Mystery of hijacked Iranian ship and dead pirates

[Ed Mahmoud]

Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship

The MV Iran Deyanat was brought to Eyl, a sleepy fishing village in northeastern Somalia, and was secured by a larger gang of pirates - 50 onboard and 50 onshore. Within days, pirates who had boarded the ship developed strange health complications, skin burns and loss of hair. Independent sources tell The Long War Journal that a number of pirates have also died. "Yes, some of them have died. I do not know exactly how many but the information that I am getting is that some of them have died," Andrew Mwangura, Director of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, said Friday when reached by phone in Mombasa.

News about the illness and the toxic cargo quickly reached Garowe, seat of the government for the autonomous region of Puntland. Angered over the wave of piracy and suspicious about the Iranian ship, authorities dispatched a delegation led by Minister of Minerals and Oil Hassan Allore Osman to investigate the situation on September 4. Osman also confirmed to The Long War Journal that during the six days he negotiated with the pirates members of the syndicate had become sick and died. "That ship is unusual," he said. "It is not carrying a normal shipment."

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

WOW!! That is absolutely creepy!! I guess that those pirates got kharmic retribution pretty quickly!

Makes one wonder what was on that ship and where it may have been headed. I wonder if we will ever know the full truth about that situation. Chemical or biological warfare materials a possibility?? Hmmmm.

~Nikki~

[Aslkahuna]

Skin burns and hair loss could be from bio or chemical materials but also RADIOACTIVE materials such as Uranium or Plutonium.

Steve

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

Skin burns and hair loss could be from bio or chemical materials but also RADIOACTIVE materials such as Uranium or Plutonium.

Steve

OMG, yeah, I wasn't even thinking about that one. That makes it even more frightening!

~Nikki~

[gtalum]

If the story is true, which is a very big "if", then the contamination is almost surely radiological based on the symptoms described.

[Cryomaniac]

If the story is true, which is a very big "if", then the contamination is almost surely radiological based on the symptoms described.

Agreed.

This puts more pressure on Iran to come clean about it's nuclear program.

[DanKellFla]

Scully and Mulder can solve this! Just be careful of anybody (anything) with black eyes that ooze.

[Ed Mahmoud]

Independent confirmation of ship hijacking, but nothing about dead pirates...

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:08:00 08/30/2008


MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday confirmed that a fifth ship, with Filipino seafarers, has been seized by pirates off Somali coast.

In a text message, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said Iranian bulk carrier M/V Iran Deyanat was the third vessel seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden on August 21.

A ship was also seized on August 19 and another on July 27.

Citing reports from the Philippine embassy in Nairobi, Conejos said the ship had two Filipino seafarers among its 29-man crew.

This brings to 56 the total number of Filipino seafarers held hostage by Somali pirates, including a Filipino able seaman killed accidentally while the pirates boarded the ship.

"All crewmembers are reported to be unharmed," Conejos said of the hijacked Iranian ship.

He said he has instructed Philippine embassies in Tehran and Nairobi to coordinate with the shipowners and international maritime authorities on efforts to secure the safe release of the sailors.

[Cryomaniac]

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to publicize radiation poisoning though.

[bvigal]

This is chilling, had heard nothing about this!
"...the pirates told Osman that they had attempted to inspect the ship's seven cargo containers after they developed health complications but the containers were locked. The crew claimed that they did not have the "access codes" and could not open them. "
How come the pirates couldn't force the Iranian captain to reveal the codes to open the containers? (I smell a big rat.) So, do you think this mysterious dangerous cargo going to Islamic insurgents in Somalia, or was it eventually bound elsewhere, like the U.S.? How come the pirates died, but not the crew - had they taken some kind of drug to protect them?

And how about the makeup of the crew, "..Suspicion has also been cast on the ship's crew, half of which is almost entirely staffed by Iranians - a large percentage of Iranian nationals for a standard merchant vessel. Somali officials say that the ship has a crew of 29 men, including a Pakistani captain, an Iranian engineer, 13 other Iranians, 3 Indians, 2 Filipinos, and 10 Eastern Europeans, possibly Croatian."

Loaded in China and accompanied by E. Europeans, could be nuclear. Sounds like a Clancy novel!

[vbhoutex]

The whole thing sounds like a novel!! I hope it is, though I have my doubts.