Arms onboard the M/V Faina abandonded by receiver

An Associated Press article confirms neither the ship's owner nor the receiver in Kenya want the cargo onboard the M/V Faina. There is no mention if the shipper in Ukraine is interested in getting it back, but I rather doubt it.


"The arms-laden Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina, (was) hijacked Sept. 25 with a cargo of 33 battle tanks and heavy weaponry.

The pirates who hold the Faina, said Monday that its operator wants to negotiate only for the release of the vessel and crew of 20 - and not its cargo.

The pirates' spokesman Sugule Ali said they received a fax on Friday from Viktor Murenko, the head of ship operator Tomex Team, saying Kenya had declined to pay any ransom for the cargo it claims.

The Murenko letter said the pirates are at, "liberty to destroy or throw the weapons to the sea if they deemed that fit," Ali told The Associated Press via satellite phone from the Faina.

In Russia, a spokesman for ship owner Vadim Alperin said such a thing was physically impossible as there was no way to unload or destroy the cargo with U.S. forces surrounding the ship.

"The ship owner doesn't care about the cargo, he has already cursed it in all ways possible," said Mikhail Voitenko. But he said that it was impossible to separate the cargo from the ship. "Physically it's impossible."

Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula repeated that the government would not pay any ransom, and told the AP that Tomex Team is responsible for the cargo until it is delivered.

Ali said the pirates passed on a copy of Tomex Team's letter to the U.S. Navy, and that the Faina's captain, Viktor Nikolsky, confirmed the signature on the letter belongs to his boss."

I especially like the phrase "the ship owner..has already cursed it (the arms) in all ways possible". Yes, I think the arms have not only been cursed, but are cursed.

Sounds like the makings for the next Indiana Jones movie. Not to make light of the situation, but ya'll got to admit, if this wasn't so serious, it would be funny.

Pirates deadline passed for blowing up M/V Faina

The Somali Pirates gave last night as the deadline for ransom to be paid for the M/V Faina. They said they would blow up the ship if ransom was not paid by the deadline.

The deadline has passed. The ship wasn't blown up.

I was wondering how these pirates decided to make the announcement they would blow up the ship. I can only imagine one of them make such a bold proclamation, and the others said "oh yes, that will really show them, let's do that!" But then reality set in at some point and probably the Pirates decided against this.

Russia Today has an article and a video regarding the M/V Faina, especially from the viewpoint of families of the crew.

Ukraine Admits Illegal Arms Trading

According to Russia Today, the Prime Minister of Ukraine admits there has been illegal arms sales from Ukraine.

This all came to light because of the hijacking of the M/V Faina by Somali pirates. The vessel was going to Kenya, but it was determined the cargo of tanks and other weaponry was destined for Sudan.

The Russian vessel Neustrashimy is on it's way to Somalia. It should be there any day now, but I suspect it's location is being kept quiet.

So, here's the deal. The pirates stopped a ship and are holding it ransom. Now that everyone knows the cargo should NOT be going to it's destination, they will keep it from being released.

I wonder what will happen. The ship will be returned to Ukraine? Russia will take control of it?

Oh, and the other thing. These tanks could have been sold for a lot more money to Pakistan (who apparently wanted them). I presume the decision who to sale them to was based on how much kickback the "authorities" in Ukraine would receive. I guess those folks are on their way to somewhere else by now.

Update 18:00 CDT

From The Nation, Nairobi, Kenya (click here for complete article)

"The Nation sent questions to the Ukrinmash (the official Ukrainian arms dealer) website address but none of them has been answered.

The questions included: "Are you in contact with the pirates?

"Are the pirates demanding ransom?

"Are you ready to pay?

"Which countries are helping you?

"Was the consignment destined for Kenya or Southern Sudan?"

It also emerged that Kenya might have been sucked into an arms stockpiling contest between the Sudanese government in Khartoum and the South Sudan administration based in Juba."