OVER 650 SEAFARERS HELD HOSTAGE IN SOMALIA !
Source: Australia.to
Friday, 17 December
VESSEL BURNING OFF EYL (ecop-marine)
At 23h22 LT (20h22 Z) local marine observers at the Somali coast reported on 16. December 2010 a burning vessel not far from the coastal town of Eyl in Puntland at the western Indian Ocean coast of north-east Somalia.
Neither the name or any other identification of the vessel are yet known, since apparently no distress signal was sent and no radio contact was made. The mobile phone network in the area is very weak tonight.
The observers speak of a larger ship - not just a small dhow and the naval command centres were informed.
Further reports awaited.
FAMILIES OF KENYAN HOSTAGE SEAFARERS IN DISTRESS (ecop-marine)
A second vigil was held today in Mombasa by the family members of hostage seafarers on three vessels abducted in Somalia.
39 Kenyan seafarers are held on Korean-owned, Kenyan-flagged GOLDEN WAVE 305, six on Thailand-owned and -operated FV TAI YUAN 227 and one Kenyan lady, who was a passenger, is held on MV ALY ZOULFECAR from the Comoros.
The biggest grief the families have is that they do not receive any support from the side of the Kenyan government nor the shipowners and that no official information about the cases or negotiations is provided, except by the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, who attended the meeting today.
All the families are in deep economic problems. The families of the Thai fishing vessel have not received any financial support since thirteen month, a long time even before the vessel was sea-jacked. Likewise the sailors and fishermen on the Korean-owned vessel have only received in average less than US$50 in total per family since the vessel was abducted at the beginning of October 2010. The fact that no financial support is provided to these families caused that already seven of the seafarer's families were kicked out of their rented house for non-payment.
The families appealed again to the Kenyan government to help them and to the Somali captors to free their breadwinners.
Sri Lankan Fishing Vessel Abducted (ecop-marine)
It has only transpired now that FV LAKMALI and two Sri Lankan fishermen were taken hostage by Somali pirates while the remaining four of a crew of six managed to escape to India, the Sri Lankan Fisheries Ministry stated on 15. December 2010.
A ministry spokesman said the two abducted fishermen had now been identified as Lal Fernando and Sugath Fernando, who had gone fishing from Beruwala in their boat “Lakmali” on November 20.
They were taken hostage ten days later while in international waters.
The Ministry of Fisheries of Sri Lanka has requested its Foreign Affairs Ministry to help rescue the two fishermen and the four others being held in Minicoy and the Foreign Affairs Ministry itself has requested their envoys in Nairobi / Kenya to follow up on the two fishermen taken hostage by the Somali pirates.
Friday, 17 December
VESSEL BURNING OFF EYL (ecop-marine)
At 23h22 LT (20h22 Z) local marine observers at the Somali coast reported on 16. December 2010 a burning vessel not far from the coastal town of Eyl in Puntland at the western Indian Ocean coast of north-east Somalia.
Neither the name or any other identification of the vessel are yet known, since apparently no distress signal was sent and no radio contact was made. The mobile phone network in the area is very weak tonight.
The observers speak of a larger ship - not just a small dhow and the naval command centres were informed.
Further reports awaited.
FAMILIES OF KENYAN HOSTAGE SEAFARERS IN DISTRESS (ecop-marine)
A second vigil was held today in Mombasa by the family members of hostage seafarers on three vessels abducted in Somalia.
39 Kenyan seafarers are held on Korean-owned, Kenyan-flagged GOLDEN WAVE 305, six on Thailand-owned and -operated FV TAI YUAN 227 and one Kenyan lady, who was a passenger, is held on MV ALY ZOULFECAR from the Comoros.
The biggest grief the families have is that they do not receive any support from the side of the Kenyan government nor the shipowners and that no official information about the cases or negotiations is provided, except by the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, who attended the meeting today.
All the families are in deep economic problems. The families of the Thai fishing vessel have not received any financial support since thirteen month, a long time even before the vessel was sea-jacked. Likewise the sailors and fishermen on the Korean-owned vessel have only received in average less than US$50 in total per family since the vessel was abducted at the beginning of October 2010. The fact that no financial support is provided to these families caused that already seven of the seafarer's families were kicked out of their rented house for non-payment.
The families appealed again to the Kenyan government to help them and to the Somali captors to free their breadwinners.
Sri Lankan Fishing Vessel Abducted (ecop-marine)
It has only transpired now that FV LAKMALI and two Sri Lankan fishermen were taken hostage by Somali pirates while the remaining four of a crew of six managed to escape to India, the Sri Lankan Fisheries Ministry stated on 15. December 2010.
A ministry spokesman said the two abducted fishermen had now been identified as Lal Fernando and Sugath Fernando, who had gone fishing from Beruwala in their boat “Lakmali” on November 20.
They were taken hostage ten days later while in international waters.
The Ministry of Fisheries of Sri Lanka has requested its Foreign Affairs Ministry to help rescue the two fishermen and the four others being held in Minicoy and the Foreign Affairs Ministry itself has requested their envoys in Nairobi / Kenya to follow up on the two fishermen taken hostage by the Somali pirates.
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