Scuba Scooter!

“This unique underwater experience is very safe and definitely something you should do at least once in your lifetime, "says Gary Gordon, President of Aqua Star USA. “It’s an incredible experience that will open your eyes to an amazing new world. The scenery is unbelievable with countless species of fish and an array of bright and varied colours in an underwater tropical paradise. And if you bring along your waterproof camera, your experience will surely last a life time”.


Gordon was talking about the AS2, the two person underwater scooter that his company has developed and rolled out recently. An improved version of its earlier single seater AS1 model, the company says that the sleeker, faster and lighter AS2 has been designed keeping in mind boaters, diving enthusiasts, leisure dive operators - and couples that simply want to enjoy underwater thrills together.

Aqua Star’s sea scooters were created to provide the scuba diving experience to anyone who wanted to explore underwater without diving experience or certification. The new underwater scooter allows two people to sit comfortably in their own breathing environment and travel at speeds up to 4 mph down to a depth of about 12 metres for up to 70 minutes 'air time' and 2.5 hours battery life. Batteries run two electric motors- for speed and depth- with controls similar to those on a land scooter; the driver turns the handlebars for direction and pushes 'batons' for speed and depth. A diving type helmet is part of the scooter body, and is made of flat fog resistant 99% distortion free glass for clarity. The breathing apparatus and scuba bottles are scooter-mounted, with pressure and depth gauges placed on the handlebar. Air will last for seventy minutes. A rider can even dismount, swim around and climb back aboard!

The company says that the depths the scooter can operate in are ideal for shallow reefs and caves. The scooter is environmentally friendly and quiet, they say, and anybody can master the controls in a training course that can be completed in just a few minutes. Safety divers control ascent and descent into the water, and the scooter is tethered to the world above with a rope that can be tied to a buoy. Even people with minor disabilities- or those more timid- can ride as passengers. The only noticeable difference in 'driving' the underwater scooter, when compared to a normal one, is the dual motors that make both vertical and horizontal movement simultaneously possible.

The Aqua Scooter may not be in the same class as Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea' or a Jacques Cousteau expedition, but we think it will be a big hit wherever diving enthusiasts or thrill seekers are found- or at tourist hangouts that boast clear surrounding waters, right from the Caribbean to the Andamans.
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Somali pirates demand compensation for other pirate deaths

In developments reminiscent to those of the MV Asphalt Venture where seven Indians were kept back as hostages even as their ship was released, Somali pirates holding four South Korean crewmembers on the hijacked tanker MT Gemini have now demanded compensation from the South Korean government for the MV Samho Jewelry storming by commandos earlier this year. Eight pirates were killed in that incident that left the Captain of the Samho Jewelry seriously injured. The pirates holding the Gemini, with twenty-five crew, have also demanded the release of their other pirates from South Korean jails before they release the Korean crew.


A pirates aboard the MT Gemini told the Associated Press that the current South Korean policy was “foolish treatment”, and said that his group would "reconsider holding their (South Korean) nationals in our hands” after compensation was paid and other pirates held in Korea released. The South Korean government has refused comment so far.

Analysts say pirate actions of holding back the crew will increase pressure on shipping companies to deploy armed guards since paying ransoms is no longer a guarantee that crew will be released unharmed, especially if they belong to countries that have taken robust action against Somali piracy.

The Akhona Geveza death: Safmarine says no sexual abuse of cadet

Belgian container company Safmarine says that the results of its internal probe on the South African cadet Akhona Geveza's death indicates that no sexual abuse was involved, a statement that contradicts almost all initial reports of the shocking incident. Akhona's body was found floating off the Croatian coast more than a year ago; she was a cadet aboard the UK registered 'Safmarine Kariba' at the time and a part of a South African Transnet National Port Authority programme. Initial reports said that she had complained to the Captain a few hours before her disappearance that she had been raped by the Chief Officer, and that she had told another cadet that the Chief Officer had forced himself on her 'many times'.

Safmarine CEO Tomas Dyrbye now says that his company's probe reveals instead that, “Akhona had, in response to a direct question from the master, denied that she had been subjected to any form of sexual abuse,” says Dyrbye, and that she had indicated “personal problems” in her relationship with the Chief Officer; she had also said that she had “suicidal considerations”. The Captain says he held a meeting with Geveza and the Chief Officer in the presence of the Chief Engineer, where it was decided to sign off the cadet two days later when the ship called Trieste. Safmarine says that Croatian police had reached the conclusion that Akhona, who had just a couple of weeks to go to complete her apprenticeship, had jumped overboard after the incident, a finding Safmarine agrees with.

After the Akhona incident, other cadets from Transnet- of both sexes- had painted a lurid and sleazy picture of trainee sexual abuse in the Transnet programme both ashore and afloat. Reports had said that one female cadet had a child with a South African Maritime Safety Agency executive after he threatened to cancel her contract if she told anyone that she had been raped. Another female cadet was quoted as saying, after joining a ship, “It was like we were dumped in the middle of a game park.” Other cadets had claimed systematic abuse of power by senior officers at sea "who threatened cadets' careers if they did not perform sexual acts”.

Nautilus, the British maritime union, says that investigations in the Akhona case so far are 'unsatisfactory' and that the British Foreign Office should, through the Flag State, independently probe the shocking incident since it happened on a British registered vessel. Spokesperson Andrew Linington says: “We see the issue of jurisdiction come up often as an excuse not to do anything or even as part of the process of criminalising seafarers.” In other developments, the ITF, which has been following the investigations, plans to send its officials to Croatia once Akhona's family authorises them to do so.

Meanwhile, Safmarine says it has upgraded the Transnet programme after the tragedy to make sure the company was doing “everything we could to ensure the safety and well being of those serving on our vessels”. Cadets have been given 24-hour internet access, personal e-mail ids and 'life skills' training by an industrial psychologist, besides having access to an independent third-party employee assistance programme. As an added precaution, they will now only sail on the Europe-South Africa routes.
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A million dollars of ransoms paid to terrorist group in two month period

A Reuter's investigation, combined with statements made by UN officials, seems to confirm what many observers strongly claim: that the Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab's operations are being financed partly by ransoms from ships. Some suspect that the links between the two groups goes even further, including in matters of logistical and operational cooperation and supplies- and so exposes shipping in the region to the danger of maritime terrorism in addition to the scourge of piracy.


Reuters says that pirates, al Shabaab militants and residents of Haradhere have corroborated that payments totalling more than a million dollars have been made to Al Shabaab's "marine office" in a short two-month period this year:

February 25: US$200,000 from the US$4.5 million ransom for the Japanese MV Izumi.
March 8: US$80,000 from the US$2 million ransom for the MV Rak Africana.
March 9: US$100,000 from the US$4.5 million ransom for the Singapore-flagged MV York.
April 13: US$600,000 from the US$5.5 million ransom for the MV Beluga Nomination.
April 15: US$66,000 from the US$3.6 million ransom for the MV Asphalt Venture.
May 14: US$100,000 from the ransom paid for the release of two Spanish crew of the FV VEGA 5.

Somali pirates made roughly US$240 million in ransoms last year; it is not known how much of this money has found its way to the Al Shabaab. Nevertheless, the Reuter investigation will put further pressure on the UN and governments to act; the terms of the arms embargo on Somalia ban financial support to armed groups in the country; besides, Al Shabaab has long been declared a terrorist organisation by both the United States and the United Kingdom.

John Steed, special envoy to Somalia, admits that links between armed pirate gangs and the Shabaab were 'gradually firming'. "The payment of ransoms, just like any other funding activity, illegal or otherwise, is technically in breach of the Somalia sanctions regime if it makes the security situation in Somalia worse," he says, "especially if it is ending up in the hands of terrorists or militia leaders -- and we believe it is." He added, though, that there was no 'proof' of any operational relationship between Al Shabaab and pirate groups.

However, the U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says pirates are operating in greater numbers from Kismayu, a city controlled by the Shabaab, and that recruitment of pirates there is rising. "Detained pirates tell us that some level of cooperation with Al Shabaab is necessary to run a criminal enterprise," Alan Cole of the UNODC says.

An Al Shabaab fighter told Reuters in Haradhere, another pirate stronghold, "If there was no relationship between us, there is no way the pirates would be able to operate or carry their weapons within zones we control." Al Shabaab is believed to have forced pirate leaders in the town to pay 20% of all ransoms to them.

"Some money has to be ending up in Al Shabaab's hands," says Michael Frodl of C-level Maritime Risks- he advises Lloyd's underwriters- adding that payment of ransoms could possibly be breaking laws against funding terrorism in some western countries like the US. The US Treasury, says Frodl, has cleared ransoms in the past before they are paid. ""But if there is indeed a 20 percent 'tax' being applied by Shabaab against pirate ransoms in Haradhere, a major pirate hub it now controls, then things could change."

Independent analysts, however, say that governments like those in the UK and the US are deliberately ignoring, for their own reasons, links between the Shabaab and pirate groups. They point to the fact that two of the leaders of pirate gangs are in the group of eleven 'masterminds of the Somali conflict,' - whom President Obama had barred financial dealings with in an Executive Order last year.

The island of Socotra: now a pirate base?

Despite the huge international naval presence in the region meant to fight the menace of piracy, credible reports have emerged saying that the Yemeni controlled island of Socotra off the Horn of Africa is being used as a refuelling and restocking hub for Somali pirates. "Socotra has been used for months if not longer," says Mr Michael Frodl, a maritime risk consultant and adviser to Lloyd's underwriters, citing intelligence reports.


A Yemeni official said recently that about twenty pirates had been arrested from a commercial vessel- presumably supplying the pirate bases on Socotra- and another sixteen on the island. Supplies, including fuel, arms and food, are said to be regularly brought in on dhows from the Yemeni mainland near Al Mukalla, a port on the southern Yemeni coast. Security experts say that Socotra may well be a transit point for arms bound for the Somali mainland as well.

Analysts fear that the political and military chaos in Yemen will only increase the pirate presence on the islands- Socotra is part of a group of four islands that belong to Yemen. Although the country has a military presence there, observers believe that the pirates have bought the Yemenis off.

"It (Socotra) is perhaps the most important refuelling hub for hijacked merchant vessels used as mother ships, especially those operating between the Gulf of Aden and India's western waters, mainly off Oman and increasingly closer to the Strait of Hormuz," Frodl adds. "A hijacked merchant vessel, unlike a hijacked dhow, has a voracious thirst for fuel and needs a very well stocked refuelling station."

Peter Pham of the US 'Atlantic Council' agrees. "A credible amount of evidence has emerged in recent years that Somali pirates have certainly taken advantage of jurisdictional issues to operate in and out of the Socotra archipelago with at least the tacit connivance of at least some Yemeni authorities," adding that Socotra has been "a favourite stomping ground for pirates for centuries as both Marco Polo and the great 14th century Islamic scholar and traveller Ibn Battuta attest."

Meanwhile, International Maritime Bureau director Pottengal Mukundan has said that if it is true that pirates are using Socotra, then "it is an extremely disturbing development requiring urgent investigation."
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