MV Iran Dianat
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MV ''Iran Deyanat'' () is an Iranian ship (owned and operated by the
Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line Group (, ''Goruh-e Keshtirāni-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān''), commonly known by its business name IRISL Group, is a shipping line based in and owned by Iran. Its fleet comprises 115 ocean-going vesse ...
) that was hijacked in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
by 40
pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
with Kalashnikovs and
RPGs RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
on August 21, 2008. The
crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...
of the ship numbered 29: a
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
, 14
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ians including an engineer, 3
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
ns, 2
Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...
, and 10
Croatians The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also f ...
.Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship
Nick Grace,
Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization established in 2007. ...
. Accessed October 1, 2008.
The ship was freed on October 10, and the crew was unharmed.Indian crew of hijacked ship freed unharmed by Somali pirates
Press Trust of India The Press Trust of India Ltd., commonly known as PTI, is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian newspapers. It has over 500 full-time employees , including abo ...
via
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
. October 10, 2008.
The ship went underway bound to
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
and then to its final destination at
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
.


Hijacking

The ship had declared as cargo minerals and industrial products such as iron ore,Mysterious Cargo Aboard Iranian Ship Seized by Pirates Raises WMD Concerns
Joseph Abrams,
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
.com. September 30, 2008.
but Somali negotiators are alleged to have said that the true cargo included arms and chemical weapons. The ''Deyanat'' had departed from China with the purported intent of selling its cargo in Germany, but Somali officials say that the ship was truly headed to
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
; in addition, the ship's arrival in the Gulf of Aden was supposedly "suspiciously early." "Many of us ran out on the deck. We saw a group of men in two tiny speedboats close to the ship. The ship’s radar had failed to pick them up. The men were firing in the air," crew member Jeevan Kiran D’Souza said. "There were 16 of them. They threw a ladder fitted with grappling hooks over the side of the ship and clambered aboard. They stormed all cabins and herded the entire crew into a small room, and told the captain to cut the engine."‘At gunpoint, we survived on bread and two cups of water’
Shaju Philip,
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
. Accessed October 20, 2008.
After the hijackers took control of the ship, they used the ''Deyanat'' to tow their boats along. They shuttled between Reassban, Reassaaf, and other locations (purportedly to evade rival pirate groups) before meeting their boss, "Abdul Hakeem," and finally mooring off the coast of
Eyl Eyl is an ancient port town in the northeastern Nugal region of Somalia in the autonomous Puntland region, also serving as the capital of the Eyl District. Eyl, also called Illig, was the capital of the Dervish from 1905 onwards, until superse ...
in Somalia—which is allegedly the base of a crime syndicate.Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship
The Times of South Africa. Andrew Donaldson, September 28, 2008.
In fact, multiple other pirated ships were moored near the ''Deyanat''. The number of pirates guarding the ship included 50 on shore and 50 on board.


Conditions aboard the ship

The sailors aboard the ship were limited to two slices of moldy bread and a ration of two cups of water. Though the pirates took $10,000 from the ship's captain and the crew's cell phones, clothes, and possessions, they were allowed to call home for the first two days after the hijacking.3 sailors onboard Iranian vessel return
Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...
. Accessed October 20, 2008.
The pirates carried guns at all time and negotiations were conducted "at the officer's level," so most of the crew knew nothing of the pirates' demands.


Ransom

A ransom was set at $2 million. US officials reportedly would not comment. At one point the
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
reported that the IRISL paid $200,000 in the first of a series of ransom payments, but the Iranian company denied the claim. The ship "was supposed to be released, but now they are saying the $200,000 was for facilitation only. They want more money for the ransom," said Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenyan-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.demand ransom for Egyptian ship
September 8, 2008,
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. Accessed November 15, 2008.
According to
Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...
, the IRISL ultimately paid $2.5 million to free the ship.


Mysterious contents

The IRISL, which owns the ship, has been designated for proliferation activity by the U.S. Treasury office, thereby freezing its assets and banning American trade with it, including food and medical supplies, in accordance with US sanctions of Iran. The US accuses the shipping line of "falsifying documents and using deceptive schemes to shroud its involvement in illicit commerce," saying the "IRISL's actions are part of a broader pattern of deception and fabrication that Iran uses to advance its nuclear and missile programs." Though the ship carried industrial contents such as iron ore, other potentially illegal cargo has been surmised by the blog
Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization established in 2007. ...
. According to Long War Journal (which as sources for its reports includes "Somali officials," "independent sources," and chiefly a man named Hassan Allore Osman, listed as
Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...
's Minister of Minerals and Oil), some of the pirates who boarded the ship suffered a strange illness, which includes loss of hair and skin burns, and some pirates having died. The pirates tried to access the cargo on the ship, but the containers were locked and the captain and Iranian engineer from the ship's crew gave changing accounts of the cargo's contents. "That ship is unusual," the Long War Journal reports Osman as saying. "It is not carrying a normal shipment." In addition, Director of the East African's Seafarer's Assistance Programme Andrew Mwangura told South Africa's
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship." Mwangura, however, did not name the source of his information, so it is not known whether he was referring to the Long War Journal reports. Experts have said that the accounts of the illness sound more like radiation poisoning than chemical poisoning. "It's baffling," Jonathan Tucker, from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said to Fox News. "I'm not aware of any chemical agent that produces loss of hair within a few days. That's more suggestive of high levels of radioactive waste." In all, 16 pirates died from the ship's contents. Differing analyses have claimed that the ship's contents were planned to be delivered to
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
or to
al-Qaida , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
groups in the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
; ultimately, however, the ship berthed at the destination listed on its manifest, Rotterdam, unloading food and minerals. It has been speculated that the ship's actual destination was
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
, and that its cargo was small arms and chemical weapons for Islamist anti-government rebels in Somalia.


Docking

The MV ''Iran Deyanat'' arrived at Rotterdam on 11 November 2008. A "multi-disciplinary team comprising inspectors from the port authority, customs and police boarded and searched the ship" and found no hazardous substances on board. The paperwork was in order and the ship was unloaded. Lloyd's List reported that the ship’s charterer—German-based Hinrichs—denied any evidence of pirates falling ill during the hijacking. This contradicts the claims, however, that local officials made to The Times of South Africa.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iran Deyanat Maritime incidents in 2008 Merchant ships of Iran Piracy in Somalia Gulf of Aden 1982 ships Piracy in the Indian Ocean August 2008 in India Naval history of India