Pirates seize ship and use it for further attacks; Libyan ship hijacked

Somali pirates hijacked a ship off the East African coast on Wednesday and are using it as a mother ship from which to attack other vessels.

The European Union’s Navfor anti-piracy task force said yesterday that between 30 and 50 pirates had captured the Indonesian flagged MV Sinar Kudus in the Arabian Sea and then used it to try and hijack the Liberian flagged cargo vessel Emperor nearby. However, private security on board the ship repelled the attack after an exchange of fire.

Egypt to build four Swiftships

An Egyptian shipyard is to assemble two 28-metre Swiftships patrol craft and co-produce two more under a US$20 million contract modification to a Foreign Military Sales Programme purchase approved earlier this month. 

Swiftships Shipbuilders of Morgan City, Louisiana, is being paid US$20 221 529 to design and construct the four coastal patrol craft (CPC). The contract also cover associated crew familiarisation training and technical services for the Egyptian Navy. 

Swiftships & US Navy Ignore Current Events Announcing Deal With Egypt

Swiftships Shipbuilders of Morgan City, La., is being awarded a $20,221,529 modification to previously awarded contract  for the detail, design and construction of four 28-meter coastal patrol crafts and associated crew familiarization training and technical services for the Egyptian Navy under the Foreign Military Sales Program. 

Swiftships will provide two co-assembly kits and two co-production kits to support the construction of the four 28-meter CPCs.  These kits, consisting of all material necessary for construction, will be shipped to Alexandria, Egypt, for construction by an Egyptian workforce, with oversight by Swiftships.  Work will be performed in Morgan City, La. (75 percent), Alexandria, Egypt (25 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Ships unable to get navy escorts from Egypt's Suez port

Vessels at Egypt's port of Suez are unable to pick-up military escorts for protection through the pirate-prone Gulf of Aden due to the unrest in the country, says a senior industry official.

Ships have been traveling through the Suez Canal, the main passageway for Europe's crude oil and imported goods, as usual with no reports of delays or cancellations.

Operations at the port have slowed, however, as anti-government protests have kept supplies and some staff from reaching the docks, Reuters reports.

"No ships have been delayed, but there have been no immigration or customs officials to clear security teams for shipments for the past two days," said a senior coordinator with a shipping firm operating in Suez, who wished not to be named.

"Crew changes for ships have also stopped and some provisions, like food and water, were not reaching the port," he added.

Suez has jumped into the world's radar as the scene of clashes between government forces and protesters demanding the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for three decades.