29 APR 09 . OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE CIVIL MARITIME ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT WORLDWIDE THREAT TO SHIPPING MARINER WARNING INFORMATION . POC: ANDREW MOULDER: COMM (301) 669-4784 FAX (301) 669-3247 E-mail amoulder@nmic.navy.mil DAVID PEARL: COMM (301) 669-4905 FAX (301) 669-3247 E-mail dpearl@nmic.navy.mil . 1. This message provides information on threats to, and criminal action against merchant shipping worldwide in the last 30 days. . A. To aid in our reporting, please add the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) as an information addressee when possible to your normal corporate and organizational reporting requirements. The ONI message address is ONI WASHINGTON DC//11// or, the ONI Violence at Sea (VAS) desk may be contacted at commercial phone (301) 669-4905 or via e-mail: dpearl@nmic.navy.mil. Report may also be made to the National Response Center (U.S. Coast Guard) hotline: 1-800-424-8802 or the Maritime Administration, Office of Security, MAR-420; TEL 202-366-1883; FAX 202-366-3954; EMAIL owen.doherty@dot.gov . B. This Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report is posted at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Maritime Safety site: http://www.nga.mil/portal/site/maritime. . C. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) also publishes a weekly piracy summary, based on reporting from the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each week's report is published on Tuesday and may be accessed through their web page http://www.icc-ccs.org/. . D. Anti-piracy and crime current developments: . 1. SOMALIA: Russian Navy captures Somali pirates, 29 Apr 09. The Russian destroyer (ADMIRAL PANTELEEV) seized a pirate vessel with 29 people on board off the Somali coast, Russian news reports say. Guns and navigation equipment were found during a search of the pirate boat. The substantial haul of arms and equipment on board is said to include seven Kalashnikov machineguns, handguns of different calibers, satellite navigation devices, and a large number of empty shells. They said the suspected pirates were thought to have launched two unsuccessful attacks against a tanker with a Russian crew. It is not yet clear whether or not the suspects will be tried (BBC, LL). . 2. SOMALIA: Somali vigilantes capture pirates, 28 Apr 09. Somali vigilantes have captured 12 armed pirates in two boats, as coastal communities begin to fight back against the sea raiders. Regional leaders at Alula and Bargaal in Somalia's northern Puntland region have put together a militia of fishermen to catch pirates. They decided to act as they were fed up with their fishing vessels being seized at gunpoint by the ocean-going bandits. Now frustrated regional leaders have taken the law into their own hands. One of them, Faarah Mohammed, told the BBC: "There is a security committee set up by the communities who live in Bargaal and Alula. And they decided to confront whatever was creating problems in their areas and particularly, the problems of the sea piracy. And eventually their effort led to the capture of three boats and 12 men with their weapons. One boat got away." Somali pirates could face the death penalty under recent get-tough measures announced by the internationally recognized but unsteady Somali government (BBC). . 3. GULF OF ADEN: Yemeni Navy frees ship, captures pirates, 27 Apr 09. Yemeni special forces freed a Yemeni oil tanker seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, killing three pirates and capturing at least nine on board, a government official said. The vessel (GNA) was seized by Somali pirates off Yemen's coast Sunday but was empty of oil cargo. The deaths took to five the number of pirates killed as Yemeni forces battled for two days to take back the vessel. They were escorting the tanker to the Yemeni port of Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The tanker, with a 23-strong crew of which three are Indian and the rest Yemenis, has a capacity of 3,000 tons but was not carrying any cargo when it was seized. The pirates had briefly seized three other vessels earlier before Yemeni forces freed them, a Yemeni official said (REUTERS). . 4. INDIAN OCEAN: Cruise ship fends off pirate attack with gunfire, 25 Apr 09. An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday. Cmdr. Ciro Pinto told Italian state radio that six men in a small white speed boat approached the (MSC MELODY) and opened fire Saturday night, but retreated after the Israeli security officers aboard the cruise ship returned fire. None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members were hurt, (MELODY) owner Msc Cruises said in a statement issued by its German branch. Domenico Pellegrino, head of the Italian cruise line, said Msc Cruises hired the Israelis because they were the best trained security agents, the ANSA news agency reported. Pinto said the pirates fired with automatic weapons, slightly damaging the liner, and tried to put a ladder on board. But he said they were unable to climb aboard. The commander said his security forces opened fire with pistols, and the ANSA news agency said the pistols had been kept in a safe under the joint control of the commander and security chief (AP). . 5. INDIAN OCEAN: Spanish forces arrest nine Somalis suspected of being the pirates who attacked an Italian cruise ship, 25 Apr 09. A warship intercepted a skiff carrying the nine Somali suspects, the Spanish defence ministry said. The nine were captured near the Seychelles and handed over to authorities there, officials said. The Italian cruise ship, (MELODY), was attacked by a group of pirates in a speedboat in the area on Saturday. No-one was hurt in the incident. The ship's crew and security men repulsed the attack by firing into the air and spraying the gunmen with water. After the hijacking attempt, a search was launched for the pirates by the Spanish frigate (NUMANCIA), along with patrol planes from the Seychelles and France and an Indian navy ship. Spanish officials said that during the search they found two small boats with nine suspects on board close to the scene of the attack. The suspects abandoned one of the boats and were later caught in the skiff. The Numancia "intercepted a skiff with nine occupants who could be connected to the hijacking attempt of the Italian cruise ship which was eventually repelled by the boat," the defence ministry said in a statement (BBC, AFP). . 6. INDIAN OCEAN: French Navy thwarts pirate attack, 15 Apr 09. French naval forces launched an early-morning raid on a suspected pirate "mother ship" 550 miles east of Mombasa and seized 11 men, thwarting an attack on the Liberian cargo ship (SAFMARINE ASIA), the French Defense Ministry said. No one was injured. The ministry said the vessel was a larger boat that pirates use to allow their tiny skiffs to operate hundreds of miles off the coast. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Prazuck said a French helicopter in the area heard a distress call from the Safmarine Asia. He described the seized ship as a small, noncommercial vessel carrying fuel, water and food supplies. The 11 pirates, believed to be Somalis, were being held on the Nivose, a French frigate among the international fleet trying to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden (Bloomberg, AP). . 7. INDIAN OCEAN: US Navy frees captain of the container ship (MAERSK ALABAMA), 13 Apr 09. The life of container ship captain Richard Phillips was in danger when Navy snipers aboard a U.S. destroyer shot at his Somali captors on Sunday, freeing him unharmed and killing three of four pirates who had held him after trying to seize his vessel, the Navy said. The fourth pirate was in custody. A US Navy commander made a split-second decision to fire on the pirates because he believed that Phillips, who tried to escape on Friday, faced imminent danger amid tense hostage talks with his captors and deteriorating sea conditions. "They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain. "The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision (to kill the pirates) and he had the authorities to make that decision and he had seconds to make that decision." President Barack Obama granted the Pentagon's request for standing authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain, Gortney said. The U.S. Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the rescue took place at 12:19 p.m. EDT (1619 GMT) and the lifeboat had drifted to about 20 miles (32 km) from lawless Somalia's coast. Phillips, captain of the U.S.-flagged (MAERSK ALABAMA), contacted his family after the rescue, received a routine medical evaluation, and was resting comfortably aboard the amphibious assault ship (USS BOXER) (Reuters). . 8. INDIAN OCEAN: French Navy frees hostages in rescue operation off Somalia, 10 Apr 09. Four hostages, including a child, were freed from the hijacked yacht (TANIT) after almost a week of captivity, the French president's office in Paris said Friday. The four adults and a child had been held aboard their yacht since it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the president's statement said. The military made its move after the pirates refused their offers, including one to swap an officer for the mother and child held aboard, and threatened to execute the hostages one-by-one -- and because the (TANIT) was drifting closer to the Somali coast, the defense ministry said. The possibility that the pirates could take their hostages ashore was a red line that prompted the mission. The same red line triggered two successful rescue missions by the French military last year, the ministry said. According to French media reports, a special forces unit attacked the hijacked vessel from different directions in two motor-powered rubber boats. The pirates opened fire and the special forces team fired back. Two of the five pirates were killed, along with Florent Lemacon, the owner of the (TANIT), French media said. The military rescued Lemacon's wife and 3-year-old child along with two friends of the Lemacons (CNN). . 9. INDIAN OCEAN: Attacks prompt new piracy advisory, 7 Apr 09. Following a series of attacks off the eastern coast of Somalia, Combined Maritime Forces issued an updated special maritime advisory message. The message highlights several recent attacks that occurred hundreds of miles off the Somali coast and states that merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in those waters. "We continue to highlight the importance of preparation by the merchant mariners and the maritime industry in this message," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, Combined Maritime Forces. "We synchronize the efforts of the naval forces deployed to the region. However as we have often stated, international naval forces alone will not be able to solve the problem of piracy at sea. "Piracy is a problem that starts ashore." The notice also reiterates the fact that despite an increased naval presence in the region, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack. The scope and magnitude of problem can not be understated. The area involved off the coast of Somalia and Kenya as well as the Gulf of Aden equals more than 1.1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), roughly four times the size of Texas or the size of the Mediterranean and Red Seas combined. The length of the Somali coastline is roughly the same length as the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Ships and aircraft of Combined Task Force 151, the European Union, NATO and a number of international navies continue to patrol the region, but the closest military ship could be days away from a merchant vessel sailing hundreds of miles off the coast. While maritime patrol aircraft from a number of nations fly counter-piracy missions, the same aircraft are also providing critical support to coalition forces operating throughout the region. Despite the recent successful attacks, merchant mariners have proven successes as first- line defenders against pirates. A number of merchant vessels have employed evasive maneuvering and other defensive measures to protect their ships and their cargoes (Marinelog). . 10. GULF OF ADEN: International counter-piracy effort leads to the arrests of seven Somali pirate suspects, 29 Mar 09. European Union (EU) anti-piracy naval mission patrolling off the coast of Somalia seized a pirate vessel in the Gulf of Aden and detained seven pirate suspects, the mission said. The German naval tanker, (FGS SPESSART) that is currently attached to the EU anti-piracy ATALANTA mission, was attacked 85 miles north of the northern Somali port of Bosaso, the Maritime Security Center for the Horn of Africa said in a statement on its website. The German ship returned fire and chased the attacking skiff with helicopter support from nearby Dutch and Spanish warships, as well as Spanish marine aircraft and US marine helicopters. A Greek warship belonging to the ATALANTA mission pursued the pirates for five hours before finally boarding the boat and seizing their weapons. The seven suspected pirates were taken into German custody on board the German frigate (RHEINLAND-PFALZ) early Monday morning, the statement said. A NATO spokesman said, "Poor judgment by the pirates turned out to be a real opportunity for seven nations representing three task forces to work together and strike a momentous blow for maritime safety and security." German Ministry spokesman Christian Dienst said the attack "showcased the incredible international naval capabilities" and "highlighted the complexity of counter-piracy operations." The pirates will remain onboard the German frigate until a final determination is made regarding potential prosecution (MSCHOA, Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs, AP, Xinhua, Skynews). . E. Source codes: Information contained in this report is derived through direct reporting and analysis of reports of other agencies and commercial sources. Source codes will be added to new reports to enable users requiring more detail to make contact. Codes currently in use are: . AFP, Agence France Presse AP, Associated Press BBC, BBC News BIMCO, Baltic and International Maritime Council, Denmark DHS, U. S. Department of Homeland Security DOJ, U. S. Department of Justice DOS, U.S. Department of State DOT, U. S. Department of Transportation FP, Fairplay, London IMB, International Maritime Bureau, London and Kuala Lumpur IMO, International Maritime Organization, London INFO, Informa Group, forme