BITTER TASTE AT IMO NAVAL SHOW

The International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) award giving ceremony actually was overshadowed by governmental reports about the atrocities committed by Iran and Norway against Somali seafarers and civilians well as many other foul cases.

Also honoured by the IMO was India, whose navy was the only one, which blew a Thai fishing vessel out of the water - together with all the crew, while the Somali captors had left. Only one sailor from the crew survived that wrongful attack.

The certificate was accepted by Commodore Pradyut Banerjee, the captain of one of 12 Indian warships deployed in the Gulf of Aden this year. Banerjee received the certificate on behalf of the Indian Navy from IMO Secretary-General E.E. Mitropulous.

Indian naval ships were said to have otherwise escorted about 700 merchant ships, including about 600 foreign-flagged vessels from over 45 countries, through the Gulf of Aden since October 2008. During one of the escorts they also shot up a Somali pirate gang and left the dead and survivor to the French navy to clean up.
Indian High Commissioner Nalin Surie and IMO Assembly President Georg Boomgaarden were among those present at the ceremony Monday.

Also Greek navy officers were commended by IMO for "Exceptional Services Rendered to Shipping and Mankind" in anti-piracy effort. The Certificates for the Greek officers were presented to Greek Lt. Commanders Panagiotis Lymberis and Antonis Papaioannou, attended by Greece's minister for the economy, competitiveness and shipping Louka Katseli, who is representing Greece as well as Greek ambassador in London Vassilis Pispinis.

At the end everybody got one and further certificates were presented to the Commanding Officers, or their representatives, of navy ships from EU and NATO member countries and several other individual countries from various regions, namely from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The German Ambassador to the UK also was at the expensive special ceremony in London on Tuesday night. The most recent arrest by the German navy of 7 Somalis is part of a controversy involving the release of British sailor couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, held now hostage at the Central Somali coast.
France did not make a big fuss out of the certificate it received, since it still ponders about the killing of a French captain by French naval forces in a blotched commando operation.

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