EU Naval Force frees 6 Somalis seized after fatal shooting by private guard aboard ship

Navy frees Somalis seized after pirate shooting

NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU Naval Force freed six Somalis seized after their companion was shot dead by a private security contractor during an attempt to hijack a ship off the East African coast, a naval spokesman said Thursday.

The navy let the six go after the captain of the MV Almezaan said he could not identify the men detained by the Spanish navy as the group of pirates who attacked him, said Cmdr. John Harbour.

One of the suspected pirates died after men aboard the Almezaan opened fire while waiting for help from a warship. When the warship arrived, it detained the six surviving men and the body of the seventh.

Legal experts say the incident illustrates the lack of regulation for a growing army of private security contractors working onboard ships in the high seas. There have been a number of new companies setting up in the lucrative maritime private security business.

Maritime officials worry that a proliferation of weapons could escalate the level of violence used in attacks, potentially endangering crews. They also warn that laws governing the use and carriage of weapons are unclear and could open a ship owner to potential lawsuits in the case of a fatality.

It is unclear who, if anyone, will investigate what is believed to be the first fatal shooting of a Somali pirate by a private security contractor. The ship is owned by Biyat International, a company from the United Arab Emirates, flies the Panamanian flag and is captained by a Pakistani. The EU Naval Force did not know the nationalities of the rest of the crew or the men who fired the weapons, Harbour said.

The Almezaan — sometimes translated as the al-Mizan — was hijacked twice last year and released in unusual circumstances. The first time a group of Somali elders intervened to free the ship after it emerged it was chartered by Somali businessmen.

The second time, a man claiming to be a member of the pirate gang said it was freed after a payment of $15,000 for “expenses” — well below the multimillion dollar ransoms ships usually command. There was no way of verifying his claims.

Pirate attacks have continued to climb despite the presence of around 35 warships from various nations off the Somali coast. The area of ocean where ships are vulnerable to pirate attack is too vast to effectively patrol, and the failed state of Somalia is the perfect haven for pirate strongholds. Experts say the attacks at sea are just another manifestation of the lawlessness on land, where there has not been an effective government for 19 years.