Friday - January 30, 2009
PIRATES, SOMALIA AND LONDON. (readers, I have no idea if those outside UK can listen to this)
Drew did his things on pirates yesterday and I know we all feel the same about those folks.
Because there is more to listen to on radio here then there is in the US, I’m listening to radio more then I ever did back home. And I worked in that medium.
I don’t know if you people outside of the UK will be allowed to listen to what I heard last night. I hope you can. You will get an education and begin to see this problem a bit differently. Which doesn not mean we will change our mind with regard to the solution. Drew spelled it out in plain English but of course his suggestion won’t be applied. Instead, more ships will be taken, more money paid out to pirates and in the end would you like to take a stab at who really ends up paying the freight?
Like most other ppl, I just assumed that the pirates were simply bands of seagoing criminals looking for easy prey and an easy buck. Well folks, apparently the prey was even easier then we may have imagined it.
As well, I would never have guessed how sophisticated the pirates in fact are or the fact that they are receiving intel on ships movements etc, from land based people ON THE INSIDE! And if they aren’t inside, then they sure do know a heck of a lot about the shipping industry, the routes and the cargoes.
I had been under the impression and I bet you have too, that those boats were targets of opportunity. Well guess again because they ARE NOT!
Oh sure, there might be the odd one or two. That’s a given. But this latest modern day scourge is well funded, VERY WELL organized and run by professionals!
Not only that .... and many have already cottoned on to this. A lot of the money goes into the coffers of terror groups. If you already guessed that, you guessed correctly.
Availability:
6 days left to listen
Last broadcast 29 Jan 2009, 20:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Synopsis:Simon Cox investigates modern-day piracy. He talks to some of those involved, reveals the extent of the British connection to the modern kidnap and ransom business and discovers that, far from its popular recent associations with the Somali coast, much of the negotiations to free seized ships actually take place in the world’s maritime law capital, London.
Posted by peiper
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Permalink • Thursday - January 29, 2009
I’m getting sick of writing this post
BURN THESE MOTHER***KERS RIGHT DOWN TO THE GROUND. the whole damn country. Somalia? No, it’s called AshHeap these days.Kill them all, and their goats. Burn their villages to ashes. Poison the wells and salt the ground. Sink every last thing that can float from the south shore of the gulf all the way down to Kenya. What in God’s holy name is wrong with the “Great Nations” of the world, whose taxpayer have spent untold TRILLIONS on fancy navies and all their nifty toys? Use them or lose them boyos. This passive pussy bullshit has to end, and it has to end in rope and fire. Because if it doesn’t end that way for Somalia, it will figuratively end that way for us when the cost of shipping stuff puts another economic hurting on the rest of us. And better them savages than us.
And when you’ve punished this bunch so severely that the few survivors are afraid to even go for a swim, then you chug your little boaty-woaties over to the northwest coast of africa and you do it all over again. Even harder. Then head on over to Indonesia and repeat the process, only 25 times more severely. I am out of patience, and I’m sure that a least a billion other folks feel the same way. Get the job done Mr. World Policeman, or retire and we’ll arm ourselves and solve things our own way. And save another few trillion in taxpayer expense. Oh, and don’t think of it as a war on islam, even though exactly 100% of these pirates are rug kissing pedophiles and goat fuckers like old Mobama Mohamma Mohamhead Mo. Think of it as International Justice. Crime Control as a new aspect of the Global War On Terror. See, a UN resolution already exists. That’s good enough, so pull the trigger.
NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates hijacked a German tanker loaded with liquefied petroleum gas Thursday off the Horn of Africa. The ship’s 13-man crew was reported safe even though gunshots were heard over the ship’s radio. The MV Longchamp is the third ship captured this month in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The Longchamp, registered in the Bahamas, is managed by the German firm Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, which said in a statement that seven pirates boarded the tanker early Thursday. Spokesman Andre Delau said the ship’s master had been briefly allowed to communicate with the firm and had said the crew of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian were safe.
“We think that everything is in order, nobody is injured,” he told The Associated Press.
No ransom demands have been made yet, the company said. Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Bahrain-based spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet, said the ship was seized off the southern coast of Yemen, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the town of al-Mukalla, the capital of the Hadramaut region. Robin Phillips, deputy director of the Bahamas maritime authority in London, said the Longchamp had been traveling in a corridor secured by EU military forces when it sent a distress signal before dawn.
”Ships and helicopters were dispatched, but they arrived too late,” said Phillips, adding that gunshots could be heard over the radio. He said the ship later set a course for Somalia, to the south
Hey, when seconds count, the navy is just hours away. Maybe international shipping ought to have CCW too? Only make it so they get the really good shit; no weapons under 50 caliber that aren’t capable of shooting down airliners.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/29/2009 at 01:29 PM
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Permalink • Wednesday - January 14, 2009
Conflicting Stories
Russian ship foils pirates
Posted: 01:28 PM ETLONDON (CNN) — A Russian naval ship rescued a Dutch container vessel under attack by suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the head of the International Maritime Bureau said Wednesday.
Two or three pirate speedboats were chasing the Dutch ship, with the goal of boarding it, when the Russians intervened Tuesday, said Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau in London. He said the pirates fired two rocket-propelled grenades at the Dutch ship, but no injuries were reported.
The Russians chased one of the speedboats but the pirates got away, Mukundan said.
Russian navy thwarts pirate attack on Dutch ship
6 hours ago
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Russian warship helped foil a pirate attack on a Dutch container ship in the dangerous Gulf of Aden, a maritime watchdog and the Russian navy said Wednesday.
Six pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday at the ship, which took evasive maneuvers while calling for help, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Malaysia.
The pirates chased the vessel for about 30 minutes in the waters off Somalia but aborted their attempt to board after a Russian warship and helicopter arrived, Choong said.
Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said a Ka-27 helicopter was sent from the Admiral Vinogradov warship on patrol off the Horn of Africa and fired at three suspected pirate speedboats that were trying to attack the Dutch ship.
He said three pirates were wounded.
Dygalo said one of the speedboats was halted near Yemeni waters and Russian teams from the Admiral Vinogradov boarded the other two, finding ropes with grappling hooks and gas canisters but no fishing equipment.
Russian navy foils attack on Maersk boxship
David Osler - Wednesday 14 January 2009
NAVAL intervention has foiled an attempted Somali pirate attack on Nedlloyd Barentsz, a containership operated by Maersk Line.None of the 25 Dutch, Indonesian and Ukrainian seafarers onboard were harmed during the failed hijack.
The assailants’ intentions were frustrated after a helicopter sent from Russian frigate Admiral Vinogradov opened fire on pirate skiffs, wounding three men in the process. The injured pirates were subsequently captured and handed over to the Yemeni authorities.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, which confirmed media reports of the incident, a second naval vessel of undisclosed identity also gave assistance.
Nedlloyd Barentsz was said to be en route from Salalah in Oman to Saudi Arabia when the incident took place on Tuesday.
British ship escapes pirates with help from Russian warship: IMB
8 hours ago
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A British ship came under fire in a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, but managed to escape after a Russian warship came to the rescue, a maritime watchdog said Wednesday.
The British-owned and Dutch-managed container vessel was chased for half an hour by the pirates, but managed to fend them off by increasing speed and making evasive manoeuvres.
“The container ship was attacked by at least one pirate boat with six pirates on board who fired two rocket-propelled grenades,” said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy reporting centre.
The British ship radioed for help, and two warships from Russia and India responded. The Russian vessel reached the area first, and sent a helicopter to scare away the attackers, he said.
Russia warship saves vessel in Somali waters
Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:29:50 GMT
On Tuesday, a Russian warship deterred a pirate attack on a Danish vessel in Somali waters.
A Danish vessel has managed to escape an attack of Somali pirates with the help of a Russian battleship in the world’s hotbed for piracy. On Tuesday, the warship received distress signals from the Danish-owned and Dutch-managed container vessel Nedlloyd Barentsz which was being chased by a bandit speedboat.Having come to the rescue, the warship was “able to follow the pirate boat which set course for the Yemen coast. When they entered Yemen waters the Russians had to stop following them,” AFP quoted an official with the ship’s owner A.P. Moeller Maerskan, Finn Brodersen, as saying.
So, what gives? CNN says the pirates got away clean. AP says they were shot up and captured. Lloyd’s, the shipping insurer, says they were shot up and captured. The fwench can figure out that the ship is British owned, but can’t figure out her name. And while they know that the Russians got some help from those trigger happy Indians, they don’t know anything about what happened to the pirates, even though they run a picture with the story of some pirates surrendering to a warship. Even the Iranians can figure out the name of the ship, but they think the pirates got away, I guess by claiming sanctuary in some holy islamic water. That works every time you know.
Unto me please give one break. You know as well as I do that this entire event is on at least 3 videos. One from the Russian destroyer (or battleship), one from the Indian ship, and one from the Dutch/British/unidentified container ship. And the pirates probably had their own camera, with an ocean going wifi link straight to YouTube. Somebody isn’t telling the whole story.
Um, you don’t think CNN is developing a pro-pirate media bias do you? It does rather look like they are filtering the news to make this a low-impact story.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/14/2009 at 01:52 PM
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Permalink • Saturday - January 10, 2009
Not the best planning
Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, a pirate and port town resident said Saturday.
Pirate Daud Nure says the boat with eight people on board overturned in a storm after dozens of pirates left the Sirius Star following a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden that ended Friday.
...
Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Naimi said Saturday that the crew of the Sirius Star was safe and that the tanker had left Somali territorial waters and was on its way home.
...
“We are very relieved to know that all the crew members are safe and I am glad to say that they are all in good health and high spirits,” said a statement by Saleh K’aki, president and CEO of Vela. “This has been a very trying time for them and certainly for their families. We are very happy to report to their families that they will be on their way home soon.”K’aki added that the “throughout this ordeal, our sole objective was the safe and timely release of the crew. That has been achieved today.”
U.S. Navy photos released Friday showed a parachute, carrying what was described as “an apparent payment,” floating toward the tanker. The Sirius Star and its 25-member crew had been held since Nov. 15. Its cargo of crude oil was valued at US$100 million at the time.
You don’t suppose there was anything tricksy in that bundle of ransom money do you? Something that could have caused the pirate’s boat to founder? Like an IED perhaps? Nah. Couldn’t happen. It would take a real evil bastard [ like me! ] to think that one up. I mean, come on. Once these guys get the money, it goes in their boat, they release the crew, and away they go. What’s to stop that Navy photographer from taking one final picture ... through the lens of a Hellfire missile? Or, since it’s such a little boat, perhaps they temporarily ran aground. On the top of an inconvenient submarine. With a big saw blade accidentally mounted on top. Anything is possible at sea.
Posted by Drew458
on 01/10/2009 at 10:52 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - January 06, 2009
The NY Post must read BMEWS
How else could they come up with this story. Here it is. Verbatim. Title and all.
Incroyable! The French navy finally notched a victory.
The fleet from a country known more for its lightning-quick surrenders than its military successes captured more than a dozen Somali pirates (right) and rescued two threatened cargo ships off the Gulf of Aden.
In what must have been a confusing experience for the Brie-loving seamen, 19 Somali pirates raised their hands in surrender and let the French sailors raid their boat on Sunday.
The pirates were trying to take over a Croatian cargo vessel and a Panamanian ship off the Somali coast when the French interceded.
It appears the French - whose last significant triumph at sea was against China at the 1884 Battle of Foochow - are on a roll battling the pirates.
This incident comes three days after their navy took eight pirates into custody for attacking a Panamanian ship.
The French Navy is patrolling the Somali waters as part of a European Union anti-piracy naval task force.
Posted by Drew458
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Permalink • Saturday - December 20, 2008
Chinese navy to take on Somali pirates. OH MAN I CAN’T WAIT. I WANT TO SEE THIS!
Hey .... I really look forward to this event.
Sure hope they (Chinese) will be able to avoid all those wimpy do good civil rights groups and not allow them to become an anchor on Chinese efforts.
My guess and hope I’m wrong, is that they will not kill any that try and surrender should it come to that. Or sink a pirate boat and then save the scum from drowning.
I’d like to see the Chinese use em for target practice. I really don’t want to read that they’ve “captured” any pirates. NO PRISONERS should rule the day.
For the first time in 600 years, China’s navy is set to sail into action outside its territorial waters.
By David Eimer in Beijing
Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told the UN Security Council that China is “seriously considering” sending ships to join the UN’s anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia. His statement came after the Security Council on Tuesday authorised UN member states to act against the pirates on land as well as sea.
Forty ships have been hijacked this year by pirates operating from bases along the Somali coast. On Tuesday, a Chinese fishing vessel was boarded by pirates but escaped being taken after international warships in the area responded to its distress call and forced the pirates to flee. The 17 man crew of a Chinese fishing vessel seized in November are still being held hostage.
Britain, France, Russia and the US have already sent ships to the region, making China the only permanent member of the UN Security Council not to have committed to the anti-piracy mission. China has sent increasing numbers of troops to join UN peacekeeping forces in recent years, but never in frontline combat roles. News of the potential deployment, though, was hailed in China by people who flooded internet chat rooms to express their support.
If the ships sail, it will be the first time the navy has embarked on a combat mission outside Chinese waters since Zheng He, a eunuch who became China’s most famous explorer, led seven missions to the Middle East and Africa in the early 15th Century. China has boosted spending on its navy, long regarded as the weakest arm of the People’s Liberation Army, in recent years. Both the US and Japan have expressed alarm over the size of China’s submarine fleet, and speculation that it plans to build aircraft carriers that would give the navy a global reach.
Posted by peiper
on 12/20/2008 at 07:24 AM
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Permalink • Chinese ship uses Molotov cocktails to fight off Somali pirates. THERE, THAT’LL MAKE DREW’S DAY.
The crew of a Chinese ship used water cannon, Molotov cocktails and beer bottles to fight off an attack by Somali pirates.
By Our Foreign StaffThe captain of the Zhenhua 4 told how his well-prepared crew held off the pirates - who were armed with rocket-propelled grenades - when the ship was boarded by pirates on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden.
The ordeal of the multinational crew of 30 men ended with the arrival of military helicopters and a warship despatched by the task force fighting the piracy menace in the region.
“Seven of the nine pirates landed on our ship, all with weapons,” said the captain, Peng Weiyuan, speaking to China Central Television.
“Our crew, who had been well trained and prepared, used water cannon, self-made incendiary bombs [Molotov cocktails or petrol bombs], beer bottles and anything else that could be used to battle with them. Thirty minutes later, the pirates gestured to us for a ceasefire.
“Then the helicopter from the joint fleet came to help us.”
The ship was one of four vessels seized by pirates on Tuesday, the same day the United Nations Security Council took a strong stand against the attacks and authorised countries to pursue the gunmen on to Somali soil.
Rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia this year has earned gunmen millions of dollars in ransoms, forced up the cost of shipping insurance costs and caused international alarm.
The Global Times newspaper, a tabloid run by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, said on Thursday that two destroyers and a large-sized depot ship would set sail for the region after Christmas to defend Chinese shipping. The first tour of duty would be for three months, it said.
According to Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance programme, there have been 124 incidents of piracy off Somali this year and some 60 successful hijacks.
Nearly 400 people and 19 ships are being held along the coast, including a Saudi supertanker with two million barrels of oil and a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying 33 tanks.
Nice to start the posting day with a bit of happy news huh?
Hmmm .... I’ll soon put an end to that sort of stuff.
Posted by peiper
on 12/20/2008 at 07:04 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - December 17, 2008
Can we now? Can we now? Can we? Huh, huh, can we now?
Come on George, you’ve got 4 weeks. Git ‘er done, then go back to Texas. You’ve got nothing to lose, and it will make Obaca look like a wimp in comparison! Our Navy is already there. The Coast Guard is already there. Everyone’s Navy is already there, at least a ship or two. The whole damn Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa is already there, just up the continent a tiny bit. Thousands of soldiers, all trained up to fight terrorism. Somalia said weeks ago you could do anything you wanted to any pirates you found. Anywhere. And now you have the approval the of the UN. That’s almost as good as getting free carbon credits from Al Gore. So move it, use it, or lose it.
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a US resolution allowing countries to pursue Somali pirates on land as well as at sea. It is an extension of the powers countries already have to enter Somali waters to chase pirates. China said it was seriously considering sending naval ships to the region, but will first need permission from the transitional Somali government.
The move came as several vessels were seized by Somali pirates off Yemen. On Wednesday morning pirates were reportedly foiled after attempting to attack a Chinese-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden - a day after three other vessels were seized. The Chinese crew held off the pirates long enough for back-up to arrive, AFP news agency reported.
“Military helicopters came and they managed to chase the pirates away,” Noel Choong, of the International Maritime Bureau, told AFP.
The BBC’s Peter Greste in Nairobi says the latest attacks appear to be a calculated jab at UN attempts to clamp down on piracy. He says they bring to 42 the number of successful hijackings in the area this year.
Fourteen foreign ships and their crew of over 200 are still being held, our correspondent adds.
Tuesday’s UN resolution was the fourth approved by the Security Council since June to combat piracy off Somalia’s coast. It gives authority for one year for countries to use “all necessary measures” by land or air to stop anyone using Somali territory to plan, help or carry out acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea. The US-drafted resolution was co-sponsored by Belgium, France, Greece, Liberia and South Korea. Indonesia, which also suffers from piracy, was among critics of the plan as it feared the precedent it could set for chasing pirates on land. But in the end it voted in favour.
And about the only “humanitarian gesture” you’d need to make would be to use nice smooth nylon rope. They’re pirates. Get it? Pirates. Kill them all, by the thousands, in the most flamboyantly heinous ways you can imagine, and the whole world will just stand by and cheer. Nobody cares. Better than that; the whole world wants them dead! Pirates. No prisoners. No trials. Pirate, rope, yardarm; some disassembly required. This is what cannons and Marines were invented for.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/17/2008 at 09:58 PM
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Permalink • Tuesday - December 09, 2008
This has gone too far
Hey, ya know, if I’d wanted to just fly somewhere and then stay in a hotel, I wouldn’t have booked an expensive round the world cruise in the first place!
A cruise ship will evacuate passengers before sailing past the Somali coast and fly them to the next port of call to protect them from possible pirate attacks, German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday.
An official with the European Union’s anti-piracy mission said separately that it would station armed guards on vulnerable cargo ships — the first such deployment of military personnel during the international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
The MS Columbus cruise ship will drop off its 246 passengers Wednesday at the Yemeni port of Hodeidah before the ship and some of its crew sail through the Gulf, the Hamburg-based cruise company said in a statement.
The passengers will take a charter flight to Dubai and spend three days at a five-star hotel waiting to rejoin the 150-meter (490-foot) vessel in the southern Oman port of Salalah for the remainder of a round-the-world tour that began in Italy.
Hapag-Lloyd said the detour was a “precautionary measure,” given rampant piracy off the coast of lawless Somalia that recently has targeted cruise ships as well as commercial vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million in crude and a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weapons.
Pirates last week fired upon the M/S Nautica — a cruise liner carrying 650 passengers and 400 crew members — but the massive ship outran its assailants. Other ships have not been so lucky. Pirates have attacked 32 vessels and hijacked 12 of them since NATO deployed a four-vessel flotilla on Oct. 24 to escort cargo ships and conduct anti-piracy patrols.
The Hapag-Lloyd cruise company planned the detour for its passengers in order to heed a German Foreign Ministry travel warning, after the German government denied the cruise company’s request for a security escort through the Gulf, company spokesman Rainer Mueller said. As long as the travel warning is in effect, he said, “we won’t travel through the Gulf of Aden with passengers.”
The EU launched its anti-piracy mission five days early on Tuesday, before it takes over for the NATO ships next Monday. The EU mission will involve six ships and up to three aircraft patrolling at any one time, and will station armed guards aboard the most vulnerable cargo vessels, such as ships transporting food aid to Somalia, according to the British naval commander in charge of the mission.
...
The NATO anti-piracy mission has also focused on escorting the U.N. aid agency’s chartered vessels, helping some 30,000 tons of humanitarian aid reach Somalia since Oct. 24.In addition, about a dozen other warships from the U.S. 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, as well as from India, Russia and Malaysia and other nations are patrolling in the area.
...
Jones welcomed an offer from Japan to contribute a vessel to the one-year EU mission. It is the European Union’s first naval endeavor, though the bloc has conducted 20 peacekeeping operations.Britain, France, Greece, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands will contribute at least 10 warships and three aircraft, with contingents rotated every three months.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/09/2008 at 02:43 PM
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Permalink • Friday - November 21, 2008
Jihad to the rescue!!
Dozens of Somali Islamist insurgents stormed a port on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker that was the world’s biggest hijack, a local elder said.
“Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and hijacking its ship is a bigger crime than other ships,” Sheikh Abdirahim Isse Adow, an Islamist spokesman, told Reuters. “Haradheere is under our control and we shall do something about that ship.”
Wouldn’t that be something if they did. And then went on to clean out Eyl, the other den of thieves along their coast.
Islamist leaders deny allegations they collude with pirates and insist they will stamp down on them if they win power, citing a crackdown when they ruled the south briefly in 2006.
Some analysts, however, say Islamist militants are benefiting from the spoils of piracy and arms shipments facilitated by the sea gangs. Analysts also accuse government figures of collaboration with pirates.
The elder in Haradheere port told Reuters the Islamists arrived wanting to find out immediately about the Sirius Star, which was captured on Saturday about 450 nautical miles off Kenya in the pirates’ furthest strike to date.
“The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship,” said the elder, who declined to be named. “I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship.”
So we’ll have to wait and see. But if it only took 4 carloads of local fighters to take out these pirates, WTH is wrong with the rest of the world sitting around doing nothing?
Posted by Drew458
on 11/21/2008 at 04:49 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - November 20, 2008
Passing The Buck
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – An anti-piracy watchdog group on Thursday welcomed an Indian warship’s destruction of a suspected pirate vessel in waters off Somalia, where hijackings have become increasingly violent and the hijackers increasingly bold.
In a rare victory in the sea war against the Somali pirates, the Indian navy’s INS Tabar sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats on Tuesday.
Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said he was heartened by the Tabar’s success.
“It’s about time that such a forceful action is taken. It’s an action that everybody is waiting for,” Choong told The Associated Press. “If all warships do this, it will be a strong deterrent. But if it’s just a rare case, then it won’t work” to control the unprecedented level of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, he said.
The pirates have stunned the maritime community with their brazen attacks, highlighted by last week’s hijacking of a Saudi-owned supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.
Indian forces fired back, sparking fires and a series of onboard blasts — possibly caused by exploding ammunition — which destroyed the ship.
notice that they slyly don’t say whose ammunition was doing the actual exploding. Do ya think 20 or 30 rounds from a 4” machine-gun cannon might have something to do with this?
...
... NATO ships can intervene to prevent the seizure of ships if they are in the vicinity.“But what they don’t have the mandate to do is to board ships that have already been hijacked to free the crew,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai told The Associated Press in Brussels. Germany does not allow its warships to intercept hijacked vessels because their civilian crews of various nationalities could be at risk in the event of a fire-fight, Choong said.
On Wednesday, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, called on the international community to launch a joint amphibious operation against pirate strongholds in Somalia. However, any such operation would likely require the approval of the U.N. Security Council, whose resolutions on anti-piracy operations are vague, Choong said.
All well and good. So, what’s going to happen? Are the navies going to step up? Will the UN get tough and act? Stop holding your breath; you’re turning blue. No, the solution will be to let Somalia solve it’s own problem, with a little assistance from the West. Because the West actually believes the islamist-leaning anarchist shitpile called Somalia actually sees this piracy, which is that nation’s only source of income these days, as a problem! This is the nation that can’t be mentioned without saying how they have had no government at all for the past bazillion years. But they will solve the piracy problem! Or at least, the All-African transnational anti-terrorist cricket team will get the job done ...
NATO is committed to helping improve security in Africa but expects African states to take the lead in fighting piracy off the continent’s shores, said the NATO secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Reuters reported from Accra, Ghana.
De Hoop Scheffer was responding to a call by Ghana’s defense minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, for closer collaboration between African regional bodies and NATO to combat piracy and tackle other problems, including money laundering.
The NATO chief spoke during an international alert over piracy off the Horn of Africa, where Somali pirates have caused havoc.
“This continent still has many problems, but it is my strong conviction that Africans should be in the lead to find solutions for those problems, and not others,” de Hoop Scheffer said after arriving in Ghana on Wednesday.
Horry Clap, what a bunch of idiots. First off, NATO has no business there in the first place. What part of North Atlantic do you see off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean? Next, a large number of the countries yabbering away about this have instructed their ships to do essentially nothing. Gee, that helps ever so much.
And what are the Americans doing? Well, gosh, you’d think your eardrums would be breaking from the thunderous popping sound as the whole bunch of them ram their heads up their asses as fast and as hard as they can, as they set their mental clocks back to 1999 ...
There have been no reports of attacks on vessels flying the American flag, and officials have interpreted that as a sign that the pirates do not want to provoke the U.S. Navy directly.
Morrell said the piracy problem “requires a holistic approach from the international community at sea, ashore, with governance, with economic development.”
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week that there were legal and military obstacles to combating piracy.
“One of the challenges that you have in piracy, clearly, is, if you are intervening and you capture pirates, is there a path to prosecute them?” he said.
Although some analysts have warned of a link between pirates and terrorists in the region who say they are aligned with Al Qaeda, Mullen said, “I have not seen any connection to Al Qaeda or to terrorists per se.”
We are fuckin doomed. Piracy doesn’t NEED a connection to terrorists, because piracy IS terrorism. The one and only, OG, all original, first out of the gate, early bird getting the worm, ORIGINAL kind of terrorism. The ORIGINAL international capital offense. And in today’s world, if some group of thugs says they’re part of AQ, you believe them, DUH. Especially if they’re in that corner of the world that just recently had an AQ-esque government overthrown, which then vowed to go guerrilla and fight their way back to power, which is exactly what they’re doing! So our Bright Boys are looking at it as a criminal endeavor that can be solved with economic stimuli, peace, love, and granola. As we head into a depression, when there will be no money to even stimulate ourselves. “A holistic approach”. Kum-bay-friggin-yah.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/20/2008 at 10:51 AM
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •
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Permalink • Wednesday - November 19, 2008
Got One
Now that’s the Chicago Way New Delhi Way!
An Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said Wednesday, as separate bands of brigands seized Thai and Iranian ships in the lawless seas.
The owners of a seized Saudi oil supertanker, meanwhile, negotiated for the release of the ship, anchored off the coast of Somalia.
A multinational naval force has increased patrols in the waters between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, where pirates have grown bolder and more violent. The force scored a rare success Tuesday when the Indian warship, operating off the coast of Oman, stopped a ship similar to a pirate vessel described in numerous bulletins. The Indian navy said the pirates fired on the INS Tabar after the officers asked to search it.
“Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers,” said a statement from the Indian navy. Indian forces fired back, sparking fires and a series of onboard blasts — possibly due to exploding ammunition — and destroying the ship.
They chased one of two speedboats shadowing the larger ship. One was later found abandoned. The other escaped, according to the statement.
Larger “mother ships” are often used to take gangs of pirates and smaller attack boats into deep water, and can be used as mobile bases to attack merchant vessels.
Last week, Indian navy commandos operating from a warship foiled a pirate attempt to hijack a ship in the Gulf of Aden. The navy said an armed helicopter with marine commandos prevented the pirates from boarding and hijacking the Indian merchant vessel.
The INS Tabar is a fairly new frigate in their navy, commissioned 4 1/2 years ago. It carries a single 100mm gun with a high rate of fire, numerous supersonic cruise missiles, and the usual array of torpedoes and air defenses. Tabar has been on station in the Gulf of Aden for just more than 2 weeks now, and this is the 2nd intervention they have done. The first one on November 11, resulted in the “suspected” pirates running away. The Tabar was built by the Russians and is 410 feet long.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/19/2008 at 11:35 AM
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •
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Permalink • Monday - November 17, 2008
Now will we finally see some action?
Somali pirates have been seizing yachts and sailboats and all manner of freighters filled with crates of whatever for several years now, and very little has been done. Yadda yadda, we’re sending a couple of Navy ships, yadda yadda, respect the pirate’s human rights, blah blah blah. But I think this time they’ve bitten off a little bit more than they can chew, and I hope the international response is a real jawbreaker. A real burn-the-cities-and-salt-the-earth kind of response.
Piss off both the West and the House of Saud at one go. Not what I’d call a really smart move.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Somali pirates hijacked a supertanker hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the Saudi-owned ship loaded with crude and its 25-member crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday.
It appeared to be the largest ship ever seized by pirates. After the brazen hijacking, the pirates on Monday sailed the Sirius Star to a Somali port that has become a haven for bandits and the ships they have seized, a Navy spokesman said.
The hijacking was among the most brazen in a surge in attacks this year by ransom-hungry Somali pirates. Attacks off the Somali coast have increased more than 75 percent this year, and even the world’s largest vessels are vulnerable.
The Sirius Star, commissioned in March and owned by the Saudi oil company Aramco, is 1,080 feet long — about the length of an aircraft carrier — making it one of the largest ships to sail the seas. It can carry about 2 million barrels of oil.
Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, said the pirates hijacked the ship on Saturday about 450 nautical miles off the coast of Kenya — the farthest out to sea Somali pirates have struck.
By expanding their range, Somali pirates are “certainly a threat to many more vessels,” Christensen said. He said the pirates on the Sirius Star were “nearing an anchorage point” at the Somali port town of Eylon Monday.
Somali pirates have seized at least six several ships off the Horn of Africa in the past week, but the hijacking of a supertanker marked a dramatic escalation.
The MV Sirius Star is a brand new supertanker, built by Daewoo in South Korea and just launched in March. It has a deadweight of 318,000 tonnes.
The Sirius Star is built to the latest maritime regulations and to Vela’s safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly specifications to ensure the reliable transportation of Saudi Aramco’s crude oil to its customers.
A supertanker hijacked by pirates and with British nationals among its hostages is making its way to a Somali port, according to the US Navy.
The Foreign Office earlier confirmed that two Britons were among the 25 crew. Nationals from Croatia, Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia are also on board.
A NATO flotilla of seven ships, as well as a Russian frigate and Indian vessels, are in the Gulf of Aden to help the U.S. 5th Fleet in anti-piracy patrols and to escort cargo vessels. The 5th Fleet said it has repelled about two dozen pirate attacks since Aug. 22 in the gulf, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and is one of the world’s busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through it each year.
Looks like it’s time the fighting navies of the entire world to get their rudders in gear and start actively suppressing piracy across the entire western Indian Ocean. The Sirius was seized south east of Kenya, but not really all that far out at sea. And let’s get that damned little circle of mud huts, the pirate enclave town of Eyl, a modern day Port Royal, burned to the ground already. Somalia has become an enemy of the world, and it’s past time they paid the price.
Nearly Instant Update:
Campbell said the Navy does not expect to dispatch a vessel to aide the super tanker because it does not have dangerous weapons aboard like the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms that was seized by pirates on September 25.
...
Eleven vessels are currently being held by pirates hoping to secure ransoms for their release, according to The Associated Press. They include the MV Faina, which was hijacked along with 20 crew and a cargo of weapons and T-72 tanks.
...
“Piracy is an international crime that threatens global commerce. Shipping companies have to understand that naval forces can not be everywhere. Self protection measures are the best way to protect their vessels, their crews, and their cargo.”
So the Navy won’t do shit? And the ships should be protecting themselves? Fair enough. Issue Letters of Marque to every single merchant vessel over 10,000 tons and arm them. 40mm Bofors guns bow, stern, and midships, augmented with a dozen M2s. From Durban South Africa to Mumbai India, any small ship approaching a large ship in transit will be shot and sunk on sight. Period. Same approach for the other pirate infested sea passages around the globe.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/17/2008 at 12:10 PM
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Permalink • Thursday - November 13, 2008
Brits 3, Pirates 0
Well it’s about time. Looks like the good ship HMS Cumberland is starting to get the job done. With a bit of help from the Russians.
A Royal Navy warship helped rescue a Danish vessel after it was attacked by Somali pirates, the Ministry of Defence has said. Plymouth-based HMS Cumberland and the Russian frigate Neustrashimy repelled the attempted raid in the Gulf of Aden. The Russian Navy said the pirates fired weapons at the Danish ship and twice tried to board it before the two warships intervened.
Two suspected pirates were killed in the exchange of gunfire on Tuesday.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “We can confirm that a UK warship carried out a boarding of a foreign-flagged dhow suspected of being engaged in piracy.
“The situation is ongoing.”
An MoD spokesman said: “Prior to boarding, boats launched by Cumberland to intercept the dhow were involved in an exchange of fire.
The spokesman said that, because the incident involved firearms, an investigation has been launched.
WTF? This “incident” involved firearms, therefore it needs an investigation?? Hello, dimwit, it’s the bloomy NAVY. Guns is what they’re all about. It’s what they frickin DO. It’s their JOB!!! On the other hand, over here you have PIRATES. Hello, is there anybody in there? Any of those little brain cells actually working???
Ok, here’s a bit more:
The Yemeni-flagged vessel was identified as having been involved in an earlier attack on the Danish ship. An MoD spokesman said the pirates were shot in self-defence. After initial attempts to stop the dhow failed, the Royal Navy launched sea boats to encircle the vessel.
The British seamen were fired on and shot back before the dhow was boarded and its crew surrendered.
So, yes, there is a need for investigation. Because Admiral Drew wants answers:
Right. Captain, this is your ship:
And these are the pirates in their little wooden boat:
... so tell me, Captain, what on earth were you doing putting your crew at risk by neutralizing the pirates via little rubber boaties?
And what’s this kak about prisoners? Did we forget to equip your ship with enough rope or something? Do we need to hire a contractor to install a couple of yardarms for you?
What, you say they were surrendering? Really? Don’t you know that pirates don’t ever surrender IF YOU DON’T TAKE THEIR PICTURES??
Very well, let this be a lesson to you. If there are pirates, they are assumed to be actively hostile. If they are actively hostile, you get to shoot first. A lot. When you are all done shooting, then you get out the cameras.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/13/2008 at 08:39 AM
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