REPORT - SNIPPET - QUOTE:
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php
Weekly Piracy Report
2-8 January 2007
The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 2 to 8 January 2007.
ALERT
Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Forty one incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
The IMB Report on Piracy and Armed Attacks on Ships from January to September 2006 is now published. Please see the end of this page to order.
Suspicious crafts
None reported during the week.
Recently reported incidents
26.12.2006 0200 UTC in position 07:06S-039:41E, 10nm off Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Pirates from a 6 metre wooden fishing boat boarded a container ship underway in the forepart. They broke open 8 containers and stole cargo contents. The pirates escaped and were seen heading towards the shore.
26.12.2006 1950 LT in position : 12:01.2S-077:11.0W, Inner Anchorage No.1 , Callao, Peru.
Three robbers armed with guns and knives boarded a bulk carrier and tied up the watchman. Another watchman noticed the robbers and informed the bridge. Master sounded whistle and general alarm. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped with ship's stores.
23.12.2006 early hours, 8.2 nautical miles off Mullaithievu, NE Sri Lanka
A general cargo vessel at anchor, with engine problems was surrounded by six small boats with armed LTTE personnel on board. Shots were fired and the vessel was boarded by the armed group who forced the Master to weigh anchor. Communication and computer equipment from the vessel was said to have been stolen from the vessel. The 25 crew members were taken from the vessel to a rebel camp ashore and finally released to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Colombo. The condition of the vessel and the 14000 tons of rice cargo on board are not known.
19.12.2006 at 1932 LT in position 00-32:6S – 043:57.8E, off Somalia
A bulk carrier underway received a distress call from a ship asking for help. The unidentified ship was at that time at five miles off the starboard bow and there were a group of men on deck. The vessel did not appear to be in distress. Master suspected piracy attempt took evasive manoeuvres and increased speed. The suspect ship followed for two miles before aborting the attack.
http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=4&id=9466
Updated: January 2nd, 2007 04:04 PM EDT
Home > Airport News
"Emergency Crews Answer Calls at O'Hare 3 Times a Week"
Monifa Thomas
The Chicago Sun-Times
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "To passengers, they can be unnerving. To pilots and firefighters, they are fairly routine.
At least three or four times a week on flights bound for O'Hare Airport, emergencies are called by pilots during flight, bringing fire trucks and ambulances to the runway area as a precaution. Almost always, the plane lands safely.
In 2006, there were 177 of these emergency calls -- known as "stand-bys" when they occur during flight and "emergency alerts" when they happen on the ground -- according to figures provided by the Chicago Fire Department.
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said stand-bys and emergency alerts "happen more often than people think," but they represent a small fraction of the more than 900,000 flights O'Hare handles each year."