Ship-hijacking at Somalia - Industry's Action and Reaction320656

On September 15th, "MV Stolt Valor", a chemical tanker bound for Mumbai from Suez was hijacked by 15 Somalia pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Shipping industry is well aware of the incident. Among 22 crews onboard MV Stolt Valor, 18 crews are Indians, two are Filipinos, one is Bangladeshi and one hails from Russia. Although, all hostages are reportedly unhurt and safe, according to the DGS press release on Sep 16th; family members of all 18 Indian crews are still traumatized and anxious about the release of their dear ones.

According to an industry source, the hijackers have demanded a ransom of USD 2.5 million and negotiations between hijackers and owners of the ship is going on. A press release issued on Sep 18th by the owners, confirmed an appointment of a professional negotiator by the Stolt's owners to talk with the hijackers to ensure the life and safety of their crew members and to make them home as soon as possible.

In a recent move on Oct 7th, the family members of the 18 crews participated in a march headed to the office of Directorate General of shipping to appeal for an urgent action for their release. Ms Seema Goyal, wife of the Stolt Master Capt. Prabhat Goyal took the heroic step not only to put forward the Stolt issue to DGS, but also taken the battle to the Central Government also.

In Mumbai protest march, family members of MV Stolt Valor crews were accompanied by the organizer of the march Indian seafarer's federation (ISF), including NUSI &amp; MUI.

Meanwhile, members of the Indian Maritime fraternity accompanying the family members carried out a nationwide protest march against the Govt. in support of a quick resolution and get back the crews at home in various places such as Chennai, Diu, Kochi, Port Blair, Raigad, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Nhava, Valsad, Kolkata and Lakshadweep.

Empathizing Ms. Goyal and family members of the 18 Indian crews, Mr. Venkatarammana, Dy general of DGS said that he would convey the message from the families to the central and would request the Govt. to alleviate the tense situation as early as possible.

Reacting on the issue during the World Maritime Day celebration, Mr. APVN Sharma, Secretary of shipping emphasized on finding a long term solution. Replying to the anguish cries of the crew's family members Mr. Sharma said that let us give some time for negotiations and he assured the family members of conveying their message to Govt.

After all those protests and anguish hues and cries, crews of MV Stolt Valor are still confined by the pirates and families are not seeing any ray of hope on government statement and activities.

In a recent updates from the pirates on 14th Oct, it comes to know that Somali pirates issued a deadline of 48 hours to pay the ransom; otherwise they will kill all the crews. In the meantime India government in a statement issued in October 14 has allowed the Indian Navy to patrol the Somali waters to ensure that the safety of Indian sailors is not compromised. Patrolling of Indian warships in Golf of Aden near Somalia has begun for the protection of Indian merchant vessel ships transiting through the area. But the fate of 18 Indian sailors of MV Stolt Valor is still hanging in the balance.

Unfortunately, MV Stolt Valor was not the last case of sea-hijacking off Somalia coast. After MV Stolt Valor, Somali pirates have hijacked another Greek ship 'Centauri' and a Hong Kong flagged Great Creation. Including these two, Somali pirates had hijacked 14 vessels off Somalia coast since July 20, '08.

As an International output of the piracy issue, EU revealed its plan to ramp up naval operations in the Gulf of Aden. Responding to issue, Noel Choong of the IMB (International Maritime Bureau) said to Associated Press that "Pirates are beginning to attack now on the eastern coast of Somalia. We advise ships to stay at least 250 miles from the coast and even then, they must maintain a strict watch."

Keeping a watch on the MV Stolt issue and Government of India's move on it, Indian mariners, serving as one of the bests community, is losing their faith on the industry. Mariners have pointed the ship owners for fueling the issue of piracy by giving ransom to the pirates. The Indian Mariners community, now, is asking the Industry for a permanent strategy and solution to tackle the issue of piracy so that they can serve this Industry without any hesitation and fear. Meanwhile, Industry experts showing fear that this piracy issue could be a major roadblock to attract Y-Gen towards this career, as the new Y-Gen is already lacking interest for this wonderful career of seafaring.