Service - What might have happened had the U.S. cargo ship hijacked by Somali

pirates this year in the Indian Ocean had the advantage of a warning system that detected the threat hours before theattack?

Chris Dwyer and his colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., are (should we say 'tryingto develop', you decide. ) developing a global maritime system that would automatically detect such a threat andgenerate an alert no matter where the ships are located.

Their satellite system currently tracks more than 70,000 ships sailing the world's oceans. Their goal is to enhancethis technology to help identify and stop terrorist threats as early and far from U.S. shores as possible, and to spotother potential trouble on the high seas before it happens.

"The ultimate goal would be to automatically track all ocean-going vessels just as we track every aircraft, but that'snot so easy when you're talking about millions of watercraft at sea every day," Dwyer said.

While the volume of ships coming into U.S. ports is enormous, limited resources only allow authorities to inspect asmall fraction of those vessels and their contents. In addition, the process of compiling and analyzing relevantintelligence information has been painstaking and labor-intensive for multiple organizations with distinct butoverlapping jurisdictions.

As the technical manager for the Navy project, Dwyer is leading the efforts to integrate intelligence, surveillance,observations and navigation systems into a common maritime awareness picture accessible throughout the U.S.government.

One component includes software that tracks ship movements and detects abrupt or unusual course changes.

"A cargo ship may start with a plan to go from point A to point B, but change course halfway because the owner of the shipment can get a better price that week by redirecting the delivery to point C instead," Dwyer said.

He said the system helps trigger an analysis to determine if a course change is legitimate or not.

Other new software compilesand integrates data from multiple sources that contain relevant maritime informationon vessels, people and cargo. The system automatically skims the data and identifies anomalous conditions that areflagged for further inspection.

For example, the system would send an alert if a ship is approaching Long Beach, Calif., and a ship by the samename was reported in Rotterdam a day earlier. The system would also flag a ship for inspection if an arrival reportindicated a crew size that differed from the size of the departing crewPeter Wilhelm, director of the Naval Centerfor Space Technology, credited Dwyer with fostering much of the collaboration among federal agencies, foreigngovernments and private companies to ensure successful information sharing.

"Chris has a unique ability to get people who have not always cooperated in the past to work together," Wilhelm

said.Kent Thew, technical director of the Coast Guard's Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific, also highlighted thesignificance of international cooperation.

"Our foreign partners are essential to our efforts to identify threats in the Pacific," Thew said. "They often have keyinformation that we need to complete our picture of developing threats."
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Wilhelm said a major challenge is protecting secure information and its sources while declassifying the appropriateinformation so it can be used by the people who need it. He said Dwyer began by formulating a strategy to developa "culture of sharing" between international partners and the United States, and among U.S. agencies.

Dwyer started working part time at Naval Research Laboratory during college, and then full time followinggraduation. Twenty-four years later, he said, "I never dreamed that I would work on so many cool things. I'vecreated pieces of satellites that are now in orbit."

In his pursuit of protecting our national security, Dwyer is likely to soon list another cool accomplishment on hisresume - helping to track and perhaps capture pirates.

This article was jointly prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, a group seeking to enhance the performanceof the federal government, and washingtonpost.com. Visit www.ourpublicservice.org for more about theorganization's work.

Somali Pirates Say They Have Freed Greek ShipSource: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLE87527 Published: 14 September 2009

MOGADISHU, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Somali pirates freed a Greek ship on Monday after they received a $2 millionransom for the vessel and its 21 Filipino crew, one of the pirates said.

The Irene E.M. bulk carrier was seized on April 13 in the Gulf of Aden, where heavily armed gangs from Somaliahave made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms targeting vessels using the strategic shipping lanes that link Europeto Asia.

"We released the Greek ship after taking a $2 million ransom," a pirate who gave his name as Hussein told Reutersby telephone from the coastal pirate stronghold of Eyl.

"We already left the vessel and now we are dividing our money. A helicopter brought the cash this morning."

Foreign navies have been deployed off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa state since the start of the year to tryto prevent more attacks on ships.

Pirates attempt to board two tankers near SingaporeSource: Reuters http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42440520090914 Published: 14 Sept 2009

SINGAPORE, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Pirates attempted to board two tankers in a busy shipping lane off southernMalaysia on Monday, a regional government security agency said. Five men tried to board Panama-registered tankerPacific Harmony early on Monday near the southern Malaysian port of Tanjung Ayam, just to the east of Singapore,according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia(ReCAAP). The men fled on hearing the ship's alarm system.

Two hours later, six men with long knives tried to board Malaysia-registered chemical tanker MMM Kingston.

They fled in a speed boat after seeing the crew had been alerted.

ReCAAP said the same group was probably involved and advised shipping crews to take precautions since there hadbeen six such cases this year in the area, all during the night while the ships were anchored.

"That area is high risk ... there have been a number of attacks in that area," said Noel Choong, head of theInternational Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, confirming the two attacks.

Many ships have been laid up in the waters around Singapore, the world's busiest container port and a key refuellinghub, after the slide in global trade following the financial crisis.
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The South China Sea is the shortest route between the Pacific and Indian oceans and has some of the world's busiestshipping lanes, with more than half of global oil tanker traffic passing through the area. (Reporting by DavidChance in Kuala Lumpur and Neil Chatterjee in Singapore; Editing by Jeremy Laurence).

Task Force 151; Pirate Hunters of the Gulf of Aden Source: Associated Content http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2164429/task_force_151.html Author(s): By Chuck SimminsPublished: 12 September 2009

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Scott Sanders , Vice Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and Royal NavyCapt. Keith Blount, chief of staff of Combined Task Force 151 spoke with reporters about the status of anti-piracyefforts in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa on Friday, September 11. I participated in the press briefingdescribed in this story.

Task Force 151 is part of a multi-national effort to protect shipping for intense pirate activity originating in thenation of Somalia. While the United States Navy and the Royal Navy have provided the core units for the Task Force, other allied navies have also participated with ships, aircraft and personnel. TF 151 is joined in its mission bynaval units of the European Union , NATO and a number of independent efforts from countries such as Russia,

mainland China and Iran.Adm. Sanders discussed the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor. The latest version of the IRTC wasestablished in February 2009. It is about 2,600 miles long and 60 miles wide. Running along the Yemeni coast, it isdesigned to provide a safer transit route for shipping, away from fishing grounds and away from the Somali coast.

Sanders is quite proud that there have been no successful piracies of ships in the corridor that followed thesuggested guidelines and followed the recommended safety and more robust response protocols aboard ship.Sanders characterized the sailors of these merchant vessels as courageous in the defense of their vessels.

The recommendations are designed to deter pirates from boarding vessels, and if a ship is boarded, to allow thevarious naval vessels time to respond. Attempts to pirate such vessels in the IRTC have been made but all havefailed.

The Admiral made it clear that other vessels have been seized by pirates. While TF-151 and the other navies do theirbest, the merchant vessels that do not follow best practices risk being taken.

Last week, a skiff was spotted and stopped by the combined efforts of several navies. A Japanese P-3 aircraft firstspotted the suspicious ship. A helicopter off a ship from the Republic of Korea investigated. German and Greek ships provided additional assets. A boarding party from a Norwegian ship did search the skiff.

The Norwegians found a "fishing vessel" with no fishing gear. It carried weapons, ladders and other materialsassociated with piracy. All of the weapons and material were confiscated and the Somalis with their skiff were senthome.

Captain Blount, a veteran of naval activity off the Iraqi coast, talked about the Coast Guards' of the nations in theregion. The Kenyans are working closely with TF-151. There is a meeting scheduled for September 12 with officersof the Yemeni Coast Guard to build that relationship. In a week or two, TF-151 personnel will be meeting withofficials in the Seychelles with a similar agenda.

Blount discussed the announcement that the Somali government was intent on creating its own Coast Guard. Hewelcomed the move and TF-151 would be open to discussions and perhaps some level of assistance at the righttime.

Both Rear Admiral Sanders and Captain Blount stressed the extraordinary level of communication and cooperationamong all of the nations conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf. Sanders stated that regardless of otherpolitical conflicts, controlling piracy was a common interest for all of these nations.
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Homeland, Port and Maritime Security

Coast Guard shuts down area around Seal Island Source: Village Soup http://knox.villagesoup.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=176150 Author(s): By Shlomit Auciello The Herald Gazette ReporterPublished: 15 September 2009

SOUTH PORTLAND (Sep 15): Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, has asked for a briefing to learn why the U.S. CoastGuard has banned boats from the area around Seal Island, a remote 65-acre wildlife refuge about 8.5 miles south of Vinalhaven and 21 miles from Rockland. According to Cmdr. Michael Sams, the head of prevention for CoastGuard Sector Northern New England, the decision was made in order to protect fishermen and others who use thearea.

The treeless, rockbound island was used by the U.S. Navy as a bombing range from the 1940s to the 1960s, and in1972 it was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recent survey information suggeststhat more than 230 pairs of Atlantic puffins and more than 2,200 pairs of common and Arctic terns now nest on SealIsland, according to the Web site of the Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Sams said Tuesday that the Coast Guard drafted an interim rule on Sept. 8 establishing a safety zone around the

island. The rule affects an area out to the 60-foot depth curve around the island. Sams said that would be about 100yards from the shore.

"There remains unexploded ordinance around Seal Island," Sams said. He said the request to create the protectivezone came from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection,following reports of unexploded ordnance on the bottom near the island.

Beth Goettel said those reports came from urchin divers. Goettel is the refuge manager for the Maine CoastalIslands National Wildlife Refuge, of which Seal Island is a part.

"I think they're far enough removed from Maine fishing communities that they didn't realize it would cause anuproar," she said of the Coast Guard's action. Goettel added that she understood the necessity of taking precautionsto ensure that no one is hurt due to an unexpected explosion.

Pingree's communications director, Willy Ritch, said Pingree wanted to get a firsthand report from Coast Guardofficials to understand why the emergency rule was instituted prior to any public meetings.

"Obviously safety is important but she wants to figure out how quickly people can get back to fishing," Ritch said.

About 35 lobstermen, mostly from Vinalhaven, fish near Seal Island, Sams said. Nautical charts show the island andits surrounding waters as a danger area.

"Thats an old marking t hat talks about the Navy doing bombing runs," Sams said. "That has been a chart oversightfor many years." He said the plan is to change the marking to list the area as a no-anchor zone.

"As [the safety zone rule] is written it does say no one can enter the zone without approval of the captain of the portfor Sector Northern New England," Sams said. "I think we're going to put out some clarifying guidance to allowtransiting but no anchoring."

Seal Island Wildlife Refuge won't be affected by the rule, since the mooring block it uses was placed there by theNavy in 1984. Goettel said her agency was also shown where people could safely walk on the island at that time.

"They've inspected and cleared certain areas and we know where they are," Goettel said. In addition to a widevariety of winged wildlife, Seal Island hosts student researchers every summer who monitor the birds, protect themfrom predators and keep members of the public off the island during nesting season.

"There are some researchers banding songbirds and counting shorebirds until the beginning of October," Goettelsaid.
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Goettel said federal agencies must follow strict rules and standards when making decisions such as the one theCoast Guard has made.

The Coast Guard plans to schedule a follow-up meeting to allow interested parties to comment on the rule, Samssaid. He said that meeting will take place on Vinalhaven.

"An interim order is in effect starting Sept. 8," he said, adding that the goal is to protect mariners without takingaway their livelihood. "We are receiving comments. If any entity wants to go into the established safety zone allthey have to do is notify the Coast Guard."

For more information or to comment on the interim rule or request permission to enter the restricted zone, contactSector Northern New England on VHF Channel 16 or by phone at 741 -5465.

Public introduced to state-of-the-art U.S. Customs vesselSource: The News Messenger http://www.thenews-messenger.com/article/20090915/NEWS01/909150307 Author(s): BY JAMES PROFFITT Staff writer Published: 15 September 2009

MARBLEHEAD -- The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's new prototype intercept watercraft, the AdvancedConcept Demonstrator Vessel, was given a full introduction to the press Monday morning at the U.S. Coast Guardstation in Marblehead.

By all accounts, the 43-foot vessel is a sleek, powerful and fast machine. In fact, it took reporters from the CoastGuard station to a point about a mile offshore from Kelleys Island in less than three minutes.

"This is the future of interdiction," said Marine Interdiction Agent Jeff Lane, who works for the CBP's Air andMarine Unit and has traveled around the country on a tour with the ACDV.

Lane described the vessel as a floating laboratory, where all the possible concepts of interdiction marine vesselsmeet the personnel, on the water, that will be utilizing them in the future.

Lane, who has been in law enforcement 26 years, said this is the first time personnel in the field have been so deeplyinvolved in developing a new tool.

"This is the first time they've done this," he said. "We'll really get the right package."

According to Lane, officers from various agencies around the country have driven and tested the ACDV in anumber of venues, both fresh and saltwater.

The final design will be used to patrol the nation's coastlines in the hunt for drugs and weapons smuggling, illegalimmigrants and terrorism activities.

The tour, which goes coast-to-coast and includes Puerto Rico, invites law enforcement officers to captain and crewthe vessel and test systems like the 360-degree infrared surveillance system, the pilot and co-pilot operatingsystems, shock mitigating seats and the numerous other state-of-the-art features that have been incorporated into theACDV.

Some features are as simple as a folding windshield and flush-mounted cleats.

Carlos Diaz, a CBP interdiction agent from Puerto Rico, said the four 350-hp supercharged Mercury outboards arethe latest and greatest.

"These are the latest and highest-tech engines available," said Diaz, pointing out several ACDV-specificmodifications made to the engine units.

The engines purr when idling, rumble quietly at about 20 or 30 knots and roar at 60 knots.
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Anglers, pleasure-boaters and ferry-riders on the lake turned their heads to get a glance of the gun-metal gray vesselas it planed across the water at 70 mph Monday morning, zigzagging across the water and heeling at a 45-degreeangle as it turned on a dime and switched directions.

U.S. Customs Agent Paul Pope said after the vessel makes its 10-city tour it will return to the CBP National MarineCenter in St. Augustine, Fla, where it will undergo more testing and refinements.

"Different agents drive the boat and give us their feedback," said Pope, going on to explain the refinements willmake their way into the next generation of interdiction boats.

Lane said the ACDV and its nationwide tour will save taxpayers money in the long run, going on to say when thefinal design is completed and the vessels manufactured, there will be no errors made and no corrections required.

"We've seen agencies do that before," Lane said.

Canberra moves on ports crimeSource: The Age http://www.theage.com.au/national/canberra-moves-on-ports-crime-20090914-fnvd.html Author(s): NICK MCKENZIEPublished: 15 September 2009

THE exploitation of security gaps at Australia's wharves and airports by organised crime syndicates will beinvestigated by a parliamentary committee, in a move that could cause headaches for the Rudd Government.

The announcement by the joint parliamentary committee on the Australian Crime Commission to examine drugs,weapons and people-smuggling at the nation's ports came after a series of reports in The Age.

In June, The Age reported that a secret three-year Australian Crime Commission probe found that organisedcriminals were entrenched at some big wharves and airports and were exploiting gaps in security.

Last week, The Age revealed an Office of Transport Security report had found the centrepiece of the Government'sport security regime, the Maritime Security Identification Card, was failing because workers convicted of offenceslinked to terrorism or organised crime had been granted the cards.

Other Government-commissioned reports found serious flaws in the Aviation Security Identity Card system.

The parliamentary inquiry will examine ''the methods used by serious and organised criminal groups to infiltrateAustralia's airports and ports'' as well as the effectiveness of the aviation and maritime security card schemes and theextent of criminal activity at various ports.

The inquiry will also examine the problems faced by policing agencies, which cannot share key criminalintelligence with other agencies because of legal restrictions.

Chairman of the parliamentary inquiry, Labor senator Steve Hutchins, told The Age yesterday: ''We want to makesure that the Government and law enforcement agencies in Australia have every resource they require to combatcriminal activity in these areas.''

But other revelations about how criminals are exploiting the parlous state of wharf and border security will alsoembarrass the Rudd Government.

The reports by the crime commission and the Office of Transport Security were completed in the months afterPrime Minister Kevin Rudd identified the need to stop organised crime and border security threats in his firstnational security statement.

Opposition justice spokeswoman Sussan Ley, who sits on the parliamentary committee, said the need for an inquiryhad been highlighted by recent media reports, which she said also exposed the Government's failure to act.
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Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said last week that the Government was considering tightening accessto the Maritime Security Identity Card, which is required by all maritime workers.

Did the Coast Guard or CNN cause the 9/11 panic on the Potomac?Source: The Christian Science Monitor http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/12/did-the-coast-guard-or-cnn-cause-the-911-panic-on-the-potomac/

Author(s): By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer/ Published: 12 September 2009

Most of the criticism for erroneous reports of gunshots is aimed at the Coast Guard exercise. But news organizationstake hits too for going live with unconfirmed reports reminiscent of Chicken Little.

The United States Coast Guard continues to take flak for its exercise on the Potomac River in Washington Friday.Critics say it should have been more sensitive to the mental atmosphere on the anniversary of the 9/11 terroristattacks.

The anxiety caused by this situation on such a solemn day is extremely disturbing, said Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, s enior Republican on a homeland security subcommittee. It sounds very much like the left hand didnt knowwhat the right hand was doing.

Senior Coast Guard officials promise a thorough review of the incident in which there was a simulated attack on asuspicious vessel involving a radio broadcast of mock gunfire but

new york state office of homeland security maritime sector open source week in review 11 - 17...

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