O.R.C.

“We are the gentlemen who work in the ocean … since the [Somali] civil war began the ocean has been our Mother.”

These are the words of the anonymous spokesperson of the Ocean Salvation Corps, a group of seafaring Somalians who refuse the label of pirate.

On Feb. 1st, the Gentlemen hijacked the Svitzer Korsakov, a tugboat on its way to break ice at Sakhalin II, a controversial natural gas project off the coast of Russia that threatens, among a great number of species and habitats, the critically endangered Western Pacific Gray Whale. They held the ship until March 18th, whereupon they released the ship and crew unharmed after receiving $700,000 as ransom.

The international media was quick to label the attack as just another strike by profiteering pirates. Since 1991, when a civil war broke out and deposed the totalitarian military rule of General Siad Barre, the 1,880 miles of Somalia’s coast have been considered a haven for piracy. Often, these pirates will claim to have the authority of one or another warlord and will hold foreign ships hostage until ransom is paid.

These men bloodlessly captured the Svitzer Korsakov in the Gulf of Aden and took the six members of its crew—including four Russian nationals, one Irish national and one British national—hostage, but they initially refused to ask ransom, claiming their intention to bring the seized vessels before justice. They had also taken control of an Omani fishing vessel. They explained themselves in an interview with Radio Garowe:

“I have contacted you after hearing reports through international media that pirates hijacked a ship after it left the port of Bossaso,” the anonymous spokesperson said. “The ships we now control have the equipment which destroyed the Indian Ocean.”

The man said that the Svitzer Korsakov was “part of the environmental destruction” and that the Omani fishing vessel had “more than 70,000 tons of fish species onboard.” He went on to say that they promised to safeguard any journalist who would like to confirm their reports first hand.

No reporter did so, of course.

The spokesperson also told the radio station that although “it has been the tradition to take ransom payment, [...] we will bring these ships in front of the law.”

The hostages where unharmed during their ordeal.

It is interesting to note that since Somalia’s government has collapsed, small “fiefdom” governments have been selling licenses to allow foreign ships to overfish to a remarkable degree, resulting in further poverty for many Somalians and a increasing environmental disaster in the waters. The Svitzer was not innocent either:

The Svitzer Korsakov is a tug vessel owned by Svitzer, a Danish company. Svitzer’s parent company is Moller-Maersk, a massive energy and shipping corporation based out of Copenhagen. The boat was built in St. Petersburg and was on its maiden voyage to Sakhalin when it was captured. The Russian built, Danish owned, internationally staffed vessel was flying the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a flag of convenience that allows Svitzer to avoid taxation, labor laws and safety regulations.

On Feb. 5th, Omar Shafdero was arrested for his alleged connection to the hijackers. Omar, an employee of the Puntland Ministry of Finance—Puntland being a semi-autonomous region of Somalia—escaped jail a short time later under mysterious circumstances.

NATO was contacted and the US Navy responded. They tracked the hijackers to Eyl, a small coastal town in Puntland. On Feb. 11th, they fired upon a number of local boats under the presumption that they might be aiding the Ocean Preservation Corps. The US Navy also fired three missiles into the town, destroying the airstrip, but no casualties were reported.

On Feb. 13th, a Puntland police force raided the town and exchanged fire with gunmen thought to be re-supplying the hijackers. One police officer was injured and one unarmed civilian was killed.

By the next day, many families evacuated the town, unable to fish for fear of the US Navy, unable to stay on the mainland for fear of further violence.

The Navy continued to blockade the hijackers until March 18th, when a ransom of $700,000 was paid for the Svitzer’s release.

Whether through intention or happenstance (and there seems little reason to doubt their intelligence), the Ocean Salvation Corps struck a very controversial target. Sakhalin Island, the Svitzer Korsakov’s destination, is home to an expansive, expensive and destructive gas and oil project: Sakhalin II.

The existing resource extraction infrastructure on Sakhalin—an island off the coast of Siberia and immediately north of Japan—has already been in the habit of dumping millions of tons of waste into the island’s Aniva Bay. But the new project, estimated to provide 8% of the world’s LNG needs, will be significantly more destructive when fully operational. Over 500 miles of LNG pipeline will be run from one end of the island to the other, crossing through dense coniferous forests and over 1000 waterways. Over 100 miles will be run underwater, impeding on the only known feeding ground of the Western Pacific Gray Whale—of which there are estimated to be less than 100 individuals left. It will also impact at least 10 other endangered species, as well as destroying much of the local fishing and reindeer herding economy.

Also of interest is the area’s high level of tectonic activity, with a Richter 6 quake in 2000 and in 1995 a 7.6 Richter quake killed over 2000 on the island.

Sakhalin II is a project run by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, Ltd., a consortium led by Gazprom, a Russian government owned business. The other leading investors are Shell, Mitsubishi and Mitsui.

Already, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a prospective financer, has withdrawn support after citing the absurd level of ecological devastation that the project will cause. Banks operating under the Equator Principles—a set of guidelines for global development financing—have refused funding as well.

So far, at least three Japanese businesses are set to receive LNG from Sakhalin: Tokyo Gas, Tokyo Electric Power Company and Kyushu Electric Power Company. Korea and the USA are also set to receive LNG from Sakhalin. Russians, however, will be unable to afford the energy, as the prices have been set at the international level, rather than the Russian level.

Fortunately, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources has put a least a temporary halt on the project, citing incomplete documentation of the environmental impacts.