MV Samho Jewelry ( Hangul : 삼호 주얼리) is a Norwegian -owned and South Korean -operated chemical tanker . She was hijacked by Somali pirates on January 15, 2011 and rescued six days later by South Korean Navy commandos.
23-657: Built in 2001, the Samho Jewelry has a gross tonnage of 11,566 GT. She is 145.5 metres (477 ft) long, has a beam of 23.7 metres (78 ft) and a draft of 9.7 metres (32 ft). Owned by 2,500 investors represented by the Acta Group in Norway , the ship is registered in the port of Valletta , Malta and operated by the Samho Shipping Company of Busan , South Korea . In January 2008,
46-497: A mathematical formula. Gross tonnage is based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship" whereas net tonnage is based on "the moulded volume of all cargo spaces of the ship". In addition, a ship's net tonnage is constrained to be no less than 30% of her gross tonnage. The gross tonnage calculation is defined in Regulation 3 of Annex 1 of The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 . It
69-818: A record $ 9.5 million ransom was paid to Somali pirates for the release of the Samho Dream , another vessel operated by the Samho Shipping Company. The Samho Jewelry was traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was captured off the Somali coast by pirates on January 15, 2011. Tanker captain Seok Hae-gyun changed the ship's course to keep in international waters as long as possible. The crew of eight South Koreans, 11 Burmese and two Indonesians were held as hostages. The Norwegian government had been criticized for not being part of
92-459: A ship's manning regulations, safety rules, registration fees, and port dues, whereas the older gross register tonnage is a measure of the volume of only certain enclosed spaces. The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 was adopted by IMO in 1969. The Convention mandated a transition from the former measurements of gross register tonnage (grt) and net register tonnage (nrt) to gross tonnage (GT) and net tonnage (NT). It
115-660: A weak response to North Korean attacks in the past year including the ROKS Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyeong bombing . After the rescue, the Samho Jewelry headed for the Omani port of Salalah , where the crew was to receive medical checkups before being flown back to South Korea. Seok was stabilized after five hours of surgery at a hospital in Salalah. Local Korean workers donated blood on his behalf. On January 29, Seok
138-408: Is based on two variables, and is ultimately an increasing one-to-one function of ship volume: The value of the multiplier K increases logarithmically with the ship's total volume (in cubic metres) and is applied as an amplification factor in determining the gross tonnage value. K is calculated with a formula which uses the common or base-10 logarithm : Once V and K are known, gross tonnage
161-489: Is calculated using the formula, whereby GT is a function of V: which by substitution is: Thus, gross tonnage exhibits linearithmic growth with volume, increasing faster at larger volumes. The units of gross tonnage, which involve both cubic metres and log-metres, have no physical significance, but were rather chosen for historical convenience. Since gross tonnage is a bijective function of ship volume, it has an inverse function , namely ship volume from gross tonnage, but
184-620: Is home to the ROKAF 15th Special Missions Wing. The US Army's 2nd Battalion (Assault), 2nd Aviation Regiment , 2nd Infantry Division operating Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks is based there. The Seoul ADEX is held biennially in this airfield. The base is used as a VIP airfield by the President of Republic of Korea and other VIPs and heads of state. On the survey conducted by Sisain Press, 86% of military pilots and air traffic controllers opposed
207-680: Is located in Seongnam city near Seoul in South Korea. Runway 19 and 20 are equipped with an ILS . It was constructed when Korea was under Japanese rule when it was known as Yeouido Air Base . (Korean: 여의도 비행장 ) The USAF designated the Yeouido air base as K-16 during the Korean War. USAF units based here included: Yeouido Air Base was closed in 1970, moved garrison to current Sinchon-ri, and named it Seoul Air Base . The base
230-604: The Samho Jewelry was placed under inspection in Mumbai by the International Transport Workers' Federation for labor issues related to flag of convenience practices. Investigators found that Burmese, Croatian, Polish and Russian crewmembers were being paid less than ITF minimum wages and directed the owners of the vessel to sign a wage agreement with the Korean Seafarers' Union . In 2010,
253-616: The anti-piracy effort and had no military presence in the area at the time. The Samho Shipping Company was facing huge losses because it was obliged to continue paying Acta under its charter even while the vessel was held by pirates. Though Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Green Insurance had insured the ship for up to $ 45 million, their reinsurance policy through the Korean Reinsurance company would not cover "war risk". On January 16, 2011, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak issued an order to "comprehensively deal with"
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#1732801380260276-493: The crew had secretly sabotaged the tanker's systems, including the rudder , in an effort to thwart the pirates. Most of the crew members had been on the bridge when the commandos stormed the ship. Republic of Korea Coast Guard chief Kim Chung-kyu stated that the investigation found one of the bullets retrieved from Seok's body appeared to match that of the Navy, indicating that he had also been hit by friendly fire . In response to
299-486: The crisis. The South Korean destroyer ROKS Choi Young was dispatched to the area to launch the operation, dubbed " Dawn of Gulf of Aden ", at 9:58 am Korea Standard Time on January 21, 2011. ROK Navy commandos used a speed boat and ladders to climb aboard while a Westland Lynx helicopter and the destroyer provided covering fire. Once on board, the commandos fought a five-hour battle, going compartment to compartment in search of pirates. The pirates were found all over
322-605: The inverse cannot be expressed in terms of elementary functions . A root-finding algorithm may be used for obtaining an approximation to a ship's volume given its gross tonnage. The formula for exact conversion of gross tonnage to volume is: where ln {\displaystyle \ln } is the natural logarithm and W {\displaystyle W} is the Lambert W function . Seoul Airbase Seoul Air Base ( IATA : SSN , ICAO : RKSM ) (sometimes K-16 Air Base , Seoul Airport or Seongnam Air Base )
345-502: The pirates denied knowing one another nor who had shot the captain of the tanker, though investigators believe Arai Mahomed to be the gunman. The shooter would have been eligible for the death penalty if Seok had died. On February 2, the crew of the Samho Jewelry arrived at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, recounting that they had been violently beaten by the pirates and threatened with death. Chief engineer Chung Mann-Ki revealed that
368-536: The raid and five captured alive. President Lee announced the successful rescue on the national television networks. In his address, he stated, “We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future." The Christian Science Monitor , among other political analysts, believe the operation and presidential address were intended as "a thinly veiled warning to Pyongyang that South Korean forces are prepared to fight." The South Korean government had been heavily criticized by citizens for
391-623: The rescue operation, other pirates in Somalia claimed that they will kill any future Korean hostages and may have moved other Korean hostages off existing hijacked ships to inland locations. Gross tonnage Gross tonnage ( GT , G.T. or gt ) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage . Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weight such as deadweight tonnage or displacement . Gross tonnage, along with net tonnage ,
414-492: The ship, including in the board, pontoon and engine room. All 21 crew members were freed, though Seok, the captain, survived multiple gunshot wounds at close range by a pirate who was believed to be the leader. Seok had executed a risky plan to mix water into the ship's engine oil to disrupt its propulsion and slow it down. Chief officer Kim Doo-Chan stated that he had lost several teeth from being "trampled and beaten ... just for talking with our captain." Eight pirates were killed in
437-502: The surgery." Seok has been called a hero for his actions during the hijacking. President Lee called the hospital to offer words of encouragement: "Many citizens have high expectations and are cheering [for you]." The five captured pirates were flown to Seoul on January 29, and arrived in Busan on the next day for their upcoming trial. The defendants face charges of maritime robbery, attempted murder and ship hijacking. During interrogation,
460-470: Was airlifted to Seoul Airbase in Seongnam . He underwent three additional hours of surgery at Ajou University Hospital. Ryu Hee-sug, the director of the hospital, stated that Seok's condition had deteriorated because of the onset of infection from six gunshot wounds: "Things could have taken a turn for the worse had he stayed in Oman for a few more days. It was an appropriate decision to bring him to Korea for
483-586: Was defined by the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 , adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1969, and came into force on 18 July 1982. These two measurements replaced gross register tonnage (GRT) and net register tonnage (NRT). Gross tonnage is calculated based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship" and is used to determine things such as
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#1732801380260506-451: Was provided to allow ships time to adjust economically, since tonnage is the basis for satisfying manning regulations and safety rules. Tonnage is also the basis for calculating registration fees and port dues. One of the convention's goals was to ensure that the new calculated tonnages "did not differ too greatly" from the traditional gross and net register tonnages. Both GT and NT are obtained by measuring ship's volume and then applying
529-607: Was the first successful attempt to introduce a universal tonnage measurement system. Various methods were previously used to calculate merchant ship tonnage, but they differed significantly and one single international system was needed. Previous methods traced back to George Moorsom of Great Britain 's Board of Trade who devised one such method in 1854. The tonnage determination rules apply to all ships built on or after 18 July 1982. Ships built before that date were given 12 years to migrate from their existing gross register tonnage (GRT) to use of GT and NT. The phase-in period
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