5th Fleet Focus: USS Vella Gulf off Hobyo

More US Navy ships have taken up position off the Somalian harbor city of Hobyo to monitor the MV Faina, the recently hijacked ship reported to be carrying T-72 tanks. We note in this photograph the Navy released today that Captain Mark Genung, Commanding Officer of the USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) is among those at the scene.

The arrival of the USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) signals the arrival of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, which means every pirate off Somalia can be blown into small pieces now, if the order was given to do so. Navy NewsStand has the rest of the story.

Several U.S. ships are now operating in the vicinity of Motor Vessel Faina, the Belize-flagged cargo ship, which was captured Sept. 25 and is anchored off the coast of Somalia near the harbor city of Hobyo. The U.S. 5th Fleet continues to actively monitor the situation.

"We will maintain a vigilant watch over the ship and remain on station while negotiations take place," said Rear Adm. Kendall Card, task force commander leading the efforts to prevent the weapons aboard M/V Faina from being offloaded from the ship.

The Navy NewsStand article goes on to note the ship is operated by Kaalybe Shipping Ukraine, but this AP article run on the USA Today website seems to dispute that claim. The AP followed up today with another article suggesting the ship's operator is Tomex Team, out of Odessa in the Black Sea. The AP report goes on to note a "Russian-based ship register indicates that Tomex Team is a subsidiary of the Faina's owner, Panama-based Waterlux AG." The AP article has other interesting information.

U.S. military officials and diplomats say the weapons are destined for southern Sudan. But Morrell said: "We take — and have no reason not to take — the president of Kenya at his word when he expressed to the president of the United States yesterday that this shipment was bound for his government, which is ... a peaceful government with legitimate self-defense needs."

Russian media reported that the Faina's first mate, Vladimir Nikolsky, said its captain, Vladimir Kolobkov, had suffered from heat stroke. The ITAR-Tass news agency said Kolobkov died of a stroke Sunday, and that the vessel has a crew of two Russians, 17 Ukrainians and one from Latvia...

The Russian navy has said it ordered the guided missile frigate Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, to the northwest Indian Ocean to protect commercial shipping lanes and defend the lives of Russian citizens. It is expected to take about a week to arrive.

Morrell said the U.S. Navy has enough ships in the area "to deal with the situation at hand."

"But this involves Russian cargo, as I understand it, so I don't think that we have a particular issue with the Russians coming on the scene, as well. And we will obviously work hard to coordinate, once they are on scene," he added.

So the T-72s are Russian, shipped through Ukraine? One would think when Main Battle Tanks are captured by pirates on the high seas, you could find some accurate information from those who have been robbed. Instead it is a crazy cycle trying to find one person who can speak for the ship, and another cycle trying to find someone to speak for the cargo. I bet we would get good information if that Kilo submarine recently refitted in Russia on its way to India were attacked by pirates as it passed through the Gulf of Aden. In other words, it is easy to tell when legitimacy exists in arms deliveries. This T-72 ship sounds fishy.

Then we get to the meat of the article. Look, the pirates have until the RFS Neustrashimy (FF 712) arrives to get their ransom and run, and if they are lucky be caught by the US Navy. The AP reports exactly why this frigate, and not the battlecruiser heading to smile for Hugo Chavez, is the Russian naval action to watch.

Russian analysts say the hijacking has given Moscow another chance to display its might following its brief war with Georgia — which the Kremlin justified, in part, as an effort to protect Russians living in two Georgian breakaway regions.

"It's another show of the flag intended to demonstrate that Russia would protect its citizens wherever it deems it necessary," said Yevgeny Volk, the head of the Moscow office of the Heritage Foundation.

A hostage rescue would play well with the many Russians nostalgic for the superpower status of the Soviet Union.

It could be as simple as running the frigate up the coast blowing up every little boat on the beach, but put the video on YouTube and Putin pays for his deployment in good PR at home. If the pirates want to avoid being the bloody stain of the Russian propaganda to fight piracy, they would be smart to surrender to the US Navy. Last time pirates were captured, the Danes released them on a Somalian beach. Expect no such sympathy from the Russians.

As we continue to observe this unfold, we are only hoping for one outcome, and it has nothing to do with the tanks or pirates. We want to see excellent cooperation between the US Navy and Russian Navy, and the French as well if they are there... in a joint international effort that produces positive results. In my view the Russians remain a very important partner to be worked with, because unlike most of the partners (including several NATO partners) we have today, the Russians will fight.