NEWS

Sad Demise Of  MMSP'S Life Member Capt. Syed Jaffer Jafri Martyred During Hijacking Of The Ship By Somali Pirates In The Gulf Of Adan:

( Action Taken By MMSP )

8th June, 2010
 
Senator Babar Khan Ghori,
Minister of Ports & Shipping.
Government of Pakistan,
Pakistan Secretariat, Block D
Islamabad. (Pakistan)
 
Dear Sir,

Sub: Capt. M. Jaffer Jafri,
Master, m.v. QSM Dubai Sad Demise

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We regret to report that our above named life member as per information received from the local recruiting agent of the ship owner has been martyred during hijacking of the ship by Pirates and subsequently storming of the ship by Somalian forces with the assistance of American war ship / Nato.

While the entire merchant marine community and thousand members of Master Mariner Society of Pakistan mourn the sad demise of their life member due to this sad incident and we hope that you will be equally grieved on the loss of a Pakistan national / Master Mariner. We are writing to you reposing full confidence that you will instruct the Director General Port & Shipping Office who still has not communicated with wife or family member of late Capt. Jafri. Kindly instruct DGP&S to coordinate with the family members and facilitate for the transportation of the deceased body to Karachi for burial.

Needless to mention that DGP&S is the regulator of all Shipping / Recruiting Agent based in Pakistan thus the lack lustre attitude is highly deplorable while the family is running from pillar to post to retrieve the information. We are enclosing various communication, which we have received from his family, are very pathetic.

You will also appreciate that DGP&S is the focal point of IMO, therefore the office should approach IMO to change the Law / Pronto before any more killings occur as the law prevent acting firmly against the hijacker / pirates. The incident is deplorable in view of large presence of naval vessels combined joint task force – horn of Africa (CJTF – HOA) who and IMB are responsible for the safety of merchant vessels.

The society request your kind intervention into this matter to ensure following :-

1) DGP&S to facilitate transportation of deceased body and coordinate with the family from now onward.

2) To ensure that the local Recruiting Agent and the Shipping Master an Office under the control of DGP&S be asked to ensure compensation in accordance with the P&I Club rules be paid to the family of deceased without any delay.

3) DGP&S must satisfy the family members by coordinating and assuring the family that they are taking due safe guard in arranging compensation for the deceased so that family may not face any hardships.

We are confident that you will promptly take action by instructing all concerned to facilitate the family of deceased and ensuring compensation. You will agree that family has suffered irreparable loss due to sad demise but surely be compensated to avoid further hardships. You will also agree that in view of this incident, the office of DGP&S must issue a proper warning to all merchant mariners joining vessels which may be coasting around the Somalian Coast to avoid further casualties.

Best Regards,
     -sd-
Capt. Nusrat Iqbal
General Secretary

Copy to:-
 
Secretary, Ministry of Ports & Shipping
 
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
 
Chief of Naval Staff / Chief Patron (MMSP)
 
Director General. Ports & Shipping
 
Mrs. Capt. Syed Jaffar Jafri

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Respected� Mr M. M. Ahmad Zubari

�   Office Secretary

�   Master Mariners Society Of Pakistan,

�   Old Rally Brothers Building,

�   Talpur Road Karachi.

This email is regarding the demise of my uncle Captain Syed Jafer Jafri during the hijacking of the ship QSM Dubai owned by Qawareb ship Management LLC a dubai based firm near the Somalian region Aden on Wednesday 06/02/2010.

As I found out my uncle was a life time member of Master Mariners society of Pakistan bearing the code # S083 found on www.mmsp.com.pk , I decided to write you and inform you about the incident and inquire few question which would be of great help for me and my whole family.

I am his nephew and He was my Guardian who was supporting me in my Masters Degree in the United states . The feelings could not be expressed in words as His wife, 17 year old son and other family members are awaiting for his dead body with hope.

I want to inquire about the contract that the Captain�s sign with the company when they go for a voyage , how can we get that , what are the technicalities in that contract that we should be aware of like the insurance policy�s and would you be able to contact the Qawareb ship Management and could possibly expedite the procedure of bringing the body to home.

If these things are out of your reach, any kind of information you could provide would be of great help.

Following are the details of the related officials which I gathered from different resources if that could be of any help to you and your team.

  Code # S083

  Capt. Syed Jafar Jafri,

  B-762, Block-13, F.B. Area,

  Karachi-75950 Ph: 6362330

  Mobile number of my father and 2 Uncles (Captain Jafri�s younger brother)

  0300-2726355 Syed Qaiser Jafri

  0300-9245014 Syed Mehmood Abbas Jafri

  0300-2338116 Syed Raza Abbas Jafri

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Dear Captain Nusrat Iqbal, With great grief and concern I have learned from your e-mail of the bereavement the wife and family of the late Captain M. Jaffer Jafri but also your organisation, the Master Mariner Society of Pakistan, have encountred recently. Please allow me to join in with the members of your esteemed organisation in mourning the sad demise of your respectable life member. Be assured that I will take the floor at the meeting of the IFSMA Executive Committee next Wednesday as well as at the 34th IFSMA AGA on next Thursday and Friday to inform the ExCo members and the IFSMA AGA delegates about the sad circumstances of the tragic death of our professional colleague. Please be so kind as to communicate my deepest sympathy to the wife and family of late Captain M. Jaffer Jafri. Warm regards, Willi Wittig ---- Capt. Assoc. Prof. Willi Wittig, MSc Head, Centre of Maritime Studies Director of Studies Internship Coordinator International Liaison Officer Bremen University of Applied Sciences Faculty 5 - Centre of Maritime Studies Room B 37 Werderstrasse 73 28199 Bremen / Germany Phone: +49 - 421 - 5905 4600 Direct: +49 - 421 - 5905 4601 Fax: +49 - 421 - 5905 4599 Mobile: +49 - 171 - 1214 274 E-mail: Willi.Wittig@hs-bremen.de Internet: http://www.nautik.hs-bremen.de Direct URL: http://nautik-web.fk5.hs-bremen.de:81/website.php CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual or entity as the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any distribution, any copying of this message in part or in whole, or any taking of action based on it, is strictly prohibited by law and may cause liability. In case you have received this message due to an error in transmission, we ask you to notify the sender immediately. SAFETY WARNING: Please note that the Internet is not a safe means of communication or form of media. Although we are continuously increasing our due care of preventing virus attacks as a part of our Quality Management, we are not able to fully prevent virus attacks as a result of the nature of the Internet.

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My heartfelt condolences to Capt. Jafri's family. It is indeed tragic. The situation off the Horn of Africa is still throwing up incidences like this despite a large number of nations sending out their naval units for patroling. They say the law prevents them from acting firmly against the hijackers and pirates. Well, the IMO should change the law, pronto, before any more killings occur. The IMO was able to bring in quick additions and modifications to SOLAS to deal with safety issues following the terrorism of 9/11. Why cant they fast forward to deal with piracy.

Capt. Irfan Naqvi

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KARACHI - The Mater Mariner Society (MMS) of Pakistan urged the Minister Ports and Shipping to raise the issue of violation of international maritime laws by NATO war ship that allegedly attacked M.V. QSM Dubai in which the Master of the Ship Capt. M Jaffer Jafri was killed.

The Society in its communiqué to Babar Ghouri said that the DG P&S is the focal point of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) therefore the office should approach IMO to change the Law/Pronto before any more killings occur, as the law prevents acting firmly against the pirates.

The Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) and International Maritime Bureau along with NATO and Somalian forces are responsible for this deplorable incident and the government of Pakistan has lost its one worthy master mariner, the letter said.

The society further said that the said joint task force in which the navies of all the countries included has violated the laws of International maritime organisation which prevent killing of crew or pirates once the ship is cordoned, despite the fact that the forces are responsible for the safety of merchant vessels. A copy of letter available with The Nation disclosed that a Pakistani master of the ship was killed by pirates and subsequently Somalian forces stormed the ship with the assistance of American/Nato warship,

They further said that the attack of NATO warship along with Somalian forces is the clear violation of laws of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which resulted in the sad demise of a Pakistani master mariner; therefore, the Ministry should raise this issue with IMO and also give death compensation to the family of the master,

The sad part of the story is that the Director General Ports and Shipping has not yet communicated with the grieved family, so the Minister should instruct DG Office to coordinate with the family members of the family, the letter further said,

The letter added that the DG P&S is the regulator of all Shipping/Recruiting Agents based in Pakistan thus the lack lustre attitude of the is highly deplorable while the family is running from pillar to post to retrieve the information,

Moreover, the office of DG P&S must issue a proper warning to all merchant mariners joining vessels which may be coasting around the Somalian Coast to avoid further casualties,

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click hear

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Dear Captain Naqvi and Mr. M Admed Zuberi,

I have been asked to respond to your e-mail(s) on behalf of the IMO.

First, let me assure you of our deep sympathy for the death of Captain Jafri on 2 June 2010 during the storming of MV QSM Dubai which had been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia.  The entire maritime world will regret that the intervention resulted in the tragic loss of an innocent life.  I hope you will relay our condolences to Captain Jafri’s the wife, family and friends.

You have suggested that IMO should be acting more quickly to “change the law��? before any more killings occur.  I can assure you that we have tried to take every reasonable step to assist countries in introducing piracy legislation which is consistent with international conventions which address piracy.  It is generally agreed that the existing international legal framework on piracy (including UNCLOS and SUA) are in fact adequate for addressing cases of piracy that take place off the coast of Somalia.  The problems have arisen not only in the logistics of prosecuting suspected pirates in courts of countries which have no direct claim of jurisdiction over the crime, but also in national laws which in many cases have not been updated to reflect the definition of piracy as set out in UNCLOS and the elements of universal jurisdiction which are provided for in UNCLOS.  IMO is actively encouraging and supporting States in their efforts to modernize their criminal laws to address piracy through technical assistance.  Unfortunately, it is a slow process, which will be of no comfort to those who are affected by the death of Captain Jafri.

I hope this information is of some reassurance to you.��?

C. Young

Deputy Director

IMO Legal Office

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