# Ship Master dies after being released by Pirates



## Archie2009 (Sep 9, 2009)

Their strikes and demands are getting audacious but what Somali pirates, who continue to infest the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, do to the hostages is terrifying. Sanjay Verma, India's consul general in Dubai, would know. For 11 months, he worked for the release of Seychelles-flagged
RAK Afrikana, without telling anyone that his brother-in-law was the captain of the 23-member crew, 11 of who were Indians, held hostage by the pirates. He didn't think it was professional.

The release did come but too late. Captain Prem Kumar died of brain haemorrhage on May 16. A stroke in captivity had left the 49-year-old paralysed. 

Looking for closure, Verma has written to the ministry of external affairs, informing them that Kumar was married to his sister.

Getting the vessel released was Verma's first major task in Dubai. Afrikana was hijacked on April 11, 2010 some 280 nautical miles west off Seychelles.

While they negotiated with the owners of the cargo ship, the pirates kept hostages on a diet of thin onion soup and rice. The crew lived in constant fear and were tortured.

The pirates wanted to turn Afrikana into a pirate mother ship to attack other vessels and wanted it refitted.

Kumar didn't allow it and faced pirates' fury.

One day, the pirates took away five young crew to the shore. They returned with blood-soaked T-shirts and told Kumar they had killed the sailors. Kumar still didn't relent.

They tortured him more, unmindful of the fact that he had high blood pressure. Soon it emerged that the blood on the T-shirts was that of a sheep.

But the violence continued and Kumar suffered a stroke on January 26, leaving his left side paralysed.

Almost three months later, on March 16, an Italian naval ship rescued the crew released in exchange of ransom. On April 4, Kumar suffered brain haemorrhage and slipped into coma. He died on May 16.

Verma's fortitude has earned him praise of colleagues and minister SM Krishna, who has hailed his "exemplary" courage in face of "personal trauma".

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-...ortitude-ends-in-tragedy/Article1-699628.aspx


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

The thing about this piracy business that I don't understand is that when in Libya Gadaffi turned his troops on his people the UK, France, USA and others went ballistic and started to bomb seven bells out of him. Yet the pirates seem to operate with impunity -- even if they are caught they are simply taken home and released.

How can we justify what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, with this apparent impotence in the face of piracy?


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## Gollywobbler (Dec 4, 2010)

ART6 said:


> The thing about this piracy business that I don't understand is that when in Libya Gadaffi turned his troops on his people the UK, France, USA and others went ballistic and started to bomb seven bells out of him. Yet the pirates seem to operate with impunity -- even if they are caught they are simply taken home and released.
> 
> How can we justify what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, with this apparent impotence in the face of piracy?


Hi Art

I entirely agree with you. 

The Official Excuse in the UK is that it is "too dangerous" to try to stop the piracy because innocent people could be caught in the cross-fire and killed. 

That same concern does not seem to thwart our war-mongering British Governments in relation to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, though. 

Cheers

Gill


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## NoR (Mar 24, 2008)

Gollywobbler said:


> Hi Art
> 
> I entirely agree with you.
> 
> The Official Excuse in the UK is that it is "too dangerous" to try to stop the piracy because innocent people could be caught in the cross-fire and killed..............."


The words omelette and eggs come to mind. Our politicians lack the moral courage to take the necessary action.


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

Gollywobbler said:


> Hi Art
> 
> I entirely agree with you.
> 
> ...


Thanks Gill.

Given the apparent growth in piracy in a number of locations it seems to me a pretty good bet that "innocent people" _will_ be killed sooner or later by the pirates. I always believed that the principal duty of governments was the protection of their people, but where the UK at least is concerned that seems to have been translated into the protection of the pirates.

I may be guilty of a non-PC attitude, but I would rather the pirates got killed thanks!


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## China hand (Sep 11, 2008)

In history, wasn't one of the prime purposes of an organized navy the eradication of piracy? And in view of the seemingly uselessness of governments to deal with the problem, should there not be a revocation of the lapse in the piracy law? If you catch them, hang them. Of course, innocent seafarers will suffer, but are they not suffering already?
Easy for me to talk, I have retired from sea, but, law or no law, if I was still sailing, I would carry a gun.


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## RayJordandpo (Feb 23, 2006)

ART6 said:


> The thing about this piracy business that I don't understand is that when in Libya Gadaffi turned his troops on his people the UK, France, USA and others went ballistic and started to bomb seven bells out of him. Yet the pirates seem to operate with impunity -- even if they are caught they are simply taken home and released.
> 
> How can we justify what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, with this apparent impotence in the face of piracy?


Spot on mate!
I've just read an article stating that putting armed security guards on ships DOES actually work. Somali pirates are now taking a new tack. They openly approach vessels and let their intentions be known, if they are faced with an armed response they simply back off and go elsewhere to seek helpless prey.


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

Israeli registered vessel's during my time carried weapon's and most of the Crew were Reservist's, our "Pirate's" were of course the PLO, Black September and other's of that ilk and we carried out regular armed anti- boarding exercises. Maritime Fruit were very close to the Isreali Navy as can be seen if you go on to Wiki and have a look at the Cherbourg Project, Milla was my Boss and we were known as Israel's Reserve Navy. Some of the "Civilian's" mentioned were part of our Crew. There was a lot more to the story as there was a Plan "B". The problem with carrying weapon's on today's Merchant Vessel's is the multi- national, multi-religion Crew's. With the Israeli vessel's there was no such problem and the Crew(s) were well disciplined having done what could be termed as their National Service and boy did it show which is what you need if weapon's are to be carried against "Pirate's" on Merchant Vessel's.


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## China hand (Sep 11, 2008)

chadburn said:


> Israeli registered vessel's during my time carried weapon's and most of the Crew were Reservist's, our "Pirate's" were of course the PLO, Black September and other's of that ilk and we carried out regular armed anti- boarding exercises. Maritime Fruit were very close to the Isreali Navy as can be seen if you go on to Wiki and have a look at the Cherbourg Project, Milla was my Boss and we were known as Israel's Reserve Navy. Some of the "Civilian's" mentioned were part of our Crew. There was a lot more to the story as there was a Plan "B". The problem with carrying weapon's on today's Merchant Vessel's is the multi- national, multi-religion Crew's. With the Israeli vessel's there was no such problem and the Crew(s) were well disciplined having done what could be termed as their National Service and boy did it show which is what you need if weapon's are to be carried against "Pirate's" on Merchant Vessel's.


Yup, spent a few years in Zim, late '60s early '70s. We were well armed, trained, and as long as we shot off our quota of rounds ( usually at an oil drum) and they were written off, the boys got a couple of days off from their reserve duties when they got home. Most of our stuff was liberated stuff from the 67 war. Never used it in anger, but would have if necessary.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

chadburn said:


> Israeli registered vessel's during my time carried weapon's and most of the Crew were Reservist's, our "Pirate's" were of course the PLO, Black September and other's of that ilk


Somewhat off topic but mention of Israeli ships and Black September reminds me of attending builders trials pre-delivery (Bremerhaven in Germany) aboard “Zim Montreal”. This was at the height of the activities of the Black September group ("Schwarze September" in German). The initial trials had to be aborted because of sabotage in the engine room where sand and other abrasives had been added to gearboxes and other parts of the machinery. 

We lay alongside for a day or so while repairs were made and then we sailed for another attempt to carry out the trials. At lunch on the first day, the saloon was crowded with a very international crowd of representatives of the owners, the builders and the various equipment suppliers. During the meal, when someone was trying to sprinkle salt on his food, the top came off the pot and dumped the entire contents onto his plate. Loud cheers from all around and then some wag from the shipyard said, “Ach, Schwarze September!” Much laughter and lots of back-slapping. (Jester)


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## Gollywobbler (Dec 4, 2010)

ART6 said:


> Thanks Gill.
> 
> Given the apparent growth in piracy in a number of locations it seems to me a pretty good bet that "innocent people" _will_ be killed sooner or later by the pirates. I always believed that the principal duty of governments was the protection of their people, but where the UK at least is concerned that seems to have been translated into the protection of the pirates.
> 
> I may be guilty of a non-PC attitude, but I would rather the pirates got killed thanks!



Hi Art

The UK had the brainy idea of introducing the Yuman Rites Act about 10 years ago. The domestic version is more or less an exact copy of whatever the European Convention on Yuman Rites says, apparently. 

I doubt whether it is a coincidence that Cherie Booth QC (aka Mrs Tony Blair) is one of the UK's leading Yuman Rites lawyers. Naturally she would have been delighted with the defective wording and thrust of the new Yuman Rites Act because she was the family's main breadwinner at the time, earning more than twice as much as Prime Minister Tone. 

It is not nice to kill people, not even pirates. It breaches their Yuman Rites, doncha know? 

It is even worse for a British warship to capture them alive because the minute they board a British warship, they will be standing on British soil, legally. That will enable them to claim Asylum in the UK and the warship won't be able to do anything except arrange for them to be sent to the UK so that their claim can then be processed. 

We can't then chuck these little thugs out of the UK because Somalia is undoubtedly a dangerous place where they might well face persecution unless they can report that they have also arranged Asylum for all the Somalian political bigwigs plus all their rellies as well as the pirates' rellies. Denying someone their Rite to a family life is a breach of one of their most fundamental Yuman Rites, apparently, so we'd have to take all of them or none of them. 

The civilians come very low down in the political pecking order nowadays, so the civilian crews of merchant ships and the yachtsmen do not get a look in. They are not a noisy, obstreperous bunch of people. They all vanish off the British horizon in their various vessels and they almost never make any sort of a fuss about anything. The pollies couldn't give a damn about any of their Yuman Rites, I have noticed. 

Cheers

Gill


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## Gollywobbler (Dec 4, 2010)

RayJordandpo said:


> Spot on mate!
> I've just read an article stating that putting armed security guards on ships DOES actually work. Somali pirates are now taking a new tack. They openly approach vessels and let their intentions be known, if they are faced with an armed response they simply back off and go elsewhere to seek helpless prey.


Hi there

Yes, I've heard that the UK-based cruise ships have taken to carrying retired Gurkhas. Apparently their experience is that if any pirates try to cause any problems for the ships, the Gurkhas "persuade" them that it is not a good idea, whereupon the pirates just naff off and look for some other target instead. 

I've also heard that some of the cargo ships have taken to carrying huge water-cannons that can make a serious mess of a few pirates and their usually fairly flimsy, fragile boats. That usually puts them off any notions of interference, as well, I have been told. 

However British warships just seem to wander around, noticing what is going on and noting it all down, but apparently the Foreign Office insist that the warships must not actually do anything except observe. Which seems pretty hopeless to me but most of the Men From the Ministry are hopeless, in my observation. (A cousin of mine works in the Foreign Office, in a fairly senior job. I've always wondered what on earth they want with a mutt like him on their payroll!) 

Cheers

Gill


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

Gollywobbler said:


> Hi Art
> 
> It is not nice to kill people, not even pirates. It breaches their Yuman Rites, doncha know?
> 
> It is even worse for a British warship to capture them alive because the minute they board a British warship, they will be standing on British soil, legally. That will enable them to claim Asylum in the UK and the warship won't be able to do anything except arrange for them to be sent to the UK so that their claim can then be processed.


Not nice to kill people unless they happen to be Iraqis, Libyans, or Afghans.
A ten inch blank flange securely tied to the feet is not intended to prevent them from swimming back to their boat!



Gollywobbler said:


> However British warships just seem to wander around, noticing what is going on and noting it all down, but apparently the Foreign Office insist that the warships must not actually do anything except observe.


Observe?? Observe an act of piracy taking place and do nothing about it? If that is all the RN is allowed to do nowadays then it might as well be completely abolished, along with that useless crowd in the FO (or, possibly, the whole of the political establishment and civil service where the incompetence of the latter has already been demonstrated in the Coastguard issue).

The primary purpose of the RN has always been to keep the seas safe for British merchantmen. If it can't do that then what's it there for?
(MAD)(MAD)


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## Gollywobbler (Dec 4, 2010)

ART6 said:


> Not nice to kill people unless they happen to be Iraqis, Libyans, or Afghans.
> A ten inch blank flange securely tied to the feet is not intended to prevent them from swimming back to their boat!
> 
> 
> ...


Hi Art

When Mr & Mrs Chandler were kidnapped from their yacht in 2008, there was a "British warship" nearby that saw the whole thing. It was an RN ship but it wasn't a warship. I think it was an RFA vessel but it was carrying Royal Marines commandos. 

The ship's captain has more or less confirmed that that the MoD had given the go ahead for the ship and the commandos to take the necessary action to prevent the piracy and that the people on the ship came within an ace of doing what the MoD had authorised. Some leaks from the ship were inevitable because they were understandably fed up with unjustified accusations that they were a bunch of lily livered wimps.

According to the various leaks, although the MoD was happy for the ship and the commandos to take action the Foreign Office allegedly stopped the MoD's plans at the last minute. 

Allegedly the FO said that they feared that if you prevent an act of piracy but the price of that is that you encourage asylum claims instead then the overall result might be to make the area of sea around the Gulf of Aden/Somalia/Indian Ocean more dangerous for British vessels rather than less so. It might show the pirates that there are potentially more useful ways of solving their own problems than simply demanding hard cash. 

It is a fact that although a private ransom was paid in the end, the British Government also mysteriously gave the rulers in Somalia a substantial bung of "overseas grant aid" shortly before the couple were released. 

Mr Chandler is writing a book about the whole thing. My guess is that it will be a best-seller and that he will be able to sell the film rights as well. I suspect that he knows more about it all than he will ever be allowed to repeat publicly but if he makes a substantial sum of money out of it, the British Government will surely claim that really & truly they were right to have decided not to prevent the piracy and that it was all all right in the end - the usual Government whitewashing claptrap. 

The "consular assistance" that the couple received when they were released had much more of the red carpet about it than is usually the case, so I suspect that the red carpet contained a pretty effective muzzle as well. 

Cheers

Gill


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## ART6 (Sep 14, 2010)

Gollywobbler said:


> Hi Art
> 
> It might show the pirates that there are potentially more useful ways of solving their own problems than simply demanding hard cash.
> 
> ...


Gill your paragraphs above surely demonstrate the astonishing stupidity of the FO? Why would pirates able to earn millions from ransoms ever want to claim asylum in the UK even if they could then live in "luxury" on state benefits? If I was them I'd much rather get a few millions a year for waving a gun at someone who won't fight back.

I am old fashioned enough to hanker for the long gone days when a stunt like hijacking a British ship could well result in a ruddy great battleship with malice intent arriving at your door!

It's worth noting that the Russian and American navies don't seem to follow the FO line -- they just shoot the devils!


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

China hand said:


> Yup, spent a few years in Zim, late '60s early '70s. We were well armed, trained, and as long as we shot off our quota of rounds ( usually at an oil drum) and they were written off, the boys got a couple of days off from their reserve duties when they got home. Most of our stuff was liberated stuff from the 67 war. Never used it in anger, but would have if necessary.


Like yourself we had Shooting Competition's to get rid of out of time ammunition using old oil drum's as the target's, I hope member's found the Cherbourg Project story interesting especially yourself with the Zim connection. The only thing I would add to the story was that the unamed Yard in Norway was Aker's who built the Mangocore (1965), Avocadocore (1965) and the Sabracore(1968) and the faux "conversion contract" for the launches was handled by Milla

Reagard's Chad.


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## China hand (Sep 11, 2008)

chadburn said:


> Like yourself we had Shooting Competition's to get rid of out of time ammunition using old oil drum's as the target's, I hope member's found the Cherbourg Project story interesting especially yourself with the Zim connection. The only thing I would add to the story was that the unamed Yard in Norway was Aker's who built the Mangocore (1965), Avocadocore (1965) and the Sabracore(1968) and the faux "conversion contract" for the launches was handled by Milla
> 
> Reagard's Chad.


Happy memories in what was always called Savannah Port on the loading list. The cargo gear check made Aussie WWF checks look really pussy. I used to do a complete gear change on the way to Sunny Point, from topping lift blocks to guy block shackle mousings. And the dunnage we used for those bombs and fuses! Prime timber. A massive great loadmaster (Sgt) under a Looootenent(had rank, knew nix about loading ships). Happy days. Get to the the other side and they empty Ashdod to let you in. Prime time.


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

We did load a cargo of Truck's and Jeep's which were ex American Forces Reserve Stock in Europe at Hamburg, thankfully nothing like Bomb's and or Shell's. You like myself (from what I read) enjoyed yourself with the Israeli's they were a great crowd, promotion was rapid with M.F. due to the number of vessel's they had built.


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## China hand (Sep 11, 2008)

chadburn said:


> We did load a cargo of Truck's and Jeep's which were ex American Forces Reserve Stock in Europe at Hamburg, thankfully nothing like Bomb's and or Shell's. You like myself (from what I read) enjoyed yourself with the Israeli's they were a great crowd, promotion was rapid with M.F. due to the number of vessel's they had built.


Most of my time with Zim was spent on the US Gulf - Israel run. Many of those trips were called "special" and only a couple of us non-Israelis were allowed to stay ( I believe we were known as Friends). I wonder how many old Anchor Line buddies know how many Skyhawks you can get on the hatches of the old Cicilia? When we passed the "cross point" with our deck load we used to wave at the USSR ships with their deck load heading for Alex. They always waved back. Happy days


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

China Hand, did the men in Black or the Mr Bond(s)(*)) go aboard your ship by any chance?


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## Peter Eccleson (Jan 16, 2006)

How long will it be before these 'pirates' supported by one of their mother-ships attack one of the Maldive Islands and take a load of tourists hostage? I know they may not get as much of a ransom as a 300,000 ton fully laden tanker but if the pickings are a bit scarse at the time then it may be tempting! What then International Governments? What was the ancient punishment for piracy on the high seas? Could replace that with 50mm machine gun bullets ..... word would soon get around the pirate community. On the opposite tack, arming merchant vessels or carrying security guards may prompt these pirates to 'shoot first and ask questions later'. A rocket propelled grenade can do a lot of damage.


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## China hand (Sep 11, 2008)

chadburn said:


> China Hand, did the men in Black or the Mr Bond(s)(*)) go aboard your ship by any chance?


Nope, not as far as I can think.
Usual bitahon mob at the breakwaters in Ashdod or with the pilot boat off Haifa, or if we went up to Kishon then maybe a Navy guy. 
Also if we had PETN aboard we did insist on a stevedore rep to come so he didn't blow us all up whilst discharging the stuff (with can-hooks!!). 
Some of the radio call signs were interesting, but that is another story. 
Last minute routing was also fun. 
Nearly managed to bum a freebie flight on a Skyhawk trainer, but the super (smashing old guy who had flown with the RAF) heard about it and pinched my ride. 
(Ouch)Truth to tell, it was tense, but I was living out there, and I would lie if I said I didn't enjoy it.


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

China Hand, the MrBond(s) I was referring to were the Government Bond Agent's that use to come aboard, just wondered if you became an Investor as well as a Friend.


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