The UK-owned bulk carrier Ariana was sailing under the Maltese flag, and Somali pirates captured the vessel with 24 Ukrainian crew onboard.
Vasily Kirilitch, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry press secretary, confirmed to Interfax that all the sailors are Ukrainian nationals. He said the country’s embassies were instructed to “take prompt measures to set constant contact with ship-owner, operating company and authorities in order to clarify circumstances of the capture and free the sailors as soon as possible”.
It seems that the super powers of the world should be able to stop these pirates.
The Gulf of Aden remains one of the most dangerous places in the modern maritime world. According to Kenya’s foreign minister, Somali pirates have collected more than $150 million in ransoms over the last year. Somalia is a political and economic mess – and piracy offers the chance for a profitable business.
Pirates had a constant presence in the news in September 2008 when they seized the Ukrainian freighter Faina. The ship with a crew of 18 Ukrainians, three Russians and one Latvian was carrying 32 battle tanks and ammunition. This just shows how long these Pirates have been getting away with this.
By Sara Freidman
Popularity: 3% [?]
May 3, 2009
By Tom Forrest –
A NATO diplomat claims the Russians were expelled over the case of Herman Simm, who was jailed for treason for handing over over 1,900 pages of information to Russia’s Intelligence Service.
Two Russian diplomats Victor Kochukov and Vasily Chizhov have lost their accreditation to NATO”S headquarters in Brussels. It is not clear how much this will impact relations with Russia. Since Barack Obama has taken office things seemed to be improving however as we have stated in previous articles the long unresolved conflict over proposed missile defense systems remains a major issue and concern of bothe the USA and Russia.
Russia has complained bitterly about NATO’s plan to hold a peacekeeping exercise next month in Georgia. But NATO says Russian officers were invited to take part in the two-week event and Russia is aware the exercise presents no threat.
NATO spokesman James Apparthurai said Thursday he could not confirm whether any diplomat’s accreditation had been withdrawn because he could not comment on intelligence matters.
Popularity: 6% [?]
After hearing criticism of the US and its foreign policy from his Russian counterpart for months, President Bush praised President Vladimir Putin for his truthfulness and frankness - a move that drew criticism from some Russia experts.
Popularity: 21% [?]
July 3, 2007
The Cognac industry of southwest France yesterday reported record exports, thanks to an explosion of sales to Russia and China.
Popularity: 9% [?]
June 15, 2007
According to Pravda.Ru, PepsiCo and PepsiAmericas, the second-largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola products, said they agreed to jointly acquire 80 percent of Ukrainian juice company Sandora LLC for a total of $542 million plus assumed debt to increase their presence in the East European country.
Popularity: 7% [?]
June 11, 2007
A former USSR citizen has been awarded a record-setting settlement from her former spouse in divorce, $184 mln, which made the divorce process the most expensive one in the US history.
Popularity: 6% [?]
June 6, 2007
India is to buy around 350 T-90S main battle tanks from Russia according to a contract to be signed later this year.
Popularity: 6% [?]
May 26, 2007
Swedish DC3 shot down by a Soviet fighter plane in 1952 was being used to spy on military facilities on the other side of the Baltic Sea. But only now the true aims of the covert operation have been revealed.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Chrysler Group plans to strengthen its presence in Russian car sales and production, a top executive said in the advance abstract of an interview with Automotive News Europe.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Andrei Markov scored a goal and added two assists to lead Russia to a 6-3 win over Switzerland on Sunday as the home team remained undefeated at the world championship.
Popularity: 4% [?]
May 8, 2007
