I beg to let you know that i attended Mombasa law courts on 12th January,2009 for mentioning of my case but,strangely i was told that my case was mentioned on 9th January and a warrant of arrest was issued by the court because i was not in attendance.
My attorney stood up strong and asked the magistrate to lift the warrant of arrest for,my case was mentioned on a wrong date.
Therefore,the matter has been fixed for hearing on 4th February 2009.
This malpractice reminds me of days during ignoble regimes of President Moi and President Kenyatta.
Am pleased to state herein that, early this month Somali pirates released multiple vessels in a short period after receiving ransom payments.
Past reporting suggests efforts to hijack additional vessels increase as previously hijacked vessels are released.Past reporting also suggests efforts to hijack vessels increase as wind speeds decrease.
Pirates appear to be most active and successful when average wind speeds are between 0 to 10 knots.Activity is also reported when winds are between 10 to 15 knots but pirates appear to be less successful under these conditions.
Little to no incidents are reported when winds average between 15 to 20+ knots.
This time of year, when prevailing monsoon winds are out of the Northeast, wind speeds are lower and more conducive to piracy operations closer to the Yemeni coast and less favorable in the central Gulf of Aden.
The recent spate of releases brings the number of vessels held in Somalia down to 11 from 15 at the start of the year.The number of seafarers taken hostage has been cut to around 201, a reduction of getting on for a third since the beginning of this year.
Most of released vessels have been under negotiations for around six weeks on average, which is the period of time it takes for negotiations to be completed.
Saga Continues……
Andrew Mwangura
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