……Mystery Death Of Female Cadet Aboard MV Safmarine Kariba –
Triggers Allegations
Questions remain unanswered about the tragic death of a Transnet cadet serving on board the container ship SAFMARINE KARIBA who died mysteriously after going overboard into the sea off the coast of Croatia.
At first it was assumed that she had committed suicide but now a disturbing story of sexual abuse including rape is emerging.
Akhona Felicity Geveza, just 19 years old, was taking part in the Transnet National Ports Authority Maritime Studies Programme. As part of her studies she was required to go to sea for an extended period – in her case she was serving on the container ship Safmarine Kariba and was due shortly to become eligible for qualifying as a ships navigation officer.
Her death was initially passed off as a suicide, and Safmarine issued a statement at the recent weekend paying tribute to the young cadet as she was laid to rest at her home village in the Transkei.
But according to a report in yesterday’s Sunday Time, her death has much more sinister overtones, and carries an accusation that Geveza was abused and raped on board the vessel not long before her death. It says she died shortly after reporting the rape to the ship’s master.
The article, which the newspaper says is backed up by a statement by a fellow cadet, of which the Sunday Times has a copy, and reports by others, says that she had reported her rape to the ship’s master, claiming to have been raped and abused on more than one occasion by a senior officer of the vessel. The ship’s master confronted the officer and arranged a meeting involving the accused, the complainant and himself. When the young cadet failed to arrive for the meeting a search of the ship revealed evidence that she may have gone overboard.
Coastal authorities were alerted and a sea search ensued. According to the original announcement made last week the Croatian police recovered Geveza’s body from the sea about two hours later.
The Sunday Times says in its front page article that a number of other cadets and former cadets, both male and female have since come forward saying they too have been sexually abused and raped while serving at sea. They said their careers were threatened if they did not grant sexual favours to ships officers. One former female cadet said that on arrival on board ship, the cadets were told the ship’s master was their god, with absolute control over their lives.
The accusations reported by the newspaper appear to involve several ships in the training programme, and include an accusation against a senior SAMSA official.
The question of Geveza’s death is under investigation by various authorities including by the South African Police Force but there is the doubt over the matter of jurisdiction, as the ship, which sails for a Belgian-based company flies the British flag, and was at sea at the time of the death although close to or within Croatian waters. Transnet, which employed the deceased, says it is investigating the matter, as is Safmarine which dispatched a senior manager to the ship immediately the news broke.
That fact alone appeared to suggest that this was not a simple matter of suicide.
In a statement issued at the weekend Safmarine paid tribute to Geveza, saying that Saturday, the day of her funeral, was a solemn one for the shipping company. In honour of her memory Safmarine is creating a scholarship in her name, the Akhona Felicity Geveza Memorial scholarship that will allow three young South Africans to complete the three-year Maritime Studies Programme at Simon’s Town High School.
The school-based programme provides young South African’s with maritime-related skills while they are still at school “thereby improving their prospects of employment.”
After Paying $20million Ransom, Bureaucracy Delays Release Of Saudi Ship
• Pirates demand $20MILLION
• Saudi Ambassador: The ransom Has Been Paid
Even though a huge ransom has been paid, the release of a Saudi ship hijacked by Somali pirates is being delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles, local sources revealed last week.
The ship, Al-Nisr Al-Saudi, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on March 1 with 13 Sri Lankan crew members and Greek Capt. Georgios Skalimis on board.
The bunker barge, owned by International Bunkering Company Ltd. (IBCO), was on its way from Japan to Jeddah when it was hijacked. The hijackers initially demanded a $20 million ransom. The ship is presently anchored on the Somali coast of Gada.
“Our country is deeply concerned with the whole issue since all the sailors except the captain of the hijacked ship are our countrymen,” Sri Lankan Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad told Arab News. “The Saudi shipping company had remitted the ransom to a bank account in the Kingdom, but it can only be withdrawn with the permission of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).”
SAMA has laid down strict regulations in the disbursement of funds under the terrorism and money-laundering regulations.
Jawad said the mission is in touch with SAMA officials and they are convinced of the reasons given by the shipping company for withdrawal of funds but said it is waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Interior to release the amount. The amount of the ransom has not been made public.
The hijackers said they will not harm the vessel’s crew, the ambassador said.
According to a source at the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, families of the detained sailors have received pay from the Saudi company during this ordeal. The crew members have been allowed to communicate by satellite phone.
The International Bunkering Company Ltd. is working with its insurer, the Saudi IACI Cooperative Insurance Company (SALAMA), to work out the final phase of the crew members’ release. The ship had no cargo when it was seized
SHIPTALK: A Glossary Of Shipping And Maritime Terms
GANTRY CRANE: Track-mounted, shoreside crane utilized in the loading and unloading of breakbulk cargo, containers and heavy lift cargo.
INTERCHANGE: Point of entry/exit for trucks delivering and picking up containerized cargo. Point where pickups and deposits of containers in storage area or yard are assigned.
MANIFEST: The ship captain’s list of individual goods that make up the ship’s cargo.
MARINE SURVEYOR: Person who inspects a ship hull or its cargo for damage or quality.
MASTER: The officer in charge of the ship. "Captain" is a courtesy title often given to a master.
JIT: The abbreviation for "just in time," which is a way to minimize warehousing costs by having cargo shipped to arrive just in time for its use. This inventory control method depends on extremely reliable transportation.
HOME PORT: Port from which a cruise ship loads passengers and begins its itinerary, and to which it returns to disembark passengers upon conclusion of voyage. Sometimes referred to as "embarkation port" and "turn around port."
MARITIME: (adjective) Located on or near the sea. Commerce or navigation by sea. The maritime industry includes people working for transportation (ship, rail, truck and towboat/barge) companies, freight forwarders and customs brokers; stevedoring companies; labor unions; chandlers; warehouses; ship building and repair firms; importers/exporters; pilot associations, etc.
MEAN LOW WATER (MLW): Lowest average level water reaches on an outgoing tide.
MEAN HIGH WATER (MHW): Highest average level water reaches on an outgoing tide.
MOORING DOLPHIN: A cluster of pilings to which a boat or barge ties up.
NVOCC: A non-vessel-owning common carrier that buys space aboard a ship to get a lower volume rate. An NVOCC then sells that space to various small shippers, consolidates their freight, issues bills of lading and books space aboard a ship.
SAFETY 2
PIRACY Q2, 2010 REPORT:
21, Ships, 387 Seafarers Pirates Still In Custody
Somali pirates are holding at least 21 foreign vessels plus one barge with at least 387 seafarers, an international maritime body, has reported. The statement claimed that 387 seafarers are languishing in the pirates hands. “Today July 20, 12h00 UTC, still at least 21 foreign vessels plus one barge are kept in Somali hands against the will of their owners, while at least 387 seafarers – suffer to be released,” Ecoterra International said.
The development came after the pirates released two vessels; a Kenyan-flagged fishing vessel and a chemical tanker early last week.
The Kenyan-flagged MV Sakoba which has a Spanish captain and 15 other crew members from Kenya, Poland, Senegal, Cape Verde and Namibia was taken hostage in waters off the Kenyan and Seychellois coasts in the first week of March.
The Marshall Islands-flagged UBT Ocean which has 21 crew members on board was hijacked while travelling off the coast of Madagascar.
The ship’s Norwegian owner Broevigtank said then the vessel had taken a route well south of the zone where pirates operate.
The Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Somalia and Yemen, is the main sea route between Europe and Asia.
Tankers carrying Middle East oil through the Suez Canal must pass first through the Gulf of Aden. About 4 percent of the world’s daily oil supply is shipped through the gulf.
The attacks are being carried out by increasingly well- coordinated Somali gangs armed with automatic weapons and rocket- propelled grenades, maritime officials said. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, and remains one of the world’s most violent and lawless countries.
The International Maritime Bureau and the UN International Maritime Organization have urged the world’s naval powers to coordinate and act against the pirates.
Making A Kill from Piracy in Kenya
• Shipping Companies, Law Firms, Aviation Companies Fingered
Piracy and the big money being made out of it is seeping into Kenya’s economic fabric, presenting a serious threat to the economy as well as law and order, experts warn.
Investigations by the Daily Nation in Kenya suggest that Kenyan law firms, security, aviation and shipping companies are doing business with pirates rampaging in the Indian Ocean.
More than $80 million (Sh6.5 billion) is paid to Somali pirates as ransom annually, some of which is thought to pass through Kenya.
The piracy, which is being fuelled by lack of an effective central government in Mogadishu, is costing the world economy up to $18 billion (Sh1.45 trillion) each year, according to International Maritime Bureau estimates.
Kenyan companies are acting as the link between the pirates and representatives of hijacked ship owners, facilitating ransom negotiations and payment.
The programmes coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Programme (SAP), Mr Andrew Mwangura, whose organisation protects the right of seamen on hijacked ships, confirms that millions of dollars exchange hands between pirates and ship owners, but declines to discuss details.
"It is true owners of hijacked ships are paying pirates to secure the release of their ships and crew members held hostage with most of the money passing through Kenya, but I cannot discuss details because we are not involved in this transactions as our role only concerns the welfare of seamen," he said.
A report by the World Peace Foundation, an international think-tank bringing together scholars, diplomats, lawyers, military officers and maritime partners working on an initiative to combat piracy, claims that Kenya is among countries whose firms play a key role in driving piracy along the Somali coast.
The report says that piracy in Somalia is controlled by about 1,500 pirates, organised in seven syndicates with a "few bosses" running separate but linked enterprises. They are all largely run from Kenya, Dubai, Lebanon, Somalia and some European countries, the report claims.
The report says the largest ransom amount the pirates had received so far was Sh574 million or $7 million paid for the release of a Greek-owned oil tanker early this year.
A maritime official, who talked to the Nation on condition that he is not named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were aware of the role a select few law, security, aviation and shipping companies in Mombasa and Nairobi played in facilitating the release of hijacked ships and payment of ransoms.
"The law and security firms facilitate negotiations and preparation of agreements, while aviation and shipping companies deliver ransom payments to the pirates in Somalia," he said. He said ransom money is obtained from agents of hijacked ships either in Nairobi or Mombasa before it is taken either by air or sea to the pirates.
"The money is either delivered to private airstrips around Nairobi from where it is flown and dropped to pirates on hijacked ships or is loaded on ships that go to Somalia from Mombasa port to deliver," he said.
He said at times, the ransom payments are transported in the middle of the night under tight security from Nairobi to Mombasa before it is delivered to a ship to take it to Somalia.
"Once such missions have been accomplished, the pirates pay the law, security, aviation and shipping firms involved through their agents in Nairobi and Mombasa through an unofficial money remittance system called Hawala," he said.
The Hawala system is based on trust and was initially widely used by a network of money brokers in the Middle East and Africa, but is now popular in Europe and even North America.
According to a US State Department report, Kenya is a money-laundering hub in Africa. The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says Kenya’s financial system may be laundering over Sh8 billion or $ 100 million annually.
Economists are now warning that piracy is impacting negatively on the economy by way of distorting critical socio-economic indicators of development like general price levels and inflationary trends.
The director of research, projects and programmes of Tax Watch Africa, a development and integrity watchdog, Dr Bani Orwa, said piracy money is creating "economic elitism" in the country as only a few individuals control the earnings.
The piracy money is also said to be finding its way in the Kenyan economy through imports, real estate, forex bureaus and stock brokerages. Recently, Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya warned that the influx of billions of shillings from unknown sources could hurt the economy.
Discussion about this post