Sunday - April 12, 2009

NEWS …. Pirates and hostage drifting to shore.

Breaking News

Just booted and found this ... or has it already been on the news in US?

‘Pirates and hostage drifting to shore’

2 hours 48 mins ago
ITN

A lifeboat used by Somali pirates holding a US ship captain is drifting toward Somalia’s coast, as US warships track it to keep the pirates from escaping to shore. Skip related content

‘Pirates and hostage drifting to shore’

The boat, which has been out of fuel for some time, had drifted to within 20 miles of the Somali coast by late on Saturday, according to US military officials.

Somali pirate sources and coastal residents said they do not think the lifeboat is anywhere near that close to shore.

A Somali mediator headed to sea to try to secure his release.

Three US warships including the destroyer USS Bainbridge are in the area around the lifeboat.

Posted by peiper     on 04/12/2009 at 10:43 AM   
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   Saturday - April 11, 2009

PIRATE UPDATE Somali clan elders try to mediate in pirate stand-off.

PIRATE UPDATE

Well now who’d a thought this new wrinkle?
Could it be a ruse?  Doesn’t seem like it.

Somali elders were preparing to sail on Saturday to where pirates were holding an American cargo ship captain hostage in an ongoing high-seas hostage crisis.

By Mike Pflanz in Mombasa
Last Updated: 10:19AM BST 11 Apr 2009

The team of men from the pirates’ home town plan to “calm” the gunmen holding Richard Phillips and arrange for his hand-over to US forces, according to a Kenyan maritime official.

“They are just onshore waiting for permission from the US Navy, and then they will go,” said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

“They want to calm the people holding Phillips, then arrange to give him to the Americans on the agreement that the pirates will not be harassed.”

A back-up force of pirates aboard a hijacked German boat had threatened to sail to reinforce their colleagues, perhaps using their 24 foreign hostages as a human shield.

But they were forced to turn back on Saturday, saying they had failed to locate the scene of the hijack, some 400 miles north-east of Mogadishu.

Mr Phillips, 55, has been held in a small lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean since a botched attempt to seize his ship, the US-flagged, Danish-owned Maersk Alabama, on Wednesday.

He tried to escape early on Friday by slipping overboard under cover of darkness, but was immediately recaptured when at least one of the four armed men holding him jumped into the sea after him.

He is said to be unharmed. The lifeboat has enough supplies for 34 people for ten days.

The US Navy has sent three warships and a surveillance aircraft to the area to try to force the pirates to capitulate and give up their hostage, but the tense stand-off entered its fourth day on Saturday.

The gang is understood to have demanded a $2 million ransom for the safe release of Mr Phillips , and have threatened to kill him if it is not paid.

Abdi Garad, a pirate commander in the Somali town of Eyl, said on Saturday that there were plans to move Mr Phillips to another, larger ship because “there are not any developments on the standoff with the American officials”.

“I’m afraid this matter is likely to create disaster because it’s taking too long and we are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did,” he said.

Florent Lemacon, a Frenchman whose yacht was hijacked last week, died on Friday when French commandos mounted a raid to free him with his wife and three-year-old son and another couple.

The other hostages were rescued safely. Two pirates also died and three more were captured during the operation, which was ordered by France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

His office defended the mission, saying that France was determined ‘not to give in to blackmail, and to defeat the pirates’.

But the commando raid illustrates the dangers faced by the Americans as they consider their options for releasing Mr Phillips.

The Pentagon, the White House and other US officials have stressed that they are doing all they can to secure a peaceful, negotiated outcome.

The Maersk Alabama was due to arrive in Mombasa later on Saturday. Its remaining 19 crew members, all Americans, are safely aboard.

Posted by peiper     on 04/11/2009 at 08:11 AM   
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Somali pirates holding a US captain hostage said using force to rescue him would result in “disaster

Breaking News

Oh good.  So now the press is awarding titles to these .... people?  Commander? The pirate “commander?” Ok the guy in charge I get that but when the press does this is almost elevates these scum to something legitimate.

Kind of like when the police arrest someone for a particularly brutal crime, and continually refer to him as, Mister.
I once heard a newscaster back home refer to Charles Manson as, Mr. Manson. Mister? For that creep?  Jeesh.

Say, why can’t we hire the French to get this done for us?  They’ve already done it three times.
I guess we and the capt. will have to wait and see.

Somali pirates issue hostage warning

34 mins ago
AFP

Somali pirates holding a US captain hostage said they planned to move him to another ship and warned that using force to rescue him would result in “disaster”.

“There are not any developments still on the standoff with the American officials,” pirate commander Abdi Garad told AFP by phone from the northern Somali pirate lair of Eyl.

“We are planning to transfer the hostage on to one of the ships our friends are holding around Garacad area so that we can wait,” he added without specifying which ship.

Only four pirates have been guarding Captain Richard Phillips on the lifeboat, and transferring him to a larger ship could give them better defences as the US military seeks to free him.

Garad’s comments came after French commandos on Friday stormed a yacht held by Somali pirates in an operation that left one French hostage and two gunmen dead.

“I’m afraid this matter is likely to create disaster because it’s taking too long and we are getting information that the Americans are planning rescue tricks like the French commandos did,” Garad said.

PIRATE THREAT

Posted by peiper     on 04/11/2009 at 03:49 AM   
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   Friday - April 10, 2009

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!  French hostages freed off Somalia BY FRENCH TROOPS!

Have no idea why, when warned ahead of time, these ppl went ahead and sailed into dangerous waters.

French troops risked their lives of course.  It’s their job.

Bottom line however is that at least this one time, the good guys won a round. And two nigger golli-gremlins* are graveyard dead!

This story comes from BBC Radio News

One French hostage has died and four others have been freed in a rescue operation by French troops on a yacht off Somalia, French officials say.

Two pirates were killed in the operation and three were captured, the French presidency said.

Officials said the rescue was launched when talks with the pirates broke down and threats became “more specific”.

Two French couples had been seized with a child, who was among those freed from the yacht, Tanit, seized last week.

News of the operation came after a US captain made an unsuccessful overnight bid to escape from another seized vessel off Somalia.

Captain Richard Phillips managed to jump overboard off the lifeboat on which he was being held by pirates, US media reported.

But his attempt to reach a nearby US military ship was thwarted before it could come to his aid.

US troops in the area are continuing to monitor Mr Phillips’s situation. He was captured after a struggle on his ship, Maersk Alabama.

Reports said the French rescue operation was not thought to be in the vicinity of the US fleet and the Maersk Alabama.

In another development on Friday, pirates released a Norwegian cargo ship, the Bow Asir, and its crew, the vessel’s owners said. The Bow Asir had been held since 26 March.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin said the hostage who died was Florent Lemacon, the owner of the Tanit and father of the boy on board.

“During the operation, a hostage, Florent Lemacon, unfortunately met his death,” he said.

“The other four, including the child, are safe and well. The president of the republic and the government offer all their condolences to the family of Florent Lemacon and to his friends and share in their distress.”

It is unclear whether Mr Lemacon was killed by his captors, or by a stray French bullet.

Mr Morin also praised the French soldiers for their efforts to free him.

The operation to free those on board the Tanit - the third time French troops have freed hostages from pirates - began late on Thursday, five days after the yacht was seized, the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

We have got rid of the television and everything that seemed superfluous to concentrate on what is essential
Florent Lemacon describing his family’s journey

Negotiations with the pirates had begun earlier this week, the president’s spokesman said.

But when talks broke down troops immobilised the vessel before moving in for an operation that lasted six minutes, the BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

“With the threats becoming more and more specific, the pirates refusing the offers made to them and the [yacht] heading towards the coast, an operation to free the hostages was decided upon,” the president’s spokesman said.

Mr Morin said his country had shown determination to oppose piracy.

“France has shown its determination not to give in to blackmail, [to] prosecute the criminal acts and liberate the hostages every time that a ship under a French flag is captured,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had left open the possibility that troops could launch an effort to free the French hostages, telling reporters French officials knew the location of the Tanit.

However, it also emerged that the families on board the yacht, which was reported to be heading down to Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania, were urged not to travel through the Gulf of Aden.

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry said Florent Lemacon and his wife Chloe were “repeatedly warned” not to travel through the area.

“It is difficult to understand why these warnings were not heeded,” spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

The couple had refurbished the Tanit, a 12.5m (41ft) boat, and given up jobs in a bid to escape consumer society and navigate a route along the African coast to Zanzibar.

Speaking to French newspaper Ouest France, Mr Lemacon said they wanted to change their priorities in life.

“We don’t want our child to receive the sort of education that the government is concocting for us. We have got rid of the television and everything that seemed superfluous to concentrate on what is essential,” he said.

Yeah well, that government and it’s troops have just saved your bacon. Be thankful!

[* Drew editorial: It is a shame that one of the French captives is dead. But I think it is more important that the message of retribution be sent. One of our commentors called this the Russian Attitude - They’re already dead, so get revenge. I support that, mostly. I accept that there is a balance point. Use negotiations if you feel that will work. But once you have paid the ransom and got your people back, then you go in and burn down the village and sink all the pirates. When negotiations don’t work, you move immediately to utterly overwhelming force. And then you go and burn down their village. And the village next door. The lesson will not be learned until the repercussions exceed the benefits, and since these pirates have nothing to lose those repercussions are going to have to be severe, continuous, and overwhelming.

And we that post will continue to use the BMEWS stylebook ... which right now contains one item, specified in the other pirate post today. Capice? ]

Posted by peiper     on 04/10/2009 at 03:06 PM   
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American cargo ship captain, Richard Phillips, has attempted to escaped from Somali pirates.

Aw Nuts!
I guess the nigger Somali-Golli* was a better swimmer.

Cargo ship captain attempts to escape pirate captors
American cargo ship captain, Richard Phillips, has attempted to escaped from Somali pirates holding him hostage in a lifeboat by jumping overboard under cover of darkness.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Last Updated: 4:21PM BST 10 Apr 2009

He made his break for freedom before dawn with an attempt to swim to a nearby US Navy destroyer but was immediately recaptured when at least one of the pirates jumped into the sea and chased him.
He is reportedly unharmed, according to an unnamed US official who spoke to CNN.

Mr Phillips has been held hostage since late on Wednesday, when pirates failed in their attempt to hijack his ship, the US-flagged Maersk Alabama, 400 miles north-east of Mogadishu.
They bundled him into a lifeboat, cut loose from the 17,500-ton cargo ship and have been drifting since. The US Navy destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, arrived at the scene on Thursday morning, but failed to force an end to the stand-off.

Several other US warships were said to be heading towards the scene, but the pirates vowed on Friday that they would “fight back” if there were attacked.
At the same time, pirate gangs holding other vessels hijacked earlier were reportedly also converging on the Indian Ocean flashpoint 400 miles north of Mogadishu.

“We are not afraid of the Americans,” one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite telephone on behalf of the gang holding the captain.
“We will defend ourselves if attacked.” A pirate commander onshore in the Somali pirate town of Eyl said that preparations were being made by other pirates to set sail to help their beleaguered friends.

“We are planning to reinforce our colleagues who told us that a navy ship was closing in on them and I hope the matter will soon be solved,” said Abdi Garad. “We are making final preparations and will try our best to save our friends.”

Mohamed Samaw, a resident of Eyl who claims to have a “share” in a British-owned ship hijacked on Monday, said that four foreign ships previously captured by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat. There are a total of 54 hostages on two of the ships.

“The pirates have summoned assistance – skiffs and mother ships are heading towards the area from the coast,” said a Nairobi-based diplomat. “We knew they were gathering yesterday.”
The pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday before being repelled by its crew are believed to be armed only with automatic weapons.

From The Telegraph

* Sorry to edit your work Peiper, but niggers are a distinctly American phenomena I feel. They achieve that status by a mostly deliberate choice, choosing to be lawless and unemployable and uneducated when they are surrounded by opportunity and assistance. These guys in Somalia are lawless and uneducated, but I don’t think that they have ever had much of any other choice. And they certainly never had any government money coming their way. So it’s a bit of nuance, although I do agree that these pirates are very very close to the nigger line. [ so close that I’m willing to be swayed by a decent argument ] So let’s use golliwog or Somali-golli or similar if a pejorative descriptor is called for.

Posted by peiper     on 04/10/2009 at 11:43 AM   
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   Thursday - April 09, 2009

US warship arrives at site of pirate kidnap .

Is anyone impressed yet?

What point is there in 96 surface to air, Tomahawk and anti sub missiles here?

It’s doubtful any will be used while that capt. is being held by that gang.  And if released they still won’t be used.

A US Navy destroyer has arrived in the area off the Somali coast where pirates are holding the captain of cargo ship hostage.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Last Updated: 3:34PM BST 09 Apr 2009

The USS Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer carrying two Seahawk helicopters, arrived before dawn after steaming at full speed through the night towards the Maersk Alabama, 400 miles north-east of Mogadishu.

Other warships from an international naval antipiracy force were also believed to be heading for the area.

A spokesman for the ship’s operators, US-based Maersk Line, refused to comment on what action the US Navy might take to free his firm’s captain.

The USS Bainbridge is one of the US Navy’s most modern destroyers, with 96 surface-to-air, Tomahawk and anti-submarine missiles.

Mr Phillips was apparently taken hostage in a prisoner exchange which went wrong.

MORE HERE



UPDATE: The FBI has now joined the party. What??

NAIROBI, Kenya – FBI hostage negotiators joined U.S. Navy efforts Thursday to free an American cargo ship captain held captive on a lifeboat by Somali pirates. A U.S. destroyer and a spy plane kept close watch in the high-seas standoff near the Horn of Africa.

Ok, maybe this is a good idea. Maybe. Assuming that the negotiators can speak Somali. But is there any real point in this? We’ve got 4 pirates in a rowboat (Ok, a motor launch, a 28 foot lifeboat) and 1 hostage. With a billion dollar destroyer on the scene. Hundreds of miles out at sea, and the pirate mother ship is long gone. Plus that little boat is out of gas.

Earlier Thursday, the USS Bainbridge had arrived near the Maersk Alabama and the lifeboat with the pirates, Speers said, adding that the lifeboat holding the pirates and the captain was out of fuel.

“The boat is dead in the water,” he told AP Radio. “It’s floating near the Alabama. It’s my understanding that it’s floating freely.”

The U.S. Navy has sent up P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft and has video of the scene.

So they’ve got spotter planes in the game as well. Why not send in a Trident submarine too? I’d say all you need is half a dozen sharpshooters. Or a frogman with a very quiet drill to sneak up and put a hole in the hull of the rowboat. Or some adhesive primacord, remotely detonated. Cut the boat in half. Is there any real need to be spending millions of dollars worth of resources on this? Yes, it’s highly important to save the hostage. How about “Give us the Skipper back and we’ll give you food, water, and enough gas to get your boat to shore. Otherwise we’ll kill you all right now?” Or “Surrender right now, and we’ll let you live out your lives in a nice quiet jail, with lots of food to eat, and even TV.” These 4 pirates - Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp - have no aces up their sleeves. They have no cards to play. Hell, they don’t even have sleeves. End it.

Posted by peiper     on 04/09/2009 at 10:23 AM   
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   Wednesday - April 08, 2009

SHIPS CAPT. BEING HELD HOSTAGE AFTER CAPTURED PIRATE IS RELEASED.

BREAKING NEWS MIDNIGHT UK.

FROM THE BBC

Pirates are believed to be holding Capt Richard Phillips

US crew members have recaptured their ship after it was hijacked by Somali pirates, but their captain is still being held hostage by the attackers.
The Maersk Alabama was taken by the pirates about 500km (311 miles) off Somalia’s coast after a lengthy battle.

The crew later fought back and retook the ship, but the captain was captured by the pirates who fled in a lifeboat, crew members have told US media.
A US warship and other vessels are speeding towards the scene.

The cruise-missile carrying USS Bainbridge is among the ships the US Navy has despatched, officials told the Associated Press.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government was following the situation very closely and urged the world to act to end the “scourge” of piracy.
‘No injuries’

US media have telephoned members of the ship’s crew to get details of their struggle against the pirates.
Second mate Ken Quinn told CNN how the crew captured one of the pirates and kept him tied up for 12 hours.

As they attempted to negotiate the release of their captain, who has been named as Richard Phillips, they freed the captive attacker.
But the gang refused to free Capt Phillips.

“Right now they want to hold our captain for ransom, and we are trying to get him back,” second mate Quinn said.

“So now we’re just trying to offer them whatever we can - food. But it’s not working too good.”

He said the attackers had fled in a lifeboat and crew members were using radios to keep in contact with Capt Phillips.
In a statement, the ship’s owners, Maersk, confirmed much of the sailor’s account.

“The armed hijackers who boarded this ship earlier today have departed, however they are currently holding one member of the ship’s crew as a hostage,” Maersk said.

“The other members of the crew are safe and no injuries have been reported.”

Posted by peiper     on 04/08/2009 at 06:20 PM   
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Fighting Back: US Ship Rescues Itself

BREAKING NEWS ....

The crew of a U.S.-flag ship seized by pirates off Somalia has retaken the vessel, American officials said Wednesday, even as a shaken national security establishment faced troubling questions about the hostage-taking at high sea.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press the Department of Defense that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

The ship, captured by pirates near the coast of Somalia, apparently was the first such hostage-taking involving U.S. citizens in 200 years.

“The crew is back in control of the ship,” a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. “It’s reported that one pirate is on board under crew control — the other three were trying to flee,” the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to “be in the water.”

The crew apparently contacted the private shipping that it works for. That company, Maersk, scheduled a noon news conference in Norfolk, Va, defense officials said.

Another U.S. official, citing a readout from an interagency conference call, said: “Multiple reliable sources are now reporting that the Maersk Alabama is now under control of the U.S. crew. The crew reportedly has one pirate in custody. The status of others is unclear, they are believed to be in the water.”

If this is true, then it deserves a major

Woo Hoo!!!

Fox et al is covering the story too, emphasizing that the crew was unarmed

“All the crew members are trained in security detail in how to deal with piracy,” Maersk CEO John Reinhart told reporters. “As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms.”

I don’t think the crew really had any choice. They’d never work again, being members of the first crew since Tripoli that allowed themselves to be hijacked. And on a ship named Alabama? No, they had no choice at all. They had to fight.

Anybody got a link to the original video from Team America? 

UNPLEASANT UPDATE: The self-rescue was not without cost. The Alabama’s skipper is being held hostage. By 4 pirates in a rowboat. [wait a second, isn’t that one of those Agent 86 lines from Get Smart?]

The crew of a U.S.-flagged freighter recaptured their ship from pirates who seized it off the Horn of Africa early Wednesday, but the ship’s captain remained in the hands of the marauders, one of its officers said.

“There’s four Somali pirates, and they’ve got our captain,” Ken Quinn said in a ship-to-shore phone interview. Capt. Richard Phillips is being held in the Maersk Alabama’s 28-foot lifeboat, Quinn said.

The crew had a plan to make an exchange for their captain.

“We had a pirate we took and kept him for 12 hours,” Quinn said. “We tied him up and he was our prisoner.” Video Quinn describes the hijacking to CNN. The crew gave back their prisoner but the pirates reneged on the plan and are continuing to hold Phillips captive.

“So now we’re just trying to offer them whatever we can, food, but it’s not working too good,” he said.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, part of the allied fleet that patrols the waterway, is headed to the area to assist, the U.S. Navy reported. Quinn said his sailors were trying to hold the pirates off for a few more hours, “and then we’ll have a warship here to help us.

Meanwhile, since today the winds of change are blowing against the pirates, Secretary of State Clinton is calling for a get-tough policy ...

“We are deeply concerned and we are following it very closely,” Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said. “We are now focused on this particular act of piracy and the seizure of the ship that carries 21 American citizens. More generally, we think the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy.”

Posted by Drew458     on 04/08/2009 at 11:27 AM   
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Somali pirates seize US cargo ship with 20 Americans on board.

Yawn ... so guys. What do ya thing our country will do with this?

Any serious predictions? 

You know we aren’t gonna do as Drew and Jeff and others have suggested so forget that.

Kinda limits our options, doesn’t it?

Somali pirates seize US cargo ship with 20 Americans on board
An American-operated container ship and its entire 20-member US crew were hijacked by Somali pirates early on Wednesday.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi and Colin Freeman
Last Updated: 2:57PM BST 08 Apr 2009

The Danish-owned and US-flagged 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama, was seized as it passed 400 miles north-east of Mogadishu. Its immediate destination was not known.

The brazen attack took place despite the presence of a multi-national naval task force patrolling the waters off Somalia to deter pirates.

The incident is likely to be hugely embarrassing for the United States, which has warships involved in the patrols, and may spur the piracy problem to a whole new level of confrontation

“A US-flagged and Danish owned container vessel reported that it had been boarded by pirates at 730am local time today,” said Lt Stephanie Murdock, spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.

“The closest US Navy vessel which could have assisted was more than 300 nautical miles away. I cannot yet confirm the nationalities of the crew.”

Leslie Edwards, a British-based security specialist who has advised on a number Indian Ocean ship hijacks, said: “As far as we know, this is the first time that US citizens have been taken in this fashion, and certainly in anything like these numbers.

“It may dramatically change the dynamic of the whole piracy problem and how to deal with it. The big question is whether the US will stand by and allow a crew of US citizens to be held for two or three months in the full glare of the world media. That would be a difficult test for President Barack Obama.”

In a statement released from its head office in Denmark, Maersk confirmed the hijacking and said that the 20 crew members were “US nationals”.

Andrew Mwangura of the Seafarers’ Assistance Programme in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa said, “We have been told the crew are Americans and that they are safe”.

The raid was the sixth successful hijacking in four days by pirates operating in the lawless waters off Somalia.

A British-owned cargo ship, the Malaspina Castle, and her mostly Bulgarian crew of 24 were hijacked on Monday.

A former oceanographic research ship converted into a luxury dive boat was taken late last week just hours after its party of British tourists had disembarked in an outlying atoll in the Seychelles.

French officials said on Tuesday that they are monitoring the whereabouts of a yacht seized with five people onboard, including a three-year-old boy.

An international naval task force, including British warships, was deployed to patrol the waters off Somalia since late last year in a bid to bring an end to the pirate crisis.

During 2008, the Somali gunmen raided more than 130 vessels, mostly in the Gulf of Aden, resulting in 50 successful hijackings and a multi-million pound windfall for the pirates.

But many of the pirate teams are now venturing much further south, away from their usual hunting grounds north of Somalia and closer to the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles and Comoros.

PIRATES

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Somali pirates hijack British ship

Posted by peiper     on 04/08/2009 at 09:08 AM   
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   Tuesday - April 07, 2009

Well here’s another fine mess the Germans are in. Another ship taken by Somali pirates.

Another German freight ship hijacked by Somalian pirates

Pirates have hijacked another German cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, spokesmen for the German Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday, adding that they had appointed a crisis team.

Details about the ship were not officially announced, but media reports say that the hijacked freighter is the Hansa Stavanger from Hamburg, sailing under the German flag with a crew of 24, up to five of whom are German.

Broadcaster ZDF reported that the ship was hijacked on Sunday approximately 400 nautical-miles from the Somalian coastal town of Kismayu. Five pirates are said to be on board the 20,000-tonne vessel.

The attack comes barely a fortnight after another German vessel, the Longchamp, was released by Somalian pirates. The Longchamp and its crew had been held hostage for two months in the Gulf of Aden. Unofficial sources said that a ransom of several million euros had been paid for its safe return.

Under the European anti-pirate operation “Atalanta,” initiated at the beginning of December 2008, the German navy has twice captured pirates off the coast of Somalia. Nine were caught by the frigate Rheinland-Pfalz in March as they attempted to hijack a ship. They were sent to Kenya for trial.

NEWS FROM THE FATHERLAND

Was a time when a German navy would treated these scum as they deserved. Oh but now they have to ship em somewhere for a TRIAL.
Would anyone have known if they’d just sunk the pirate boats and made sure the apes were dead?  Jeesh.

Posted by peiper     on 04/07/2009 at 02:53 PM   
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   Monday - April 06, 2009

Somali pirates hijack British-owned cargo ship.

Well here we go again troops.

Somali pirates hijack British-owned cargo ship

By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 2:40 PM on 06th April 2009

A 32,000-tonne British-owned cargo ship was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden today.

The 183m-long Malaspina Castle, which was built in 1981, is Italian-operated and flies a Panamanian flag.

The attack took place despite a stepping up of naval patrols in the area following a spate of pirate incidents in recent weeks.

The EU’s Horn of Africa maritime security centre, based in Northwood, north west London, said: ‘A 32,000 tonne UK-owned and Italian-operated bulk carrier was hijacked early this morning in the Gulf of Aden.

‘Few details are known at this stage, but the mixed-nationality crew are believed to be safe.’

The Foreign Office said it was looking into the matter which is also being monitored by the London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Taiwanese ship the MV Win Far 161 was also seized today near an island in the Seychelles - the second attack in that area within a week.

The seizure of the Malaspina Castle was immediately condemned by the UK ship masters’ union Nautilus, which has long urged governments to take stronger action to deter piracy.

Nautilus assistant general secretary Mark Dickinson said today: “Over the last 10 years, most governments have not really done very much about this.

‘More recently they have been motivated to act and there is an EU naval co-ordination force patrolling off the Gulf of Aden.’

He went on: ‘I’m not sure that this is going to be a long-term thing and I’m also worried that the pirates will start seizing ships well away from the areas being patrolled.

‘In Somalia, piracy is like a big, successful industry and the authorities there need to act. The pirates are treated like local heroes. People look up to them and girls want to marry them. They are seen by some locals as good people but they are ruthless.’

An IMO spokesman said the IMO had raised the matter of piracy with the UN Security Council and that East African countries had signed an agreement to work together to try to beat the problem.

There was no word on the nationalities or numbers of crew on board the two vessels or the exact time of the attacks.

Analysts say the pirates have moved many of their operations out of the Gulf of Aden, which is heavily patrolled by naval warships from countries as diverse as China, the United States, France and India.

Instead, they are attacking off the east African coast, targeting ships coming out of the Mozambican channel.

The multimillion-dollar ransoms are a rare source of cash in Somalia, where nearly half the population is dependent on food aid and clan-based militias are tearing the country apart.

The lawless Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government since 1991.

PIRATES

Posted by peiper     on 04/06/2009 at 09:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • UK •  
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   Tuesday - March 31, 2009

A 95% Perfect Story

Pirates who attacked a ship off the coast of Somalia got more than they bargained for when it turned out to be a naval vessel – from an international force against piracy, Nato said today.

The pirates apparently mistook the FGS Spessart for a commercial merchant ship when they targeted it in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, yesterday afternoon.

The German supply ship pursued the pirate boat, joined by two other ships, a frigate, a helicopter and a plane.

A Nato spokesman said: “Poor judgment by the pirates turned out to be a real opportunity for seven nations representing three taskforces to work together and strike a momentous blow for maritime safety and security.”

A boarding team discovered several weapons and transferred seven suspects on to another German frigate.

Nato said the detained suspects will remain on board until a decision is made as to where they will be prosecuted.

Phew, I was upset there on the first reading. I thought they wrote - hey, it’s a German ship, right? - “until a decision is made as to whether they will be prosecuted.”


Ok, had there been tales of overwhelming gunfire from the German ship, with the pirate ship exploding and going down in flames, as burning Gollies had to leap into shark infested waters to extinguish themselves, only to find out that sharks like them better half toasted, then it would have been a perfect story. But I’ll take it this way.

Commander, Combined Maritime Forces Public Affairs

USS BOXER, At Sea – In a show of international sea power in the Gulf of Aden, seven nations representing three task forces coordinated efforts to pursue a skiff after the pirates on board opened fire on a German oiler, the Federal German Ship (FGS) Spessart, March 29.

At approximately 3 p.m. yesterday, FGS Spessart, reported that they were being attacked by pirates who may have mistaken the naval supply ship for a commercial merchant vessel. An embarked security team aboard the ship returned fire on the suspected pirates during the initial attack.

Subsequently, Spessart pursued the skiff while providing additional details of the attack to a variety of international naval vessels operating in the area. A number of naval ships and aircraft joined the pursuit, including: the Dutch frigate HNLMS Zeven Provincien, an SH-60B helicopter assigned to the Spanish warship SPS Victoria, a Spanish P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, two Marine Corps helicopters from the Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 flagship USS Boxer (LHD 4) and the European Union’s CTF 465 flagship, the Greek frigate HS Psara.

Supported by an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter and a UH-1 Huey assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (Reinforced), “Evil Eyes,” embarked aboard Boxer, the international naval forces contained the armed suspects until Psara arrived with a German boarding team.

Upon boarding the skiff, the team found seven suspected pirates and their weapons. The suspected pirates were disarmed and transferred to the German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz where they will remain until a final determination is made regarding potential prosecution.

While this event showcased the incredible international naval capabilities operating in the Gulf of Aden, it also highlighted the complexity of counter-piracy operations. The crew of Spessart and the embarked security team provided the critical first line of defense, utilizing defensive measures that are essential for all ships operating in the region. Moreover, nearly five hours transpired between the time Spessart’s armed security team thwarted the initial attack and when an armed boarding team was within range of the pirate skiff. In the interim, armed coalition aircraft kept the suspected pirates from getting away.

Hey, I’m just really glad that this fleet oiler had “an embarked security team” aboard. Imagine how red the faces in Berlin would have been if they hadn’t ... because then the Spessart, a naval vessel [in what is pretty much a combat zone, or at least one that meets my definition of “in harm’s way"] would have been captured. By pirates. Egg, face, much? Phew!!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/31/2009 at 03:24 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Thursday - March 26, 2009

Salt The Earth

After killing all the people and burning down all the buildings. This little limp dick hand wringing pussy bullshit is never going to do a thing. Want to put a stop to piracy world-wide? Then you need to do more than just put the fear of God into these people. You need to hammer them flat in biblical proportions, so that the other pirates elsewhere around the world hear the thump. First you squash Somalia. Then you flatten a dozen or so islands in Indonesia that are pirate havens. Then you lighten up and just sink every local boat off the coast of West Africa. And we’ll never hear of large scale piracy again, at least for another 300 years. Anything less is bullshit. And that’s all that’s going on now.

Somali pirates hijack 2 tankers in 24 hours

Pirates armed with machine guns pursued and captured a Norwegian chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, the owners said, less than 24 hours after a smaller Greek-owned vessel was seized in the same area.

The U.S. 5th Fleet, which patrols the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, confirmed both hijackings and said they happened in the same area but separate from the gulf, one of the world’s busiest — and now most treacherous — sea lanes.

Yadda yadda, so on and so forth. The usual chunky ass drippings from the usual talking heads. Nothing changes.

Taking out the pirate bastions might cost the lives of a few dozen crewmen from these captured ships. That’s a tragedy, but that’s the cost of war. And it is war: piracy is the basic act of terrorism. And it might not cost that many of those lives if you did things smart. How about some reverse piracy? How about seizing ever single Somali thing that floats and has an engine on it, and holding them for ransom? But the Somalis don’t have any money. That’s the idea! Snag all the ships and tow them away. Capture all the sailors and put them in the cooler. Use one of those leftover ocean liners as a floating prison. We’ve got several just sitting around. (Who cares if they’re in less than pristine condition? We’re talking about using one for prisoners we don’t give a rat’s ass about. )Ta da, no more pirates! Sure, sure, we’ll do a prison exchange. Here’s your guys back; we’ll take the hijacked sailors. Your boats? No, we don’t want to exchange your pirate boats for the stolen merchant vessels. Do what you want with them, they’re all insured anyway.

No boats + no sailors = no pirates. It’s that easy. And THEN we shoot all the people, burn down all the villages, and salt the earth. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/26/2009 at 01:30 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Thursday - March 05, 2009

Somali pirates with rocket launchers attack cruise ship, Saved by U.S.Navy!

Terror for 1,200 Britons as Somali pirates with rocket launchers attack cruise ship

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:34 AM on 05th March 2009

More than 1,200 British holidaymakers on a round-the-world cruise came under a terrifying attack from pirates armed with rocket launchers.

The 715ft-long Balmoral came under fire four times from Somali bandits, a crew member said.

The 43,000-ton cruise ship was forced to zigzag violently to evade its pursuers as the pirates gave chase in two small craft in the notoriously dangerous waters off Somalia.

One crew member said in e-mails to her boyfriend back in Britain that the pirates circled the ship and came within 400 yards of the cruise ship, The Sun reported.

‘I stood on the deck and watched through binoculars at men in the fishing boat armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket launchers,’ she said.

‘People were all over the place and everyone was in tears. 

‘We could hear shooting. It started following us and we had to call the US Navy.’

Many of the passengers ‘were in tears and frightened to death’, she added.

The alert was raised on Tuesday morning when the boats appeared out of nowhere and closed in rapidly.

Alarmed by the ‘suspicious’ activity of the unidentified craft, the Balmoral’s crew made emergency calls, holiday firm Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said today.

They also sent up distress flares and the ship’s staff toted fake ‘guns’ made out of pieces of wood, hoping the pirates would be deterred if crew appeared to be armed, according to reports.

Posted by peiper     on 03/05/2009 at 11:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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