Moscow – There were no weapons being smuggled on board the hijacked “Arctic Sea” freighter according to the conclusions of a Russian investigation into the vessel, reported the Interfax news agency on Wednesday. Speculation has mounted ever since
the ship went missing on July 24, to be subsequently rescued by Russian forces on August 17, that it had not carried lumber, as stated in its manifest, but rockets destined for Iran.
Now, after weeks of Russian officials denying those charges, investigators say their research has backed up those denials.
The ship is scheduled to dock at Las Palmas on Spain’s Canary Islands where it will be handed over to Maltese authorities, since the ship was registered under Malta’s flag, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s investigative service. According to official reports, the ship had been taken by pirates near Sweden. The accused pirates, primarily Estonians, are in custody in Russia. Most of the crew has been released after questioning in Russia, though four crew members remain on board the freighter while it heads to port. The four remaining crewmen are to fly home so a new team can man the freighter on its way to Malta.
More on this can be found via the Associated Press HERE
In 1942 the U.S. Navy used submarines run the Japanese naval blockade and bring munitions and supplies to the beleaguered soldiers on Corregidor. Shortly after this event President Roosevelt ordered the Navy to begin developing plans for a cargo carrying submarine. Three WW1 era, V-class submarines were soon brought to Philadelphia and converted to carry military cargo (source). [Continue Reading →]
The economy may not be on the upswing in my hometown of New York City but Moscow is another story. The city that’s home to the largest number of Billionaires will soon be home to the world’s most impressive private ship. Yes, at 550 feet this private Yacht is the size of a ship and significantly more impressive than the owner’s current vessel Pelorus and the current world record holder, the state owned vessel Dubai. Gizmodo tells us;
Russian billionaire and Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich is building a $400 million mega-yacht. Yawn, you say? You have two? OK, well, this yacht has its own submarine. And armor plating with bulletproof glass. And little boats that fit inside the bigger boat. And a frickin’ missile defense system that will alert he and his crew of 70 former SAS soldiers that there be pirates in those waters. It should be noted that Abramovich’s other yachts—the 377 ft. Pelorus, 282ft Ecstasea and 160ft Sussurro—all pale in comparison to the 550 ft. Eclipse, and do not include missile detection systems. You can never be too safe, right? Read more…
It seems the Somali pirates are either getting overly ambitious in their recent choice of targets or they’re experiencing bad luck as yesterday they seized the RoRo vessel M/V Faina. The ship was en route to Kenya with 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. The New York Times writes:
Pirates in a hijacked ship carrying more than 30 battle tanks were anchored off the coast of Somalia near a notorious pirate den on Saturday, and they vowed not to release the ship until a $35 million ransom was paid, Somali and Kenyan officials said.
Meanwhile, a United States Navy destroyer, the Howard, was closing in on the hijacked ship.
“We’ve got a constant stare on it,” said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, an American military spokesman. He would not say how far away the destroyer was from the hijacked vessel, but he acknowledged that the American ship was close enough to maintain visual contact. He also said there were no imminent operations planned against the hijacked ship. Continue Reading….
The pirate spokesman (yes they now do press interviews) is not the only official likely embarrassed by the incident… soon after announcing the first military show of force in what Wired Magazine and The Miami Herald are calling “Cold War II” one of their anti-submarine ships suffered from a tragic engine room fire, killing two sailors (details). Now with the loss of 33 Russian tanks aboard a Ukrainian vessel manned with Russian and Ukrainian crew the country’s Navy is sending the frigate Neustrashimy to rendezvous with a US Navy Destroyer following the Faina.
This hijacking is the latest in a recent upsurge likely the result of millions of dollars in ransom demands being met by shipowners and brings the number of attacks off Somalia to 61 this year. The pirates are now holding a total of 14 ships and more than 300 crew members according to Noel Choong who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center based in Malaysia. (You can view a chart of the piracy statistic HERE).
The following video report comes from Russia Today:
Sep 18 – A fire on a Russian warship in the Pacific kills two sailors, the latest in a series of accidents that have raised doubts about the safety of Russia’s fleet. The fire occurred on the large anti-submarine ship the Marshal Shaposhnikov. Navy officials said they suspected the fire broke out in the engine room when an oil pipe ruptured during a naval exercise in the Sea of Japan.
This is undoubtely an embarissing incident for the Russian Navy as it gears up for a show of force in America’s backyard. Is the Monroe doctrine still in effect? We are not so sure considering the Roosevelt Coorelerary was based, in part, on the idea to “Speak softly and carry a big stick”! An idea that today’s politicians seem to have forgotten.
Gizmodo points us towards the Russian navy’s Zubr Class hovercraft. Now this is not a new design. There have been three in service with the Russian Navy since 1988, with 2 more in the Ukraine navy and even more with the Greek navy.
The vessels are designed for military transport with the capacity to carry nearly 130 tons of cargo including multiple tanks, equipment and troops with the unique ability to deploy them directly onto land. The Zubr can cruise at max speed of 60 knots for 300 miles.
Three upright ring shrouds, housing the air propellers and standing upright at the back of the ship, give the Zubr its distinctive appearance. The four bladed propellers which are provide the ship with a top speed of 60 knots. High-temperature gas turbine engines provide the power to drive the air-cushion blowers and the air propellers. The craft has four blowers model NO-10, fitted with axial operating wheels of 2.5m diameter, to generate the air cushion. The air thrust for movement is powered by three four-bladed, reversible, variable-pitch air propellers, 5.5m in diameter. The air propellers are mounted inside ring shrouds. The Zubr is equipped with two electric power plants. Each power plant has two gas turbine generators, each rated at 100kW. Control of the ship and systems is carried out from a main control station, a central control room and through various remote control panels.
Now let’s take a look at this thing in action.
Note: The Bora is larger, but not considered a true hovercraft since its side structure reaches the water.
We know that Friday is not gCaptain’s most popular day of the week so today’s nautical quiz should be an easy on. At least for those of you who follow the Maritime Blogosphere.
So what is it?
UPDATE:
Congratulations to Mike who stressfully identified this boat as “A” the personal yacht of Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. You can find all the photos, video and information on this yacht at Monacoeye.com and The WSJ. Thanks to Peter for the find.
Quiz: What city in the world is home to the most billionares? The Answer to this question may suprise you. According to Forbes the honor goes to Moscow.
Pictured above is the Yacht of 41 year old oil tycoon Roman Abramovich. Enlgish Russia tells us:
Roman Abramovich, the Russian Richest Guy (as of 2006), has visited St. Petersburg a few days ago on his “Pelorus” boat, the largest private yacht in the world, with the size of the football field and the price tag of 245,000e or $500,000. He had not come alone, but escorted by two luxury cruise ships carrying other less fortunate Russian
While he is in fact only the 15th richest man and the boat is only the world’s 11th largest, it’s impressive non the less.
This admittedly isn’t the newest military tech on the block, but I just couldn’t help writing it up. Russia makes the world’s largest military hovercraft dubbed the “Zubr.” It displaces 621 tons and can haul twice the payload of similar boats from the US Navy (somewhere around 150 tons).
With production dating back to 1988, the last Zubr looks to have launched in 2004. Capable of carrying multiple tanks and a nice mix of 140mm rocket pods, 30mm cannons and air defense missiles, the Zubr can cruise for 300 miles before rapidly deploying troops and equipment close to shore. Scratch that. Directly on shore. In other words, it’s just like that R/C vehicle you lusted after in the ’90s, but it’s way bigger and actually good for something. Or, in this case, potentially very, very bad.
This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.
M/V Faina – Photo By FEHMI ULGENER
This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the 
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