SweetnessAndLight
10-03-2008, 05:32 AM
15 March 2008
MILLIONS of dollars worth of shipping and cargo ply the waters of the east African coast every day.
Every vessel runs the risk of hijack after Somalia's notorious pirates resumed business last year, prompting a surge in worldwide piracy figures, according to the latest report by the International Maritime Bureau.
When one of their ships goes missing, the millionaire owners telephone Andrew Mwangura, a former seaman who lives in a two-room shack and relies on internet cafes to communicate with his global network of contacts.
"The ship owners are wealthy but there is nothing for Andrew," he says, sipping a hot chocolate on a Mombasa hotel veranda. He dare not meet journalists at his home for fear his work will attract the wrong kind of attention.
"It doesn't matter because I'm proud that the US or British embassy officials come to meet me. They ask me what I think. That's very good for a common man."
Mr Mwangura, 45, has run the Seafarer's Assistance Programme for the past 12 years, tracking down missing vessels, investigating deaths at sea and negotiating the release of hostages.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Pirates-stolen--your-supertanker.3881777.jp
2008-09-30 16:31:41
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program said the Somali pirates claim to be in possession of confidential documents showing that the arms were actually destined for southern Sudan, not Kenya.
Mwangura said that the hijacked ship, MV Faina, was ferrying the fourth such consignment from Ukraine to southern Sudan.
"One of the cargo arrived at the port of Mombasa in October last year, two in February this year. The seized load of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and some ammunition was the fourth cargo with military equipment for southern Sudan," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone.
The ship MV Faina, loaded with tanks and weapons, was seized on Thursday not far from its destination port of Mombasa, Kenya.
The pirates have warned against any attempt to rescue the crew or cargo of the ship. But the Kenyan government has cast doubt on the report, saying it had not been issued with ransom demands.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/30/content_10135874.htm
Friday, 03 October 2008
WELL known Mombasa-based seafarers' champion and anti-piracy worker Andrew Mwangura has been arrested and has been ordered by a magistrate to be detained for five days of interrogation. According to Kenyan news reports Mr Mwangura has been charged with issuing alarming statements and being in possession of four cannabis joints.
The action apparently stems from Mr Mwangura's remarks that he believed military hardware on MV Faina, hijacked off Somalia on passage to Mombasa, was destined for Southern Sudan rather than the Kenyan army as the Kenyan government is insisting.
Meanwhile the UN Security Council is next week expected to consider a resolution proposed by France calling on all countries with a stake in maritime safety to send military ships and aircraft to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.
http://www.mgn.com/news/dailystorydetails.cfm?storyid=9231
That cannabis will get ya -- every time
MILLIONS of dollars worth of shipping and cargo ply the waters of the east African coast every day.
Every vessel runs the risk of hijack after Somalia's notorious pirates resumed business last year, prompting a surge in worldwide piracy figures, according to the latest report by the International Maritime Bureau.
When one of their ships goes missing, the millionaire owners telephone Andrew Mwangura, a former seaman who lives in a two-room shack and relies on internet cafes to communicate with his global network of contacts.
"The ship owners are wealthy but there is nothing for Andrew," he says, sipping a hot chocolate on a Mombasa hotel veranda. He dare not meet journalists at his home for fear his work will attract the wrong kind of attention.
"It doesn't matter because I'm proud that the US or British embassy officials come to meet me. They ask me what I think. That's very good for a common man."
Mr Mwangura, 45, has run the Seafarer's Assistance Programme for the past 12 years, tracking down missing vessels, investigating deaths at sea and negotiating the release of hostages.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Pirates-stolen--your-supertanker.3881777.jp
2008-09-30 16:31:41
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program said the Somali pirates claim to be in possession of confidential documents showing that the arms were actually destined for southern Sudan, not Kenya.
Mwangura said that the hijacked ship, MV Faina, was ferrying the fourth such consignment from Ukraine to southern Sudan.
"One of the cargo arrived at the port of Mombasa in October last year, two in February this year. The seized load of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and some ammunition was the fourth cargo with military equipment for southern Sudan," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone.
The ship MV Faina, loaded with tanks and weapons, was seized on Thursday not far from its destination port of Mombasa, Kenya.
The pirates have warned against any attempt to rescue the crew or cargo of the ship. But the Kenyan government has cast doubt on the report, saying it had not been issued with ransom demands.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/30/content_10135874.htm
Friday, 03 October 2008
WELL known Mombasa-based seafarers' champion and anti-piracy worker Andrew Mwangura has been arrested and has been ordered by a magistrate to be detained for five days of interrogation. According to Kenyan news reports Mr Mwangura has been charged with issuing alarming statements and being in possession of four cannabis joints.
The action apparently stems from Mr Mwangura's remarks that he believed military hardware on MV Faina, hijacked off Somalia on passage to Mombasa, was destined for Southern Sudan rather than the Kenyan army as the Kenyan government is insisting.
Meanwhile the UN Security Council is next week expected to consider a resolution proposed by France calling on all countries with a stake in maritime safety to send military ships and aircraft to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.
http://www.mgn.com/news/dailystorydetails.cfm?storyid=9231
That cannabis will get ya -- every time