Who is the real owner of the ENRICA LEXIE??

One of the more interesting aspects of the ENRICA LEXIE episode has to do with trying to figure out WHY the complete Italian Government machinery, along with really heavy duty support services like religion, PR, diplomats, and back-channel, are so interested in releasing this ship and the two armed mercenaries onboard.

And in the bargain, the REAL ownership of the vessel is not truly revealed, as well as the real purpose of the ship and what it was doing so close to Indian waters. After all, with armed guards onboard, she could have easily plotted a direct course to the Red Sea, instead of hugging the Indian coast, right?

Here's an interesting excerpt from a page on Italian law on the subject.

http://www.shiparrested.com/ship-arrest-in-italy-by-alberto-batini-bb-partners.html

read item 19 . . .

So, what about it, why is the ENRICA LEXIE so important to them??

More updates on the MSC chartered FOC ship RENA off New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5762082/Rena-riddled-with-problems

 

Rena 'riddled with problems'

The Maritime Union claims the Rena was riddled with problems, including issues with its charts, which could explain how it ended up getting stuck on a Tauranga reef.

The union released a statement today, claiming Maritime New Zealand found multiple deficiencies with the cargo vessel when it carried out an inspection on the ship in Bluff on September 28.

Prime Minister John Key is calling for answers on how the Liberian-flagged 235m vessel became stuck on the reef in the early hours of October 5.

The Maritime Union says it has information that the Rena had many deficiencies, including problems with its charts, "a possible clue as to how the vessel may have ended up running into the Astrolabe Reef at top speed".

It wants MNZ to release all of its reports on the ship and confirm whether it was aware of problems with the ship, including charts.

If MNZ was aware of the problems then it needed to explain why the Rena was allowed to sail on the New Zealand coast, the union's general secretary Joe Fleetwood said.

A spokesperson for MNZ said they would not release the most recent inspection report on Rena because it formed part of the ongoing investigation.

Fleetwood said the ship's grounding was a major shipping hazard, "with threats from oil and chemical spillage, the safe evacuation of crew and the possibility the vessel will break up".

"As a union our first concern is that the crew are safe and well and no one is endangered in the salvage operation. But we also want to quickly get answers that throw some light on why we are in this situation in the first place."

Fleetwood said that the union had a "source" who confirmed the Rena had multiple deficiencies.  They included issues with maintenance and equipment, propulsion main engine, covers and doors, lighting, stowage of lifeboats, emergency fire pump and the auxiliary engine.

Fleetwood said many of these deficiencies were similar to problems reported by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority during inspections of the Rena in Australia.

So, what do you do if you go to jail?

Relevant for some of us who may end up in jail or know somebody headed there . . .


http://moneylife.in/article/heres-a-jail-primermdashfor-those-about-to-go-in/15840.html


Very relevant for seafarers. Please take time out to read. excerpt:-


"Now, while inside—it is the first couple of days that are relatively tough. I use the term "relatively" because friends who have been inside tell me that even this is nothing compared to the ragging some of us endured as juniors on a Training Ship, or in engineering/medical colleges, or certain establishments training people to wear certain uniforms. Or in many of the hostels that dot our educational system."

Letter to the "N" Hindu on piracy . . .

Sir,

Your article on the ASPHALT VENTURE episode refers.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article1705960.ece

Please read this explanation of Somali Tribal Law:-

http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?p=334

It is obvious that for now the Somalis hold the whip. However, the issue is much bigger, and impacts India's economy even more. The DG Shipping and other boides are almost clueless about things, and rules framed by them assist the guilty to go scot free, while seafarers suffer.

Sincerely

Veeresh Malik

Piracy & the economic war on our coast . . .

ECONOMIC WAR ON OUR COASTS - AND HOW INDIA CAN SNATCH VICTORY FOR ONCE . . .

In addition to writing for MONEYLIFE, as an ex-seafarer and writer, I also write for a niche shipping magazine and run this blog on matters maritime. There is a decent but loyal fan following from amongst seafarers and their family members, and till now I have resisted the temptation of cross posting, but matters pertaining to the condition of Indian seafarers and how it impacts India's economy have reached a point where things can best be described as an undeclared war on our coastline and seafarers. Frontline seafarers. representing quietly the cutting edge of India's exports and imports, are being slaughtered like sitting ducks at a country fair shooting ground. Now subject to pirates rampaging through what has always been called the Silent Service, the Merchant Navy, which as a simple matter of fact was the one uniformed service that had the highest casualties during World War II.

But this is a different sort of war, more economic, than military. The colateral and dispensable Giffen goods in this case are seafarers. Piracy has overtaken suddenly by leaps and bounds the twin large issues of fatigue and criminalisation of seafarers which have impacted seafarers the most over the last few years. Fatigue has been a problem due to cost-cutting and reduction of manpower on board, and criminalisation relates more towards Port State authorities holding seafarers as legalised hostages for a variety of issues. But rampant piracy of the Gulf of Aden/Horn of Africa sort, and the subsequent torture as well as murder, is reaching unprecedented levels - and especially for seafarers of Indian origin, because of the perceived activities of the Indian Navy in justifiably trying to control matters.

India's economic growth has not been without an increased presence at sea of Indians. Singling out Indian seafarers for torture and worse is, therefore, also having a direct impact on the competitiveness of trade to and from India. Episodes reported include hog tying people and then looping an electric cable on to their genitals such that it tightens every time the prisoner tries to shift and then placing them on burning hot steel decks without any clothes on. Another method is to take a person and lock him inside the fish room at temperatures below 20 degrees Centigrade naked or with ice in his underwear strung up to the meathooks. At least one case of keel-hauling a person below the hull of a ship has been reported. The recent case of the ASPHALT VENTURE, where half the Indian seafarers were taken off the ship and placed as prisoners ashore, is well covered. Ofcourse, the ship and cargo are held hostage all the time, while negotiations for ransom continue.

By the end of it, the seafarers are often too traumatised to want to go back to sea again, and the shipowner has lost all market worth and credibility - often going bust in the bargain. To be fair, as many foreign shipowners have been impacted as are proportionate to their presence at sea, but of late it is the Indians who are being singled out for special bad treatment.

Barring declared World Wars and historical conflicts going back to the gunboat days, Merchant Ships and those onboard worldwide are governed by the UNCLOS or United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as far as free and innocent passage through defined territorial or international waters are concerned, amongst other things. Except in situations of war, when declared. Ofcourse, the Convention is far too complicated to be brought out in a short article, but to cut straight to the meat - The Gulf of Aden was declared a War Risk Area as far back as mid-2008. and over the last three years, this War Risk Area has spread to include all of the Arabian Sea and parts of the Persian Gulf as well as much of the Indian Ocean.

Look at a map of India, and you will see how we are now surrounded by a total "War Risk Area", and reports of torture as well as killing of Indian seafarers now coming in make no bones about the simple fact that for the other sides, truly a war is on - it has just not been declared, and it is fairly seriously suspected but not with proof yet on who is financing the war against India. Though it is very clear that the after-effects will have a major damaging and negative impact on India's economy.

Here are some simple numbers, which will help quantify issues:-

# War risk extra insurance for hull and machinery (the ship itself, not including personnel and cargo) was about 500/oo dollars per transit in the Indian Ocean till around 2008, went up to 150000/oo dollars in 2010, and is rising even higher in 2011. This is for a typical Panamax sized bulk carrier transporting about 70-80 thousand tonnes of coal. More for bigger oil tankers and container ships.

# Exact numbers on Kidnap & Ransom insurance for crew members are never declared, but are estimated to have gone up by 30 times between 2008 and 2010, for ships in and around the War Risk Zones. Cover for cargo and property as well as medical and trauma coverage for crew and families has now been added, raising the costs even more.

# Cargo insurance numbers are also not well known, since they are usually covered separately by the charterers and cargo interests, but in the case of typical 20' containers, have gone up from 25/oo dollars to between 200/oo and 350/oo dollars, depending on a variety of factors. It is estimated that cargo insurance rates for bulk cargoes have also gone up 25-30 times in the last three years.

# Damage hull insurance, which typcally covers damage due to a variety of reasons,  including harm from heavy seas, collision, sinking, capsizing, grounding, fire or piracy. It is estimated that piracy has doubled the cost of hull insurance on a global annualised basis.

# Much of the business which was done on easy credit terms achieved variously with India being the beneficiary of good credit ratings have moved into cash up front (FOB loadport) for imports into India and payable when cargo reaches destination (CIF discharge port) for exports from India. There are major cash-flow issues here which basic traders and businessmen will understand.

In addition, ofcourse, seafarers are simply refusing to sail in these waters on unarmed and unprotected ships, no longer is it a question of just additional money. Where Indians can not be found, the shipping companies employ people from other countries, and/or also place armed guards on board, which typically costs between 1 and 2 thousand dollars a day for a group of 4 commandos, all other costs at actuals. The legalities of armed guards on board is still a wide open issue.

The big beneficiaries here are, obviously, the insurance companies. Not only are their insurance premia going up, but some of them are getting into the business of organising "non-commercial" protection services at sea, often as part of the insurance package. The name of at least two specific international banks and two payment processing/remittance companies based out of the developed countries have been mentioned with some amount of credible association to the money trail, which is estimated to be around 9-10 billion dollars this year.

In addition, it is estimated that only about 50% of piracy cases are being reported, the rest choosing to stay quiet so that negotiations and reputations do not suffer.

The Indian coast as well as ports are at the epicentre of this violent attack on the shipping economies, and are projected to be the single largest sufferers, with further impact on India's economy as these additional costs will all be loaded on to the transportation costs. At the beginning, people used to think that piracy was due to local reasons, and reacted accordingly. Subsequently, the big names moved into the global piracy support business, and converted it into corporate entities. Now, in the next evolution, it seems that this has moved on to war between countries aiming to damage others economies.

And by India's geographical location, the choice of fall guy country appears to be obvious.

What are the solutions, then?

For one, the Indian Government needs to understand and accept that there is a war on, and the biggest loser will be India since the battlefield will be the oceans around India. This has to be understood, and then pro-active steps taken to ensure that Indian shipping interests and cargoes are not targeted - for far too long has India been following a lose-lose policy in the Indian Ocean. To start with, the island of Perim in the middle of the Bab-el-Manded, on which India had historical rights, needs to be controlled. Likewise, Indian warships need to be given the right to use islands in the Chagos Archipelago, just as the US utilises Diego Garcia, for use as a base to launch counter moves against the pirates.

Next, immediate steps to protect India's oil exploration industry, which sits very close to the scene of action. There are all sorts of reports floating around, including rumours of mini-submarines of unknown origin, which could also be an extension of the rapidly technologically evolving piracy business. Already, from small boats doing 10-12 knots, the pirates have moved ahead to high-speed skiffs doing 25 knots launched from secure mother ships. And our dependance on our oil exploration industry can not be risked.

Thirdly, the names of the banks and financial processing companies suspected to be in this business are well known, and they happen to be present in India on legitimate business too. Nothing strange about this, bankers have financed wars in the past too, often for both sides - Rothschilds being just one name which has come up again and again, and continues to do so. The Indian Government and its new found financial muscle must get the message across that this sort of economic warfare will not do. Reports on senior persons from these banks and payment companies visiting India in the recent past to get a bigger share of the pie, for example in the railways or the insurance business, have been doing the rounds - and having not got an entry, this is their logical retaliation.

And finally, the Ministry of Shipping and its subordinate offices have to take pro-active steps in advance to protect Indian shipping interests. UNCLOS is fine, but we can not continue to be the pleasant self-effacing fools at sea, when everybody else has upped the stake. If we have to be more resilent, if our ships have to be armed and hardened, and if we have to take risks to establish our positions, then so be it - our seafarers are willing to go out to fight for flag and country, but not with their arms tied behind them.

There is a war on off our coasts, we are already surrounded by a "War Risk Zone", and we need to do something about it now. Moaning and groaning about seafarers held in captivity is not going to solve issues - no seafarer was forced to go on a ship and take these risks. It is just that some of us need to raise our voices so that the larger problems are recognised, identified - and then solved. And if for that we have to arm our Merchant Marine as a first step - then so be it.

The sooner the better. Otherwise, with every day, the numbers are mounting up against us. Arm our boys NOW, and give them a chance to do their duty to flag and country, that's what it has always been about. The war moved out of pure military engagements to economic warfare - well, the response has to be along those lines, too.

+++

veeresh malik

Letter to the Editor at Mint on maritime piracy

http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/18215550/To-Davy-Jones8217-Locker.html?h=B

Good evening,

As an ex-seafarer as well as keen observor of the whole maritime piracy scene impacting the world in general and Indians in particular, the answer to your question is simple : YES.

However, before that can be done, certain in-house correctives need to be applied.

1) Recruitment of Indian seafarers for foreign flag ships is done through RPS companies registered with the DG Shipping/Mumbai, vide rules made in 2005 which are largely defective in as much as they encourage multiple malpractices, as well as have no control on the legalities of ships on which Indians end up working. These rules, for example, do not clearly define employee or employer. Nor do they define the responsibility of the flag State of the vessel on which the Indian seafarer is going to work. The bank guarantee per seafarer for these RPS companies is - hold your breath - 10000/oo rupees per head.

Read about this here:-

http://www.dgshipping.com/dgship/final/rules/ms_recruit_placement_seafarers_2005.doc

If we don't fix our own rules for our own people going to work on foreign flag ships, then what is the use of shedding crocodile tears subsequently?

2) There are specifically two large banks and two large payment processing/remittance companies linked to insurance companies which are known to be involved in this business. This is an open secret in shipping circles. All of them have business interests in India. The time for playing soft is gone - these companies need to be approached and told in no uncertain terms that the sort of games they played in the rest of the world, including during the World Wars for one of them, can not be played anymore. You do not have to see Charlie Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR to understand this, or work out the economics of how it is the co-linked insurance companies that are rolling in with the profits.

3) Most importantly, India's Government has to stop being apologetic about taking steps to protect its maritime trade and economy, and start hardening ships to prevent boarding as well as placing armed guards drawn from the Indian Navy and Indian Coastguard onboard Indian flag ships. Likewise, for Indians going to work on foreign flag ships under RPS of DG Shipping, it should be mandatory to have armed guards as a pre-condition for permitting Indians to work on board. As on date, the DG Shipping is still stuck with the now ancient BMP3 method, which means nothing in real terms.

Maritime piracy has to be eliminated, it is much bigger than a few seafarers being stuck off the Horn of Africa - it is the trade and economy of the country. The sooner india takes decisisve pro-active steps, the better.

regards/Veeresh Malik

+++

DID YOU KNOW THE BANK GUARANTEE FOR YOUR LIFE ACCORDING TO DGS IS ALL OF Rs. 10000.oo (ten thousand). SLIGHLY LOW, NO?

Getting our people back - the RAK AFRIKANA

My exclusive on the RAK AFRIKANA, as carried first at MONEYLIFE.

http://moneylife.in/article/the-rak-afrikana-inside-story-heres-how-the-crew-was-released/14674.html

The ‘RAK Afrikana’ inside story: Here’s how the crew was released
March 11, 2011 03:34 PM |
Veeresh Malik

The inside story behind why Somali pirates released the 23 crewmembers on board, after nearly one year of captivity 

First of all, for all those in the media and outside going shrill about wanting the Indian Navy to go into 'hot pursuit' on pirates hijacking ships, a small question-would you send the Indian Army to chase and capture bandits hijacking Indians on an Isle of Man registered bus in Albania or Montenegro, for example? No. We would not.

The days of sending gunboats up the Yangtze Kiang River or the Hooghly to motivate the natives are also now over, and if we try it near the Horn of Africa, then an established system of maritime realities and truths will soon put paid to things. And some poor Indian Navy officer will be strung up, likely at the Hague, for war crimes.

And besides, it is simply not feasible-too many small boats operating out of a large number of 'mother ships' and trawlers, over an ocean area larger than a few continents put together, an entity, concept and aspect which people ashore will simply not be able to relate to.

Besides, this is largely business as usual, though on a rapidly growing curve-so unless we are trying to establish our colonial rights there, it would be better to send in our bankers and evangelists, rather than our sailors, which is also the established wisdom of ages. Already, everything the "pirates" need is easily available, and if Amex, MasterCard and Visa are present, and doing very well, thank you, then can the rest of the organised retail and wholesale trade be too far behind? It is only the transaction cost and underwriting expenses that go up, which is also good for the bottom-line of the FIIs (foreign institutional investors), so everybody plays happy campers.

Next, barring some dhows and other local sailing craft which in any case are regulars on that route, so they know the game-no Indian flagship has, so far, been successfully hijacked.

Certainly, many have been attacked, more than a few have had near escapes-but they've all got through. There is what appears to be a reasonably efficient escort system by the Indian Navy for Indian flagships, facts on which one cannot and will not speak or write about, which is working as of now especially in the piracy impacted areas-but this is also a cause of concern as the piracy-impacted area is simply growing larger and larger.

From near coastal Horn of Africa to Socotra a few years ago, it extends now to the mouth of the Persian Gulf, along the coasts of the Indian Subcontinent as well as Africa till Madagascar, and reaches almost 70 degrees east and now well below the Equator.

See that on a map, and see how it is spreading.

http://www.icc-ccs.org/home/piracy-reporting-centre/imb-live-piracy-map-2010/piracy-map-2010

 You can use this link to see annual growth rate of piracy, too, and make pretty graphs if so desired like in an annual report.

Incidentally, there are a large number of piracy attacks in the South China Sea area too, which often go unreported because they are far more violent, often leaving no survivors, and ensuring that the ships, their crew, and the cargoes disappear. No body, no crime. The African hijacks, by comparison, are more humane-but they go and on, without closure.

Likewise, many more seafarers die every year due to run-ins on unseaworthy ships which have gone to the bottom and therefore that, their being unseaworthy, cannot be proved.

Barring the famed Derbyshire case, where friends and family of those who went down, actually spent large sums of money to find out what really happened.
 
http://www.bsnet.co.uk/derbyshire/

Third, and most importantly, this business is no longer 'controlled' from Somalian ports or towns. The money trail, which is now well-established apparently, goes right back to the "developed" countries, often through the "oil-rich" countries.

There are "rules" and "systems" for everything now-it seems that the pirates also have an "instruction book" on how to deal with the hostages as well as their family members when they call up. The whole process is run like a stock exchange, and at last reports, there were 72 entities in the business in Puntland, whose shares were literally traded depending on success or failure at sea. It is, what do we say, a bull market on over there.

Some accounts on how the ransom money is distributed, often dropped by chopper or light plane into the ocean next to the hijacked ship, are amazing. About the best collection of reports on the pirate organisations and their commercial methods can be found here:

http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?category_name=pirate-organizations-methods

More worrying is the political state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, especially the ports in the Red Sea, which are accessed only through this piracy-impacted area.

(Other than through the Suez Canal, of course, but that is not currently an issue).

It is a simple fact of life that the piracy business cannot survive without strong backing, and for long it has been suspected that the commercial routes are through Saudi Arabia, which is a part of the world which itself has had a long tradition of piracy, before the Bedouins got their act together and made it a Nation. The writ of the Arab pirates was said to extend to Gibraltar at one end and well into Malacca on the other.

So, to get on with this report, what are the numbers like?

Take the case of the RAK Afrikana, recently in the news, where crew onboard have been released after 11 months in captivity. Incidentally, of the 26 people onboard, 25 are reported to now be onboard another recently ransom-released ship called the York currently heading under escort for Mombasa. About the RAK Afrikana itself, what is known is that she is taking water from a large hold in the hold, and is likely to sink soon, if not already sunk.

The RAK Afrikana is a 30-year-old cargo ship, small as ships go at about 8,000 tonnes DWT, flying what is called an "open register" flag, or Flag of Convenience (FOC).

But this vessel is basically an ageing rust bucket surviving on the deficiencies in this system of "anything that goes flags". In this case, St Vincent & Grenadines, which just happens to also be blessed with a Governor General and a Queen, both from England, thank you very much.

But not British enough to send the British Navy, sure. She was based in Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE, where she functioned as a cadet-training ship, preparing young people for a career at sea under the New Zealand marine system, with a link also to BIT, India.

The operators are of Indian origin, as are some of the crew, though it was long thought that the financial backing was from Italy and China, blessed by the local RAK (UAE)  Government, who were justifiably very proud of these efforts to re-launch ancient maritime traditions. And finally, various other Governments and shipping companies also wanted to take this concept further, which is why she went on a voyage to Mauritius, after picking up some cargo on the way to make the voyage commercially viable too-and give the cadets some real experience.

And then she got hijacked. North of Seychelles.

The initial stages of negotiation were handled by an Indian who went by the code-name 'SADMAR', who was also the single point contact for the hijackers/pirates and their representatives. There was also a gentleman of European origin, let us call him 'JOE', who was an "advisor" functioning vaguely on behalf of the insurance companies and beneficial owners-both of whom were not fully declared.

At a meeting with the family members in a south-west Delhi 5-star hotel in the summer of 2010, it was made clear to the family members that if they wanted their kith and kin back safely, then they would have to keep the peace-interim financial sustenance was offered and accepted.

At that juncture, the pirates were demanding $3 million-$5 million, and 'SADMAR' had the authority to offer $700,000.

Then, very sadly, probably because the negotiations were literally killing him, 'SADMAR' died, and negotiations came to a grinding halt, while fresh channels were set up-trust being an important part. At all points of time, however, safety and good treatment of the crew onboard was paramount, as also looking after their families back home, so this episode did not make the shrill headlines.

For that, full marks to the owners, the Kotwals. Interim, 'JOE' tried hard to build confidences with the pirates as well as the crew onboard, but everybody wanted 'SADMAR', which was not possible as by now he had been cremated in Kochi.

Long story cut short, a few days ago, the ransom was paid out, and the pirates abandoned the ship, which was literally on its last legs anyways. The sum is rumoured to be around $1.2 million. A total of 25 of the seafarers onboard were first transferred to an Italian warship, and then again to another merchant ship recently freed, and now headed for Mombasa. The Captain of the ship, who played a stellar and strong role throughout, as well as his
Noida-based wife, are amongst the many heroes of this episode.

Which may or may not ever be really told again.

At the end of the day, however, it was all about how the fiscal aspects of the whole "transaction" were handled. From ensuring that family members were provided sustenance, to spending money on keeping communications going, and getting solid good professional advice from 'JOE'-the owners and pirates played the rules by the book.

Going to the media while negotiations are on, is not playing by the rules-and only endangers the lives of those on board.

___