Somali Pirate related news.: Ten 'Somali pirates who hijacked naval ship' go on trial in Germany:ANALYSIS-Militant raid on tanker shows Gulf security gap

Ten Somali men have gone on trial in a German court accused of piracy after a merchant navy vessel was hijacked off the coast of Africa. The accused were captured aboard the German container ship MV Taipan in the Gulf of Aden on April 5 by Dutch marines. They were extradited from the Netherlands to Germany in June.When the ship was attacked, the crew sent out an emergency call and then locked themselves in the vessel's security room for several hours. The 15 crew members - from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Sri Lanka - also managed to stop the ship's engine, making it impossible for the pirates to take the 460-foot long Taipan to their Somali home port.A Dutch anti-piracy unit responded the call for help and after exchanging fire, captured the ten alleged pirates, seizing five machine guns, two missile launchers and ammunition in the process. None of the crew members was harmed.The ten men are the first Somali nationals to be tried for piracy in the west since the epidemic of ship seizures began nearly a decade ago.Currently, 23 vessels and their crews are being held to ransom off the coast of the lawless African state. The average ransom demand for a ship is around £3million.On trial in Hamburg: The ten defendants (seen in casual clothes) are on trial accused of hijacking a German ship in the Gulf of Aden last April'It is rather unlikely that the trial in Hamburg will have any major effect on the general problem,' said Niels Stolberg, president of the Beluga Shipping Company, which has seen its fleet targeted in the past.
Proceedings got off to a shaky start today as court officials struggled to get even the most basic information from the alleged hijackers. The ten Somalis sat at three rows of tables in the Hamburg state court, some in hooded sweat shirts and oversized pants, which stood in sharp contrast to the pristine black robes of the 20 defence attorneys sitting with them.Prosecutors have been unable to determine the ages of three of the suspects. As a result, the trial is being held at a youth court for all suspectsThe panel of judges questioning the defendants in person about their ages and places of birth - as none of them have identity document - with little success.'I was born under the tree,' defendant Abdi Yussuf Karsi told the court when asked for his age and place of birth. 'In Somalia'.Protests: Demonstrators outside the court claim that the alleged pirates are actually fishermen He said he did not know his exact birth date, but, according to what his mother told him, he is now 20 years old.One of the youngest defendants started crying and shaking when the court tried to determine his age. He told the court he is 13 years old - which would mean that he would have to be released immediately because according to German law persons younger than 14 years cannot be prosecuted.The spokesman for the prosecution, Wilhelm Moellers, challenged the defendant's claim and said experts had determined his age to be between 15 and 18 years.No pleas were entered, which is standard in German court proceedings.The adults face a possible 15 years in prison if convicted, while the younger defendants can be sentenced to up to ten years.Judge Bernd Steinmetz stressed that it was his priority to resolve the age issue of the youngest defendants and also decide whether the public and media should be excluded from the trial to protect the privacy of the three teenage defendants.One of the defence lawyers, Philipp Napp, read out a statement on behalf of all 20 defence attorneys asking the court to take into consideration the alleged pirates' different cultural background.In case the accused are found guilty, Napp said: 'It is important to not only look at the political development of Somalia since 1991, but to also investigate how industrial fishing companies from Europe and Asia and the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia have had an impact on the living conditions of the defendants.'The Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a former socialist dictator before turning on each other.It is understood that the trial marks the first time in almost 400 years that the offence of piracy on the high seas has appeared on a charge sheet in a German court, although Hamburg has a centuries-old tradition of sentencing pirates.Between 1390 and 1600, at least 533 pirates were sentenced and executed in the German port city. The last piracy trial is said to have taken place in 1624.The trial is scheduled to resume on December 2, but a verdict is not expected before next spring.Dangerous waters: There has been a spate of hijackings off the Somali coast in recent years. Earlier this month a boatload of suspects were arrested by Royal Marines from the Fleet Protection Group  Daily Mail,
ANALYSIS-Militant raid on tanker shows Gulf security gap