13 more Indonesians held by Somali Pirates

Last Sunday, 20 Indonesians and 11 foreign crews of Indonesian flag ship MV Sinar Kudus were released by Somali pirates who held them as hostages since 16 March 2011.

Kompas reported that the release was made after PT. Samudera Indonesia as owner of the ship paid a ransom demanded by those pirates, which according  to the pirates amounts to US$ 4.5 Million.

Actually, the government had decided to combine two options in efforts to free the ship crews i.e. negotiations and military operations. For which purpose three ships, one aircraft, one helicopter and special commando unit have been sent to the Somali sea to carry out the mission.

Last Saturday, 13 Indonesians together with 12 other ship crews of a Singapore flag ship MT Gemini were hijacked by Somali pirates at the Somali sea.

In reaction to this new piracy, the Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces Admiral Agus Suhartono said that Indonesia will coordinate with Singapore to secure the release of 13 Indonesian sailors.

Considering that 13 of the 25 crews of the Singapore ship are Indonesians, it would be very interesting to know whether or not this time our government (and Singapore) would choose to give in to the pirates' demand, or take military action instead.

The Capture of MV Sinar Kudus by Somalian Pirates

On 16 March 2011, an Indonesian bulk cargo carrier i.e. MV Sinar Kudus with 20 Indonesian crews, was captured by Somali pirates around 320 miles north east of the island of Socotra, Somali Basin.

According to the European Union Naval Force Somalia, MV Sinar Kudus was on its way to Suez, Egypt, from Singapore, when it was attacked. Initial reports from the crew stated that 30 to 50 pirates had boarded and taken control of the vessel.

In a teleconference between the Captain of MV Sinar Kudus Djuhari Selamet and his family in Jakarta facilitated by MetroTV this morning, the Captain said that the ship was carrying Rp 1 Trillion = US$ 90 Million worth of Nickels when it was captured. The pirates demanded a ransom of US$ 3.5 Million for the release of the ship and crews but the ship owner PT. Samudera Indonesia did not give any response. Due to which fact, he and his family request the government to help by paying the ransom.

Considering that it has been three weeks since the capture of MV. Sinar Kudus and its 20 crew, I hope that our government would take steps to solve this problem, for which purpose it would be better to consult first with the governments of countries that already have their naval ships in the region such as the U.S and the European Union.

The question is, why have the news media not been reporting intensively about this incident before ?  Is it because they think that this incident is less important then the Malinda Dee-Citibank case ?

How about the members of the House of Representatives and others who love to shout loudly ? Don't they care about this incident ?

Somali Pirates Seized Indonesian Tanker

Somali pirates have been seizing sea vessels that passed the Gulf of Aden. According to BBC, recently, an Indonesian owned 20,000 Ton Tanker was seized by the pirates.

Somali pirates seize Indonesian chemical tanker

Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden - the third vessel seized in waters around Somalia this week.

Maritime officials said the Pramoni - a 20,000-tonne Indonesian-owned vessel - was seized en route to India and was now heading towards Somalia.

The ship has a crew of 24, most of whom are Indonesian.

Last Monday Somali pirates captured two other ships with 45 crew off the East African coast.

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

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

In the latest incident, the captain of the Singapore-flagged Pramoni reported by radio that the ship had been hijacked but all the crew were well, the EU counter-piracy force Navfor said.

The ship's crew consists of 17 Indonesians, five Chinese, one Nigerian and one Vietnamese, it added.

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

Trial of Somali Pirates

Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of ships from many countries that passed through the Gulf of Aden in recent years. This month alone, three vessels were reported high jacked, one was an American ship whose captain was rescued by the U.S Navy last Sunday.

In spite the fact that those pirates have committed serious crimes, unfortunately according to Legal Blog Watch, the international community is still uncertain on how and where to try caught pirates. The Netherlands and France have taken the lead of trying them in their countries. And U.S officials will try the pirate caught last Sunday in New York because the F.B.I office there has experience with crimes committed in Africa, including investigation of the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings of U.S Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Several countries have proposed that piracy cases to be prosecuted in Kenya, and others proposed the establishment of a special piracy tribunal similar to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Further, the U.S.A, Britain, and other European countries have signed memorandums of understanding with Kenya in recent months, as a result some of the pirates will be prosecuted in Nairobi, Kenya.

Considering that those pirates have committed very serious crimes against the vessels & its crews/passengers, representatives of all the countries concerned should sit down together to discuss and determine how and where those pirates should be tried.