SOMCAN in Puntland

[Amistad]

A private Somali anti-piracy company. Does anybody know if they are still there ?

[SayidSomal]

why do you want to know?

[Amistad]

I have a vested interest in contacting them, as they might very well benefit by my contact, and the phone number I have for them in UAE does not seem to go to them anymore.

[Thankful]

Why don't you contact the Puntland government through their website? They will be able to get you Abdiweli Taar who is head of Somcan's contact info!

[SayidSomal]

Originally posted by Amistad:

I have a vested interest in contacting them, as they might very well benefit by my contact, and the phone number I have for them in UAE does not seem to go to them anymore.

vested interest?? - does it clash with mine?

 

lets presume it does - hence the following couple questions?

 

Are either you or your contacts by any chance ajnebi preferably cadaan?

 

Instead of phone calls can you book yourselves in at Taar City Hotel Galkacayo or preferable Panorama Hotel Bosaso?

 

And we shall negotiate :cool:

[SayidSomal]

Thankful - Ever the so helpful aren't you – balse way ficnaan lahayd in aad xasuusato maahmaahdii ahayd “af ****olan waa dahab”

[Amistad]

Why, are you racist Sayid?

 

Thank you, Thankful, good idea. I do have a phone # for the Minister of Information, didnt think of that.

 

As far as me being white or a stranger I dont believe either is a factor that should concern you Sayid unless you are personally concerned for my safety? If thats the case I thnk you deeply and why not post all of your personal contact info here

[Amistad]

or heaven forbid...one of the dreaded kidnappers?

 

Ohh, Im so afraid !

[Thankful]

Amistad,

 

You may have seen this article, but just in case you didn't here you go! It was in a Canadian magazine back in (Jan 2009) and talked about Somcan and it's leader!

 

Macleans

[Amistad]

Yes, did see it thanks. One of the reasons for my post. You may have seen mention of Hart Security in that article, my old supervisors employer, we did an anti-poaching/piracy gig in Puntland in 99-01 for the govt there. We are trying to bring the amnesty/job program back there with Intl support...put the people/pirates back to work similar to the program back in 1999, it worked fairly well before.

[dambarsame]

Originally posted by Amistad:

A private Somali anti-piracy company. Does anybody know if they are still there ?

what the hell intrepreneur game your dealing with, brother in law

 

getting back to the topic as far as I know about this company the spearhead and the command of its arm passed away probably before two years besides its troops and all its heavy and light arms are commandeered by the president of puntland

[Coloow]

Amistad, are you by any chance a piracy entrepreneur (the go-between, the information provider e.g. through Lloyds' list, the equipment provider)?

 

Piracy is tarnishing what is left of our image.

 

The so called somali anti-piracy companies are nothing more than pirates themselves and investing in such a business is morally and judicially wrong.

[Amistad]

Nope, not a middle man or interested in tarnishing the good govt of Puntlands name either. Quite the opposite, we want to help the governments of Puntland & Somaliland. Nor are we white boys with guns wanting to float around the ocean chasing pirates. That is not a solution.

 

We are geared more towards creating coastal and inland jobs, our original program gave amnesty to current pirates if they would take a job with the coast guard, they were trained (yes regrettably, some became pirates themselves) but on a larger scale this time and more closely monitored by dual national Somali managers from the west we will hire to work closely with the govts in an overall fisheries management program that will catch and prosecute poachers, manage fishing and environmental resources and prevent toxic waste dumping. This effort will create a huge amount of jobs and we hope to tie this in with the new USAID TIS Program.

 

I should probably add we are offering non-lethal services, but shouldn't be viewed as a humanitarian type company completely either. Anything to do with weapons or arms, as it would be foolish to think we could do business un-protected, would be in the hands of the locals.

[Sherban Shabeel]

Can I be a pirate entrepreneur?? Pleeeaaase!

 

Screw that, I'll even go and do the hijackings myself if you guys can hook a brotha up

[Amistad]

Navy looks for ways other than armed patrols to fight Somali pirates.

 

A top admiral says US Navy armed patrols can't chase Somali pirates indefinitely. Other ways must be found to get to the source of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

 

 

By Gordon Lubold, Staff writer / April 16, 2010

 

Washington

The US Navy will be unable to continue long-term operations against pirates off the coast of Somalia, and it’s looking for other ways to solve the growing problem, according to a top admiral.

 

 

Suspected Somali pirates more active, but US Navy fighting back

USS Nicholas captures Somali pirates. What to do with them?

As Somali pirates continue to find attacking cargo ships in the West Indian Ocean profitable, they have become more and more aggressive, forcing the international community to send naval ships from more than a dozen countries to help patrol the vast waters off Somalia.

 

But the patrols are expensive and deprive the global fleet of precious resources, and they can’t continue such costly operations, says Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, the top naval commander in Europe and Africa.

 

“I don’t think we can sustain the level of operation we’ve got down there forever,” said Fitzgerald.

 

*Fitzgerald did not indicate the Navy would abandon the mission any time soon. Instead, his remarks suggest that the answer to piracy may lie elsewhere – especially if it becomes a more violent activity.

 

He says the shipping industry should ensure it is doing everything to deter attacks, including hiring armed security guards, as well as taking other nonlethal actions to thwart pirates.

 

“The maritime industry has got to make a decision about how seriously they want to take this on,” he said, in a roundtable discussion with reporters at the Pentagon this week.

 

Naval patrols have been effective

 

About 40 naval vessels patrol those waters at any one time, including as many as 10 US Navy ships. Those patrols have been effective.

 

The US Navy’s presence alone has thwarted several attacks, including one Friday in which a helicopter from the destroyer Farragut scared off an attack from a pirate skiff. Last week, the USS Ashland, a Navy amphibious ship, received small-arms fire from a pirate skiff. When the ship returned fire and the skiff caught fire, the pirates jumped into the water and Navy personnel rescued them. Over the past 10 days, the Navy has apprehended 21 suspected pirates.

 

The industry has resisted hiring security guards in part out of fear of escalating the violence on the high seas. There are also legal issues with having weapons aboard ships that port in various countries, industry officials have said.

 

The Maersk Alabama, a US-flagged ship, was pirated twice, including once last year when its captain was held until the pirates were killed by US military sharpshooters. The second time it was attacked, it had armed security guards aboard who thwarted the attack. But those guards were there because the US government contracts with Maersk Line, Limited to ship military supplies to the war zone.

 

“Our company policy is we don’t want weapons on board our vessels, and we don’t allow them except in instances where governments or authorities mandate us to do so,” says Kevin Speers, a spokesman for Maersk Line, Limited. He noted that various carriers, including his own, have taken a number of nonlethal measures to avoid attack.

 

Legal issues with captured pirates

 

From the US Navy’s point of view, there are long-term legal questions about what to do with captured pirates. Typically, they are low-level operators from Somalia who provide little in the way of useful intelligence for addressing a problem that costs the shipping industry millions of dollars a year.

 

Fitzgerald says the solution is for the US to go after the source of piracy. While he didn’t rule out using military force, he said following the money might be a good place to start. Kenyan officials have told Fitzgerald that money from Somalia is being used to buy up high-end real estate there and in Ethiopia with what appears to be the proceeds from piracy.

 

Indeed, the US has begun to get serious about going after money earned by pirates. President Obama on Tuesday gave Treasury officials additional powers to sanction or freeze assets of individuals involved in piracy, the Associated Press reported. According to the executive order signed by Mr. Obama, the justification for the broader powers is US national security.

 

“The deterioration of the security situation and the persistence of violence in Somalia, and acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” writes Obama in his executive order.