VZCZCXRO3742
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0610/01 1430956
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230956Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8619
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1402
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000610 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W PDAVIS, AF/EPS CTRIMBLE, EB/ESC 
SSAARNIO, INR/AA BGRAVES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD EWWT LI PGOV PHSA
SUBJECT: SHIP "STOLEN" FROM LIBERIAN WATERS NOT AN 
INDICATION OF PIRACY 
 
REF: MONROVIA 440 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On May 11, unknown assailants "stole" the 
Saint Vincent-flagged M/V "Tahoma Reefer" from its anchorage 
in Liberian waters and proceeded to tow the vessel towards 
the Ivory Coast. United Nations Police (UNPOL) and the 
Liberian National Police (LNP) arrested two individuals (one 
of them an LNP officer) in connection with the theft, and 
United Nations Mission to Liberia (UNMIL) tracked the vessel 
until it disappeared near the border on May 13. 
Representatives of the ship's owners fueled a press frenzy 
with suggestions of piracy and terrorism, but the ship's 
storied history suggests the exact circumstances of the 
ship's removal is as mysterious as its current whereabouts. 
The Freeport of Monrovia does have security issues to 
resolve, but the "Tahoma Reefer" incident does not suggest 
that piracy is an issue in Liberia or that commercial vessels 
run any new dangers in using the Freeport of Monrovia. End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In August 2006, the M/V Tahoma Reefer caught fire 
while unloading frozen fish at the Freeport of Monrovia. The 
fire was extinguished and the vessel was towed out of the 
harbor basin to outer anchorage with the assistance of the US 
Navy, which happened to have a vessel in port. The National 
Port Authority (NPA) then instructed the local agents of the 
vessel (Joden Shipping and Stevedoring) to relocate the 
vessel outside the port's shipping channel. After several 
months without response, during which the vessel was 
reportedly looted and damaged, the NPA relocated the vessel 
three nautical miles outside the port's approach path in 
January 2007. According to a local representative, in 
February 2007 the Defendo Maritime Consulting LTD Company 
bought the ship and sent its representative, Shteynberg 
Volodimir, a Ukrainian-national, to Monrovia. (Note: Embassy 
is unable to verify actual ownership of the vessel. End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to UNPOL Acting Police Commissioner G. M. 
DuToit, the LNP received reports of nefarious activity 
(perhaps drugs or weapons) on board the vessel. The LNP 
reportedly boarded the ship on May 7 but found nothing. On 
May 8, Mr. Volodimir says he received a call that the boat 
had been attacked and that his 100-man crew was held hostage 
(Note: UNPOL advises that the boat had no crew and that Mr. 
Volodimir is not the ship's captain as he claims). UNPOL 
deployed police units to the coastline where the alleged 
attackers were expected to return and arrested two people, 
one of them an LNP officer, charging them with theft. On May 
11, Volodimir reported the boat was "stolen" and UN 
helicopters confirmed sighting the vessel as it was towed 
down the Liberian coast. Because neither the GOL nor the UN 
has any marine resources, the UN could not interdict the boat 
and was only able to monitor its path. The UN tracked the 
boat until the evening of May 13 when the boat was expected 
to cross the Ivory Coast border. Instead, the boat 
disappeared and despite efforts on both sides of the border, 
the boat remains missing. UN Missions in both Liberia and the 
Ivory Coast have searched for the ship as recently as May 21 
without success. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Self-proclaimed "Captain" Volodimir lashed out at 
the UN and the LNP in the press for their inability to stop 
this slow-moving crime, and news of the theft quickly 
triggered rumors of piracy along the West African coast. 
Volodimir spun a melodramatic tale of extortion, assault and 
theft, but UNPOL says the story is so full of holes, they are 
uncertain what the real story is. According to UNPOL, 
ownership of the boat is in dispute and the owners' portrayal 
of the saga suggest they may be attempting to lay the basis 
for an insurance claim. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: The Freeport of Monrovia is rife with 
problems (reftel) but fortunately, piracy is not currently a 
major issue. Because of its strategic importance, UNMIL 
protects the port from incursion on land, while the NPA does 
what it can to safeguard property on the port premises. But 
port infrastructure is antiquated, management oversight is 
lax, and the GOL does not have the capacity for marine 
patrols. At locations outside port waters, however, ship 
owners - rather than the GOL (or the UN) - are responsible 
for security, and it is clear that the owners of the M/V 
Tahoma Reefer did little to stop (and may have encouraged) 
its theft. It is unfortunate that the legend of the Tahoma 
Reefer has spawned rumors of piracy in Liberia at a time when 
 
MONROVIA 00000610  002 OF 002 
 
 
the NPA is seeking to improve its reputation. The Tahoma 
Reefer incident is a reminder that the Freeport of Monrovia 
has many problems, but is not a sign of any additional threat 
or increase in danger for shipping to/from Liberia. End 
comment. 
 
Mazel