Saturday - December 04, 2010

One Month, One Map

Via EagleSpeak, a map that shows Somali pirate activity for about a 35 day period.

Bright yellow pins are successful hijackings.
Dull yellow pins are unsuccessful hijackings.
Red pins are attacks.
Green pins are suspected mothership sightings.

I count 53 attacks, hijackings, and attempted hijackings. In just over a month.

Doesn’t look like the world’s navies are doing such a hot job. Piracy seems to be epidemic in a full quarter of the Indian Ocean. Perhaps they should change their strategy; protection and interdiction at sea are not effective, so how about blockading the coast? Nothing gets in, nothing gets more than 20 miles from shore.

That would require doing something, and putting all those expensive floating toys ever so slightly in harm’s way. Which is what a Navy is for, isn’t it?

Posted by Drew458     on 12/04/2010 at 02:25 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Monday - November 29, 2010

the french take action while brits dither?  surely not.

I had mentioned the other day, on the subject of nutcase happenings, the idea that a couple of Somali pirates have relations here in the UK, and that one already had a wife and kids here.  He said he wants to come here under asylum. No doubt they’d grant him his wishes and provide benefits as well under European human rights and the rest of that BS.

Drew also posted something on the subject and made the very accurate observation that the Chandler couple were selling their story, “a bit at a time.”
Oh boy are they ever.  It’s been in every paper every day for the last week.  And the Mail has been laying out their saga not just full page but double pages open center.  I was getting bored with it to be honest. But something in today’s version really caught my attention, and I suspect BMEWS regulars and others may be surprised by this as well.

According to the couple, the people that the pirates feared most if they can be believed, are the French and their Navy.  They say in their latest installment, that when captured the pirates kept shouting, what nationality? What nationality?  It transpires, according to them, that the pirate worry was that they had captured a French couple.  That’s the claim anyway.  Apparently the French have shown themselves only too happy to engage the enemy and haven’t the health and safety concerns of others.  If that is true, then Bravo France!

Why didn’t the navy save us? The Chandlers reveal how they were captured by pirates under the gaze of British patrol

By David Jones

Moments after storming aboard Paul and Rachel Chandler’s yacht, the pirates’ leader began haranguing them with one question that was clearly of vital importance to him.

‘Nationality? Nationality?’ he shouted repeatedly in thickly-accented English, as the couple were taken below decks at gunpoint.

Amid the chaos of the assault, the British red ensign that had ­fluttered proudly from the Lynn Rival’s stern had been torn down, and they quickly realised that the gang chief, Bugas, was terrified that they might be French.

Six months before their kidnap, when another band of Somali pirates hijacked a yacht from Brittany cruising in the same stretch of ocean, French commandos had staged a ruthless rescue operation.

Sanctioned by the French Defence Minister, Herve Morin, it was a show of force designed to send out a message to the pirates — that one nation, at least, was no longer prepared to stand by and let them plunder the seas with impunity.

So when the Chandlers assured Bugas they were British, his relief was immediately obvious.

‘The pirates don’t mess with the French any more,’ says 60-year-old Paul. ‘Their forces are too gung-ho.

‘But I think they see the other ­Western navies who patrol the area as a bit of laughing stock.

‘They know that if they have just one hostage at gunpoint, then these navies — with all their might — are impotent.’

Since we now know that the ­Chandlers were kidnapped under the compliant gaze of the Wave Knight, a Royal Navy supply ship armed with cannon and machine guns and ­carrying 25 Royal Marines, the pirates’ ­contempt is all too understandable.

But two crucial questions have ­lingered since the supply ship’s ­inglorious role in this nightmarish saga was first revealed.

Should the Admiralty have adopted the same tough stance as the French and ordered the Wave Knight to attack?

And if they had, would the Chandlers have been spared a 13-month ordeal which saw them flogged, mentally ­tortured and threatened with death?

Told today for the first time, the Kent couple’s gripping, first-hand account of their capture on October 23 last year finally provides the answers to these questions — questions which have cast a long shadow over the Royal Navy’s proud reputation.

If you’re interested in the entire, tiresome story here’s the link. However ..... here’s the part I think you should see the link for. I’ve edited for space.
Isn’t it interesting?  Empty threat after empty threat.

At this point, Bugas (the pirate leader) seized the radio and ordered the couple to pack their bags ready to decamp to the Kota Wajar. (pirate mother ship)

As they did so, the radio crackled to life again and they heard the British ship threaten the pirates aboard the ­captured cargo vessel.

WK: Kota Wajar. You are in my security area. Alter course to the north please.

[There was no reply to this warning, and indeed the Kota Wajar failed to respond to any of Wave Knight’s entreaties. This was because, the Chandlers later learned, the pirates on board were beating the container ship’s skipper — one of 21 crew members being held hostage — over the head with a water bottle].

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course to the north. Please acknowledge.

Once again, Bugas forced Paul back on to the radio to tell the British ship to stop its threats.

LR: EU warship, this is sailing yacht Lynn Rival.

WK: Lynn Rival, I am under attack from a previously pirated ship. I will come back to you

[From his position below deck, Paul could not see or hear gunfire, but the Ministry of Defence told the Daily Mail the pirates onboard the Kota Wajar opened fire on the Wave Knight with their machine guns.

Under the military Rules of Engagement, the British vessel could now have launched a deadly assault against them, but did not do so because of the 21 crew held hostage on the cargo ship.]

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course towards north ­immediately or I may take action.

LR: We are very frightened. We have been told we will be killed if you do not stand off.

WK: Kota Wajar, you are threatening my security. Alter course towards north ­immediately or I may take action which may include the use of lethal force.

LR: Our captors say they will kill us if you don’t stand off. We are terrified!

At this point, apparently satisfied he had bought them enough time to evacuate, Bugas ordered Paul to turn off the radio and ram his beloved yacht into the stern of the Kota Wajar.

This was to get them close enough to climb the rope ladder that had been lowered by pirates on the high-sided container ship.

His ploy worked, and the Chandlers were transferred to Kota Wajar while the crew of the Wave Knight looked on.

It was, indeed, a fiasco. As a patriot and a seafarer, Paul is reluctant to criticise our Navy, but as he remarks — what was the point of the ship being there if it couldn’t help them?

Here’s what a few Brits have had to say on the subject.

How ridiculous - this couple took to the radio to beg the Navy not to intervene, yet now claim they wanted them to and were ‘happy to die’. And they seem to also forget that they videoed pathetic messages through the year begging for money to be raised for their release because otherwise they’d die.

Now that they’re home, they’ve suddenly transformed themselves into heroes who would have laid down their lives raither than have Britain pay one penny for their rescue.

I can understand their cowardice when captured, but to now try and spin themselves into heroes is a disgrace.

- A. Wright-Burke, London Bridge,
######################################################

You can just imagine what would have happened in the Navy had helped.

* Human Rights Lawyers crawling out of the woodwork lead by Tony Blairs wife.
* Social Services saying its the Pirates that are the real victims and all should be given homes in the UK.
* Millions of £ in Compenastion for Hurt Feelings to the Chandlers had the rescue attempt failed.

Don’t forget that the Afghan High-Jackers are still in the UK and we can’t deport criminals.

We real are a country lead by invertebrates

- James 001, The west coast of nowhere,

#####################################################

It’s not up to the Royal Navy, paid for the taxpayers, to rescue any idiots who chose to sail into these pirate infected waters. Since they were stupid enough to do that, then they should face the consequences of their own making. They should now be glad that they are now home and making lots of money selling their stories, instead of blaming anyone else.

- mari, london,

The Chandlers claim that they were not in fact sailing within the danger zone.  ???

Posted by peiper     on 11/29/2010 at 11:51 AM   
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   Saturday - November 27, 2010

This may be obscene

More than a year ago, Somali pirates captured British seniors Paul and Rachel Chandler as they sailed their boat across the Indian Ocean. The pirates demanded an outrageous ransom, under the assumption that all English people are wealthy. The Chandlers were not, nor are their relatives. So for 13 months negotiations ensued, and at every setback the Chandlers felt the wrath of the stymied pirates, being beaten, whipped, starved, and threatened all the time.

Somehow some ransom was raised, and finally the Chandlers are free. And back home in Jolly Olde, and selling their story to the papers a bit at a time.

But it turns out that several of the Somali pirates might just be nearly paying them a visit, because those pirates are planning to come to the UK to visit their relatives, who live there on the asylum dole. And they may just get away with it.

Two members of the Somali pirate gang that held Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage for 388 days are believed to have family in the UK. One of the pirate leaders says he plans to travel to the UK to join his wife and two children, who have claimed political asylum and live in London.

The extraordinary revelations come as intelligence and security officials in the UK and Kenya investigate links between Britain and Somali pirates after the couple were freed from the 13-month ordeal in return for a ransom.

A second pirate involved in the seizing of the Chandlers is suspected to have lived in Britain and to have family living in London. It is unclear whether his family has also claimed asylum and whether either family receives benefits. Both men are said to have received a ‘cut’ of the estimated £625,000 ransom paid for the release of Mr Chandler, 60, and his 57-year-old wife.

Investigators say the revelations raise the possibility of pirates travelling to Britain and of part of the ransom money being transferred to family members in the UK.

Their warnings come just weeks after Home Secretary Theresa May highlighted the links between British extremists and Somalia, with some UK citizens travelling there to train alongside Al Qaeda-linked groups. Anti-terrorist investigators believe some have returned to Britain and they have been looking at associations between the UK and pirate gangs, who currently hold some 40 ships and 500 crew hostage.

Immigration investigators are now involved in the inquiry into their British links and seeking to discover whether individuals have visited the UK or have families here. ‘It is possible that some of those involved in piracy have British or other European citizenship and that is a worrying area which we are exploring,’ one investigator said.

In satellite calls, the pirates have alluded to links with Britain and a man named as Hassan, 32 – said to be one of the ringleaders of the Chandler abduction – was quoted as saying he had a wife and family in the UK and was planning to join them. He claimed his family had moved to London three years ago, applying for political asylum.

‘She is putting me under pressure to join her and the children, so I will come to the UK soon,’ he said in one telephone call.

source

Now wait a second. Are British subjects subject to English Law regardless of where on earth they may be? So would the act of two “Englishmen” kidnapping and torturing two other Englishmen still be a crime in London, even though it happened thousands of miles away? If it is, then this could be a nice opportunity. Catch these two when they come “home”, take the money, hang them both, and then throw their families out of the country, for associating with terrorists and brigands and for attempting to receive criminally obtained money.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/27/2010 at 09:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • UK •  
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Islamists establish a bridgehead in Parliament.

Interesting view and another example of what this country faces daily.
At some point in time the bad guys are gonna open wide that back door which is already ajar.

Politicians of all parties and even spokesmen in the security services are mouthing the pc line about how awful torture is and is unacceptable and immoral yadda,yadda.  As if the enemy will be impressed by the high moral tone of the speech in London and the US, in some quarters.

Meanwhile in the USA, I read that a Somali sub-human scum tried to set off a bomb. Was he immediately shot dead? You know he wasn’t and furthermore, he more then likely wasn’t worried about it because like all the rest, they know and they use the weak kneed legal system much to their advantage.

It will eventually be our undoing.  Oh btw ... just to show you (but you know) how well others play the system both legal and social, here’s a bit of info.
Those Somali pirates who got a ton of money and finally freed that couple after a year, suggested to them that they sell their house to raise hostage money. When they asked the pirates where they would live without a house, the pirate leader told them that if they applied, then the Brit. govt. would give them a house.  And that isn’t all.  Turns out that two of the pirates have relatives here in England AND, one of them has a wife and kids here and wants to immigrate to England asking for asylum to be with his family.  He’ll claim benefits of course, assuming he does what he says he wants to and is allowed in.
Do all these bastards know the system er what?

Islamists establish a bridgehead in Parliament

By Andrew Gilligan
Telegraph

After a series of reverses in the political arena, Islamist sympathisers yesterday established a key bridgehead in Parliament.

A body called iEngage (also known as Engage) states in a press release that it will be acting as the secretariat to a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia, whose inaugural meeting was held yesterday in the Commons. The group is chaired by a Tory MP, Kris Hopkins. The Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes and the Labour peer Lord Janner are vice-chairs. Sources say that the inaugural meeting was attended by the Tory MPs Angie Bray and Eric Ollerenshaw, and the Labour MP Lisa Nandy, among others.

I’m quite certain all these people are sincere individuals who would have no truck with Islamism or extremism. Indeed, at least one of them is Jewish. But they are being used. They need to look much more closely at who they are getting into bed with.

iEngage is an organisation of Islamist sympathisers which has consistently defended fundamentalist organisations such as the East London Mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe. It routinely attacks all criticism of them as “Islamophobic.”

It attacked the BBC’s recent Panorama documentary on racist Muslim schools – showing that some children are being taught anti-Semitism and Sharia punishments – as a “witch-hunt.” Typically, it launched its attack before even seeing the programme. It was almost alone in this criticism – faced with Panorama’s clear evidence, even some of the usual Islamist suspects kept quiet.

It attacked me for writing about the East London Mosque’s hosting of the terrorist preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki, in 2009 – advertised with a poster showing New York under bombardment. It peddled the straightforward lie told by the mosque that no-one had realised Awlaki was a bad egg at that stage. In fact, Awlaki had been identified by the US government two months before as a spiritual leader of the 9/11 hijackers – and the mosque knew this.

iEngage’s chief executive, and secretary of the new parliamentary group, Mohammed Asif, wrote to the Home Secretary to protest against the ban on the extremist preacher, Zakir Naik. Mr Naik has stated that “every Muslim should be a terrorist.” But Mr Asif and iEngage said that Naik’s exclusion would “put at risk good community relations.”

iEngage publicised a grotesquely misleading report issued by another Islamist-sympathising group, iEra, purporting to show that three-quarters of non-Muslims believe Islam is negative for Britain. As I demonstrated, this result – massively more than the true figure – was only achieved by systematically twisting the data as part of iEra’s agenda to sow suspicion and discord between communities.

Because too often, the charge of “Islamophobia” has been used by Islamists to stifle and deter examination of their own actions. They deliberately conflate Islamism (followed by a tiny minority of British Muslims) with the entire faith of Islam, and accuse anyone who scrutinises or attacks their minority brand of fundamentalism of being “anti-Muslim.” That is basically iEngage’s entire purpose.

It is a deeply dangerous game and not one, I’m sure, which any MP would want to be involved in.

READ MORE HERE

Posted by peiper     on 11/27/2010 at 09:14 AM   
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   Monday - November 22, 2010

Why Did This Take 4 Months?

The United States has issued a new warning to ships passing through critical shipping lanes in the Middle East and along the African coast after confirming a terror attack took place there this year.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group based in southern Lebanon that is linked to al Qaeda, claimed in August that a suicide bomber had attacked the Japanese tanker the M. Star on July 28.

The United States has now determined that the claim is valid, according to a statement from the U.S. Maritime Administration.

It warned ships that the group “can conduct further attacks on vessels in areas of/in the Strait of Hormuz, southern Arabian Gulf and western Gulf of Oman.”

The explosion on the [ VLCC ] M. Star injured one crew member but did not cause a spill or halt shipping traffic.

BACKGROUND:

-- The group is named after Palestinian Abdullah Azzam, who led Islamic militants in Afghanistan and was killed in 1989 by a roadside bomb. Azzam is regarded as the one-time spiritual mentor of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

-- The Brigades have generally operated from the Sinai Peninsula, and have carried out attacks primarily on targets in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. The latest claim could suggest they also have ties with the Yemen-based wing of al Qaeda.

Back then it was a different story:

A Japanese shipping line raised alarm Wednesday that one of its supertankers was damaged by an explosion in a possible attack in the Persian Gulf, but authorities on both sides of the tense waterway denied that any strike occurred.

Details of what happened as the hulking M. Star tanker steered its way through the strategically sensitive Strait of Hormuz remain murky. The U.S. Navy fleet that patrols the region acknowledged reports of an explosion aboard the ship but said the cause of the blast is unclear.

Local officials cited natural causes, such as an unusually strong wave that slammed into the side of the ship.

Here’s a funny thing: the Japanese knew within a week that it had been a suicide bombing, similar to the one that damaged the USS Cole back in 2000. And it takes the US government until Thanksgiving to agree? WTFF?

Experts investigating damage to a Japanese supertanker that was shaken by an apparent explosion near the Gulf last month believe the ship was the target of a terrorist attack.

Inspectors at the port of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, found traces of explosives on the oil tanker, the official UAE news agency said today.

The explosion occurred just after midnight on 28 July as the vessel, the M Star, headed through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway acting as a gateway to the oil-rich Gulf, separating part of Oman from Iran to the north.

The explosion left a large dent in the hull of the 260,000-ton vessel and damaged corridors and sleeping quarters. One crew member was slightly injured.

“An examination carried out by specialised teams has confirmed that the tanker has been the subject of a terrorist attack,” the official WAM news agency said, quoting a UAE coastguard. “UAE explosives experts who collected and examined samples found a dent on the starboard side above the waterline and remains of homemade explosives on the hull. Probably the tanker had encountered a terrorist attack from a boat laden with explosives.”

So now we’ve got terrorists and pirates operating in the same waters. The very same waters patrolled by half the navies of the world. The same waters through which passes at least a quarter of the world’s crude oil on a daily basis.

I’d say it’s time for open season on all small boats in the area. Any and every one of them. Approach a large ship within a mile and the assumption has to be that you are a belligerent. Open fire.
Right of Way of smaller vessels? Sure, sure. Just make sure your little skiff is pointing away from the big boys until they’re out of sight. Otherwise you are a valid target. Bofors Gun beats Right of Way every time. So paddle faster Achmed.

On the third hand, it’s so cool that ships exist that are so damn large that a boatload of splodeydopes splats themselves against the side and the reaction is “Oh I say, did you hear something?”

Posted by Drew458     on 11/22/2010 at 02:59 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • War On Terror •  
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   Sunday - November 21, 2010

Brits to take on pirates ?

I guess I’m just an old cynic.  On the surface I guess it looks ok.  I would also hope it could work. I just have my doubts that it will, for various reasons.
For example, what happens if, shudder, a pirate scum is killed?  Can you just imagine the human rights industry all up in arms over the violation of the rights of the poor boy.  Will an investigation be called for? An “inquiry” as they’re called.  I’m reminded of the circus made of the shooting by police of some wacked out drunk lawyer with a shotgun.  In the papers for weeks and all sorts of experts most who’ve prolly never been called to an armed situation or handled a gun, all wringing their hands saying it wasn’t necessary to shoot the poor man dead when they might have talked him out.  Of course the fact that the police spent many hours doing just that didn’t matter.  Then after it was all over and one or more of the cops made light of the death, oh the wailing and gnashing of teeth and tears and ... and .... and .... oh how the weepy left wished they could holler RACE!  But sadly for them, the loony tune was a Caucasian.  Still though, there were some who insisted that the police be disarmed.  Sure, only a tiny handful. But the fact they exist at all tells me how stupid some ppl are.

Hey, let me give you another example of just how lame-o some people can be.

Over several years a radical and violent group of animal rights activists were carrying out acts of terror against a company that performed medical experiments on animals.  Now I admit I hate the idea of that myself.  Be that as it may, this group set fires, made threatening calls, called neighbors of employees, even the janitors or anyone connected, claiming they were child rapists or at the least, abusers.  Then they threatened bombing the pubs that served the employees of the company AND .... they even dug up the remains of the grandmother of one of the principals of the company. It went on for years and the damage they caused was extensive.  They were finally caught, there was a trial (Why?) and jail terms passed out.
In an article today in the Daily Mail, an airhead named Liz Jones, who btw carries her love of animals to the extent of feeding rats in her barn on organic food,
allows the run of her house to four dogs who are not housebroken, and that’s only a beginning ....
Miss Jones today makes the claim that while she doesn’t support the extremes these folks went to, jailing them was unfair and that instead, they should be seen as the equivalent of the Suffragettes. She is a former magazine editor, is the fashion editor for the Mail and also writes a column in the Mail and the Mail’s magazine, You.  True, not everyone here is quite that screwy.  But there is a lot of hand wringing whenever the cops do their job correctly and lawfully.
So I can imagine the noise many will make if one or two pirates end up dead. 
And lets not bring up the law suits .... oh boy.

The Government is in secret talks to send taxpayer-funded British mercenaries to war torn Somalia to confront the pirates

By Jason Lewis, Investigations editor

A Sunday Telegraph investigation can reveal that senior Foreign Office officials have held detailed discussions with a British security firm employing former members of the Special Boat Service (SBS) about setting up and running the operation.

The controversial plan – indirectly funded with aid money from British taxpayers – will see the ex-special forces team sent to train Somali nationals to take on the pirates along the country’s lawless coastline.

The revelation comes days after the release of the Chandlers, from Tunbridge Wells, who were held hostage by Somali pirates for more than a year after being captured on their yacht while on a retirement sailing holiday.

Acting as “mentors” the ex-SBS men will be allowed to accompany the new crews on patrols going into action in armed encounters with the gangs.

The plan is particularly sensitive because previous attempts to train Somali military recruits have seen them swap sides and join the pirates or Islamic insurgents, taking their weapons and equipment with them.

Operating in fast boats capable of outrunning the pirates’ converted fishing vessels, the plan is to retake the coastline and prevent the pirates from putting to sea or returning to shore with kidnap victims.

The operation is seen as essential to protect shipping navigating off the Horn of Africa. Ships currently rely on protection from international naval vessels – including Royal Navy frigates – which are spread too thinly.

Piracy has become so commonplace that conveys of ships are asking for naval escorts through the area while some shipping firms are hiring armed guards to protect their vessels, crews and cargo.

So far this year there have been 164 piracy incidents, with 37 vessels hijacked, around 700 seafarers taken hostage and 12 people killed or injured.

The decision to call in ex-special forces soldiers earning up to £1,500-a-day is highly controversial.

the rest is here

Posted by peiper     on 11/21/2010 at 02:53 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • UK •  
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   Wednesday - November 17, 2010

pirates to world … just business, nothing personal. ransoms to fund more hostage taking

Now here’s a slightly different take on pirate stories. You’ll love this one Drew.
And don’t we all just love pirate stories?

All the kings horses and all the kings men whatever blah,blah.

You’ll remember the couple taken hostage a year ago and held by Somali pirates.  They asked for a ton on money thinking that the couple had insurance. Turns out they didn’t.  The pirates are used to dealing with the large shipping companies who do carry ins and so assumed that everyone did.  Hmmm. I hadn’t expected that species capable of thought like that.  Guess I was wrong.
Well anyway ... they released the couple as you might know by now, saying that they’d use the ransom to finance more “business.”

Here ya go.  Read it all here.
It’s quite interesting actually. I think I might be changing my ideas about these folks. No, not that I approve what they do. But it seems like the countries that could really put a stop to it won’t.  There are people here who fear that capturing pirates might open the door to many of them requesting asylum in this country.  And the way these idiots have been dealing with that issue, well.  I understand the concern of the natives here.  It should be a question of an open and shut case. Capture and shoot them.  Bomb the hell out of their sanctuaries.  Send in special extermination teams with no exceptions to be made.  You’d soon see an end to the problem.  But no. The powers that be will not do what is necessary to end it.  And so the pirates know that and know too that even if caught, the penalty will hardly be life threatening. So why not risk it?
It’s not personal. It’s just business. Right?

Pirates boast of plans to ‘reinvest’ ransom in more kidnappings

The pirates who held the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler boasted last night that they would spend the ransom money on staging more kidnappings.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Members of the gang, who held the British couple for more than a year, said they would use their estimated £500,000 bounty to “reinvest in our business”, to increase their reach in the Indian Ocean.

Others are planning to put part of their windfall towards “celebration purchases” such as new houses or cars, they said.

The admission came as the war-ravaged east African country’s beleaguered government confirmed that it had paid a substantial tranche of the ransom itself, topping up contributions from friends, family and the Somalian community overseas.

It is understood that some of the hostage takers have personal and family ties to Britain, even keeping a close eye on how the news was being reported in the British media.

One of the kidnappers was quoted as joking only a few days ago that he was planning a trip to Britain.

The couple were making their way from the Seychelles to Tanzania in their 38ft yacht, Lynn Rival, in October last year when they were captured by Somalian pirates.

They spent the following 13 months being held in remote camps deep inland, while family and friends attempted to raise the cash to secure their freedom.

A total of about £500,000 was passed through negotiators to the gang’s leaders on two separate occasions, most recently on Sunday morning, when the Kent couple was finally released.

The bounty will now be shared by as many as 40 different individuals, from guards and cooks to senior financiers likely to be outside Somalia.

“There will be some celebration purchases, maybe a vehicle, maybe a better house,” a senior member of the pirates, who gave his name only as Yusuf, told The Daily Telegraph via contacts in Mogadishu.

“But most of us have to pay off debts, and we need to use the money to reinvest in our business, to find new boats to go back to the ocean.”

Posted by peiper     on 11/17/2010 at 09:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Saturday - November 06, 2010

17 pirates captured by two navies get day in court. court lets em go. bruthas stick together ..

Some news briefs with no links ....

SOMALIS ACQUITTED OF PIRACY CHARGE

Mombasa. Seventeen Somalis accused of launching an attack on an Egyptian vessel in the Gulf of Aden have been acquitted by a Kenyan court; the first setback for Western states which signed a deal with authorities in Nairobi to try suspected pirates.  The men were originally arrested by USA and South Korean navies.

[ Drew: I gotcha links right here! ] “The prosecution has not proved its case against the accused persons beyond reasonable doubt as required by law,” said Magistrate Michael Kizito at a court in Kenya’s Mombasa coastal city.

“Consequently, I find that the accused persons are not guilty of the offence with which they were charged and acquit them,” added Kizito.

The magistrate did not say whether the suspects would be deported to Somalia.

They denied the charges of attacking the MV Amira and putting the lives of its crew in danger. The prosecution had brought in nine witnesses.

Immediate execution on capture is reasonable. Why can’t ppl in charge see that?

Here’s another news story I don’t understand. Hey … it’s in Joisey.

RAILMAN SUES

NEWARK,NJ. Derek Fenton, a train conductor, is suing to get his job back on the grounds of free speech after being dismissed for burning pages from the koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

Well hell. He didn’t burn it on his train I hope.  And I fail to see the free speech issue. Isn’t it more likely free expression that’s being denied?  Whatever, even if he were an atheist and burned a bible, which I wouldn’t approve of, I don’t see how that impairs his ability to do his job. 

Two authors, one post, four stories: Drew adds an addendum to the pirate part of the post:

Largest Ship Ever Hijacked Released For Largest Ransom Ever Paid To Pirates

A whopping $9m ransom has been paid to pirates onboard a hijacked South Korean VLCC which has been freed on Saturday morning. The vast sum reportedly paid out to free the 319,400-dwt Samho Dream ... is believed to be a record amount for a hijacked ship and crew with some reports indicating it is in excess of $9m.

The ransom drop all but brings to an end the seven-month ordeal of the 24 crew members onboard the Samho Shipping-owned vessel which was snatched in the Somali Basin on 4 April while en route from Iraq to the US with a full cargo of crude.

There is no word on the welfare of the crew although there are no reports of any injuries or casualties. The condition of the cargo is unknown but it is likely the ship will put into port for a crew change and inspection as well as to pick up supplies and bunkers.
...
The Samho Dream was the third VLCC to be seized by Somali pirates and was by far the longest held with the ransom amount appearing to top that paid out for the other two.

Nine million dollars cash is going to fund a whole lot of terrorism in eastern Africa.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have managed to capture and release the MV Golden Blessing, a smaller tanker with a cargo of ethylene glycol that was hijacked in late June. No real details available yet.

A Singapore-flagged cargo ship with 19 Chinese crew that was hijacked in June by pirates off the coast of Somalia has been rescued, the Chinese transport ministry said.

The MV Golden Blessing, a petroleum and chemical tanker, was travelling to India from Saudi Arabia when it was hijacked in late June, maritime authorities said at the time.

“The 19 Chinese crew and the ship Golden Blessing were rescued safely at 1:03 am Beijing time,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Saturday.

“The 19 Chinese crew are safe. At present, the Golden Blessing is heading to safe waters under Chinese naval escort.”

The statement did not say how the ship had been rescued, or if anyone was arrested in the process. Calls to the transport ministry went unanswered.

A spokesman for Golden Pacific International Holdings, which owns the ship, declined to comment when asked by AFP about the rescue.

Posted by peiper     on 11/06/2010 at 10:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! • Politically Correct B.S. •  
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   Wednesday - November 03, 2010

Put These On Your Speed Dial

3 November Update

The south-west monsoon has now passed and conditions are now conducive for piracy operations off the Somali Coast and into the Somali Basin.The anticipated surge of activity is focussed along the coast predominately in southern areas targeting local and international shipping in the vicinity of Kismayo, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

Improved weather conditions should allow for improved visual and radar detection ranges of vessels of this size. Small vessels particularly skiffs, dhows and fishing vessels observed in the open ocean more than 300Nm from the Somali coast should be regarded with suspicion.

Somali Pirates have sailed the MV AL NISR AL SAUDI to act as a mother ship east of Socotra Island threatening ships in the approached to the GOA. She is assessed as being involved in the attack on the MV GO TRADER in position 15°06N 055°58E.

Ships should be vigilant of a possible pirate action group using a mother ship, with two small skiffs in position 07°21N 064°03E.

IF ATTACKED BY PIRATES PLEASE CALL IN ORDER OF PRIORITY, GIVING YOUR SHIP’S NAME, POSITION AND THE NATURE OF ATTACK/SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY:

1. THE UK MARITIME TRADE OPERATION DUBAI (UK MTO): +971 50 552 3215

2. THE MARITIME SECURITY CENTRE HORN OF AFRICA (MSCHOA): +44 (0) 1923 958 547

3. THE NATO SHIPPING CENTRE (NSC):  +44 (0) 1923 956 574

4. THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME BUREAU (IMB): + 60 3 2078 5763

EARLY ASSESSMENT / DETECTION WILL ALLOW SHIPS TO TAKE EVASIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT BOARDING AND REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE.

ALL ATTACKS AND SUSPICIOUS SIGHTINGS INCLUDING POSSIBLE PIRATE MOTHER VESSEL TOWING SKIFFS SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE IMB PIRACY REPORTING CENTRE, TEL: +60 3 20310014 (24 HOURS)

In order to encourage vessels to conduct their passage through the IRTC in groups based on passage speed MSC HOA will promulgate via their website, position, time, and speed for vessels to pass through a waypoint at the eastern and western limits of the IRTC. This process will be known as “GOA Group Transits” (GOA GT).

GOA GT timings will be at various intervals through each 24hr period. Each GOA GT will follow a recommended navigation track (NAVTRACK) through the IRTC at a published speed that will avoid high profile piracy danger periods and allow maximum coordination of military assets in support. Transit Group Schedules will cater for the differing range of speeds.

During your transit you should not expect to be permanently in company with a warship. But all warships in the GOA, whether part of NATO, EU NAVFOR or coordinating with MSC HOA, will be aware of the GOA GTs and have the full details of vulnerable shipping.

The implementation of the GOA GT is designed to enhance your security as you transit through the GOA.

The latest score: one hijacking yesterday and one escape. One hijacking today. Yemen puts 8 pirates in jail for 5 years each.

One story that I missed: Back in May, Yemen convicted 6 Somali pirates and sentenced them to death for hijacking an oil tanker. 6 more got 10 years in jail and a $2 million fine.

Looks like Yemen is catching and killing pirates ... yet I don’t see those stories, and I’m out there looking. Maybe it’s a case of data overload; roughly one ship gets hijacked, fought over, rescued, or ransomed every single day.

“All the news that’s fit to ignore” ... the Somali piracy continues, and it isn’t even news anymore. Piracy off the coast of Nigeria and around Indonesia gets even less coverage.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/03/2010 at 09:54 PM   
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   Saturday - October 30, 2010

Pirate Follies

BULKER BOARDED BY PIRATES IN PROTECTED CORRIDOR (ecop-marine)
Armed pirates boarded on 30. October 2010 at 05h12 UTC (08h15) a bulk carrier underway in position 15:06N-055:58E, which is around 170nm SE off Salalah, Oman, and inside the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). All crew retreated into a strongroom, the so-called citadel from where they have control of ship.

While the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre reports that the pirates would still be on board, reports from Somalia state that the bunker barge Al-Nisr al Saudi with its original crew of 14, including the master, was used in the assault and that, while the pirates boarded the attacked vessel, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired to gain entry to the strongroom. That RPG reportedly bounced back and injured three of the attackers. Thereafter the gang left this vessel and only a short while later are reported to have captured today a Nigerian merchant ship, which they now apparently commandeer. The whole situation is still very unclear and further reports are awaited.

30.10.2010: 0512 UTC: Posn: 15:06N-055:58E, Around 170nm SE of Salalah, Oman, off Somalia.

Armed pirates boarded a bulk carrier underway. All crew retreated into the citadel from where they have control of ship. Pirates are still onboard. Further report awaited.

This week it was reported that a German ship was freed without ransom, though the truth is that the pirates could not control the MV Beluga Fortune and had to let her go. It just could be that having the HMS Montrose nearby helped ... though reportedly the Brits didn’t board and search the Beluga until much later.

Last week the VOC Daisy, hijacked in April. was released after ransom was paid.

Currently pirates hold 30 ships and more than 519 hostages, including that elderly British couple snatched off their yacht months ago. Somali pirates continue to use the VLCC Samho Dream as a mothership; the giant ship full of crude oil is presently off the coast of Garacad in Puntland.

It is likely that the ship was shifted out to sea to assist another pirate action group who have now been taken back to Puntland. Another theory for its move put forward by NATO was that the pirates were assessing sea conditions in the Somali Basin in the wake of the regional monsoons abating.

It is also not unknown for pirates to up anchor and flee ports due to a threat from Islamist groups invading the town. This occurred in May this year when two of three hijacked vessels being held at Harardhere, further south from Hobyo, were shifted up to Hobyo as the radical group Hizbul-Islam entered the town.

And today comes word that another ship has been snagged, this time a smaller one enroute from Russia to Singapore.

The 72,800-dwt Polar (built 2005) was seized overnight between Friday and Saturday but the hijacking was only confirmed on Saturday. There are 24 crew members onboard the Panama-flagged ship. There are no reports of any injuries or damage to the ship.

Although the exact position at which the vessel was taken is not known, it is believed to have been at the very easterly extremities of the area of operation for naval vessels. Consequently there were no warships in the vicinity to provide assistance.

A statement from counter-piracy task force EU NAVFOR later confirmed the hijacking which it said occured 580 miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra. The crew comprises three Greeks, 16 Filipinos, four Montenegrins and one Romanian, the statement read.

Two days ago another super giant oil carrier, the Starlight Venture was attacked. Shots fired, but they got away. The newsworthy point is that the carrier was traveling in convoy, surrounded by the Thai Navy. And the pirates attacked anyway.

“The Hellespont Protector was attacked by a pirate boat whilst transiting the Gulf of Aden eastbound in a Thai National Navy convoy. When the attack occurred the master took evasive action to deter the pirates. The Thai Navy launched a helicopter in response to the request for assistance by the vessel.

“Although shots were fired...the vessel followed best management practices and the pirates were not able to board the vessel. They eventually stopped their efforts to capture the tanker. No injuries and no pollution were reported, the crew is safe and continuing with their passage.”

It appears that the pirates got away clean. But look at the nerve of these barstards - they attack the biggest ships in the world, in convoys, with international forces right the heck there. And live to tell the tale. Un. Real.  Yet when a small container ship, the MSC Ayala shoots back, the pirates run away. Hey Navy: hint hint hint!!!

Posted by Drew458     on 10/30/2010 at 06:04 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Friday - October 15, 2010

the good news, Royal Navy sinks pirate boat. The bad news, they didn’t deep six any pirates

This is the moment the Royal Navy foiled a gang of suspected Somali sub-species pirates ....  Sadly, they only blew up their boat but didn’t put an end to their unnecessary breathing.

The pirate boat was loaded with ladders and fuel.  Cheers to the RN but next times guys, can’t there be an unfortunate accident?

This photo is from the Ministry of Defence as is the article.  The story and photos only appeared in this morning’s paper. But I couldn’t find the article or the pix on line. So ... I tried the MoD and bingo. Well, sort of bingo. The photo of the boat burning was a scan of the one in the paper. So here. Read about it. Notice the date.

HMS Montrose disrupts pirates
A Military Operations news article

14 Oct 10

The Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose prevented a gang of suspected pirates from entering the Indian Ocean to attack merchant ships yesterday, Wednesday 14 October 2010.

This is the ship’s second counter-piracy success in two weeks. She is currently deployed as part of NATO’s counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa.

The ship was alerted yesterday to a gang of ten men acting suspiciously in a small boat off the coast of Somalia near to a known pirate camp. Their boat, loaded with ladders and fuel drums, was towing two other smaller vessels that have been traditionally used for pirate attacks against ships.

HMS Montrose, which left HM Naval Base Devonport this summer, launched her Lynx helicopter and a boat of Royal Marines and sailors to investigate.

Once the suspected pirates spotted the helicopter and boarding team, four of the suspected pirates took one of the smaller boats and tried to flee to shore. The remaining men stopped in the water and when the Lynx helicopter hovered overhead they tried to get rid of their ladders overboard.

After the Royal Navy boarding team confiscated all the pirate gear, thus ensuring that the gang could no longer pose a threat to merchantmen, they were transferred to the remaining skiff.

Speaking about the incident, the Commanding Officer of HMS Montrose, Commander Jonathan Lett, said yesterday:

“Today’s disruption of a pirate gang in the Somali Basin by a NATO warship was very rewarding. Our actions prevented suspected pirates from heading out to sea to prey on innocent merchantmen. HMS Montrose continues to help keep the seas safe.”

Other ships currently involved in Operation OCEAN SHIELD are HDMS Esbern Snare (Denmark), ITS Bersagliere (Italy), and USS Kauffman and USS Laboon (USA).

MoD source

Posted by peiper     on 10/15/2010 at 05:33 AM   
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   Thursday - October 07, 2010

Just Terrible

But that pirate ship? Oh come on. Who designed that thing, a 5 year old boy with a crayon, after eating 5 bowls of Cap’n Crunch? Pathetic. Crunch’s Guppy is a more realistic looking ship. It’s not like you can’t find actual ships like this for rent if you’re making a big bucks commercial. Or even create a good one through CGI. The only time a ship like that would be rigged that way is if it was shot to bits in battle or ravaged by a hurricane. But the spars and stays would be a total mess in either case, and these aren’t.

Yeah, I know. I’m the only guy on the planet who even noticed that there was a ship or a cutlass in the video. And that’s because, hot as she is, I got tired of looking at Marisa Miller before she was a famous clothing model, back when she was just another naked babe on the internet. Because clothes are actually quite new to her; it seems she’s spent most of the last decade naked. And getting paid for it. Gee, tough life, eh?

Posted by Drew458     on 10/07/2010 at 02:59 PM   
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   Thursday - September 30, 2010

Monsoon Season Is Over

Which means the Somali pirates are back to work.

A maritime security alert has been issued for the Indian Ocean following the reported hijacking of a Panama-flagged vessel with 15 crew members on board.

The 3,884 dwt MT Asphalt Venture is believed to have been traveling to Mombasa and is now en route to Xaradheere in northern Somalia, reports GAC Protective Solutions.

NATO Shipping Center reports that at “282000 UTC a merchant vessel was reported pirated in position 07 07S 041 02E.” It says that position is in the close proximity of a pirate action group sighted and reported in an earlier NATO report

NATO warns that the weather is becoming more favorable for pirate operations in the Arabian Sea and southern Somali Basin as the effects of the southwest monsoon abate.

A week after maritime security forces warned ship owners of increasing piracy, a tanker owned by a UAE company has been hijacked by pirates in Somalia. The Panamanian flagged MT Asphalt Venture was seized around 100 miles South of Dar es Salaam after unloading its cargo of bitumen at Mombasa in Kenya. According to reports, the vessel was manned by a crew of 15 Indians. The ship was en route to Durban when radar observation showed her turn suddenly and set a course for Xaradheere, about 300 miles north of Mogadishu on the Somali coast.

EU Navfor, which is responsible for protecting ships from pirate attacks in the Somalia basin, had warned about the possible increase in piracy following the end of monsoon season.

“The number of attacks is expected to increase in the near future and vessels will have to be increasingly vigilant,” a EU Navfor statement said.

It also blamed several shipping lines of not ensuring enough safety measures to prevent piracy.

Asphalt Venture IMO 8875798 Flag: Panama DWT 3884
Length 96m Beam 14m Speed 7.5 knots Cargo - in ballast
a small slow ship like this is easy pickings



Ok, business as usual, right? Even the fact that this hijacking was the 4th incident in the area in just a couple days doesn’t even raise much interest. Who cares that various navies were around?

On the afternoon of 28 September, MV Mississippi Star, en route to Dar Es Salaam was attacked by a pirate skiff. The pirates, firing automatic rifles and RPGs, attacked the vessel 45 nautical miles north east of Dar es Salaam. Mississippi Star took evasive action and escaped the attack. EU NAVFOR French Maritime Patrol Aircraft provided observation and the EU NAVFOR Italian warship Libeccio, which was in the vicinity, proceeded to the scene and is monitoring the situation. The Tanzanian Navy in Dar Es Salaam were alerted to the incident. The vessel had been proceeding from Mombasa when attacked; no injuries have been reported. Mississippi Star IMO 9527623, dwt 13100, built 2010, flag Malta, manager Rigel Schiffahrts GmbH, crew 1 German, 15 Philippino, 2 Polish.
This is the third pirate attack in Tanzania waters in a period from September 26.

Fine. So then here IS an interesting bit. The pirates are using a full sized captured oil tanker as a mother ship, and those Thai fishing trawlers I wrote about a while back as junior mother ships, and the world knows EXACTLY where those ships are, and they HAVE DONE NOTHING.

In the north pirates highjacked Greece freighter Lugelo, but fleed vessel being unable capture crew, sheltered in engine room, and afraid navy would free vessel and capture them. Two previously highjacked vessels, Thai trawler Prantalay 14 and Korean VLCC Samho Dream in full load, used as mother-ships, spotted in area where Lugela was highjacked, approx. in 10 38N 056 44E, and they’re still there, moving in general eastern direction, reports Ecoterra Intl.
...
How come VLCC Samho Dream became pirate ship and now is running around like some dhow or skiff, is simply beyond my comprehension – this is Super Tanker, for God’s sake! If pirates start to hunt on vessels like this one, they’d move to Atlantic soon, and highjack vessels somewhere off New York or Rotterdam, why not? How come VLCC Samho Dream is still captured, not ransomed out? What is the reason? Are Obama’s sanctions to blame, or greed of both pirates and owners? 300000 tonns of crude in hands of illiterate pirates, and nobody seems to care.
...
With situation like this, shipowners and crews have no one to rely upon, except themselves, and the only way to guarantee safe passage is armed guards on board.
Mikhail Voytenko

I hear ya Mikhail. We’re in the same boat on this one.

The VLCC Samho Dream is a supertanker that is nearly 1100 feet long and 200 feet wide. It is a huge ship. Too big a target to miss, even from space.

NATO reports that Somali pirates have moved the captured VLCC SAMHO DREAM (314,360-dwt) to a position approximately 80 n.miles off the Somali coast, leading to speculation that the supertanker could be used as a mother ship for other pirate activity in the region. At least one skiff as used by pirates to attack merchant shipping has been seen on the tanker’s deck. Samho Dream has a crew of 19 Filipinos and five South Koreans on board and was seized by pirates on 4 April. The ship is loaded with a cargo of crude oil from Kuwait and was heading for the United States when captured. The cargo is said to be worth at least US$170 million.

Between ship and cargo, this has to be worth at least a quarter billion dollars. But the Somali pirates are using the thing as a floating dock, just like the Smokers did in WaterWorld.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/30/2010 at 10:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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   Friday - September 10, 2010

Marines 9, Pirates 0

U.S. Marine commandos stormed a pirate-held cargo ship off the Somalia coast Thursday, reclaiming control and taking nine prisoners without firing a shot in the first such boarding raid by the international anti-piracy flotilla, U.S. Navy officials said.

The mission — using small craft to reach the deck of German-owned vessel as the crew huddled in a safe room below — ranks among the most dramatic high seas confrontations with pirates by the task force created to protect shipping lanes off lawless Somalia.

The crew managed to kill the engines before taking refuge in an panic room-style chamber, leaving the ship adrift and the pirates so frustrated they started damaging equipment after hijacking the vessel Wednesday, Navy officials and the ship’s operator say.

Lt. John Fage, a spokesman at the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, described the pre-dawn raid as an “air and sea” assault that included Cobra attack helicopters for surveillance and coordination.

Marine Corps officers involved in the raid told reporters in a conference call that the attack involved “overwhelming force” and the element of surprise. Marines were able to separate the pirates and confront them singly or in small groups, while helicopters bore down.

The armed pirates gave up quickly when faced with large numbers of Marines carrying heavier weaponry.

Getting to the crew barricaded behind three walls in a safe room proved to be a quite a challenge, however, and the Marines had to drill through steel walls to reach the suspicious sailors.

Capt. Alexander Martin said the crew was finally persuaded that they were being rescued when a Marine ripped the American flag patch from his uniform and stuffed it through a hole the rescuers had bored in the final steel door.
...
Fage said there were no injuries reported among the Marines or 11-member crew of the Magellan Star. The pirates were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, but “there were no shots fired” on either side, Fage said.

A Turkish frigate on antipiracy patrols, TCG Gokceada, first responded to a distress call from the ship, which flies the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. Fage said the crew — which include Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Filipino seamen — was able to maintain contact with maritime officials from their safe room using a satellite phone.

The crew also shut down the engines as the pirates approached, leaving the ship to drift at sea, said Juergen Salamon, the ship’s operator based in Dortmund, Germany.

“The pirates had entered a ship that they couldn’t steer and there was no crew,” he said.

The pirates then hit an emergency button that connected them directly with the ship operators in Germany.

“They asked us where the crew is,” he said. “We told them, ‘They’re on leave.”’

There was no demands for ransom, he said.

The ship was travelling from Bilbao, Spain, to Singapore with a cargo of anchor chains, Salamon said. It is now en route to Dubai for repairs.

“The pirates were angry and vandalised the ship badly,” he said.

The TCG Gokceada (F 494) is the former USS Mahlon S. Tisdale (FFG-27), an Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigate 453 feet long. Launched in 1981, Tisdale was sold to Turkey in 1999.

The Marines were operating from the USS Dubuque (LPD-8), a 569 foot long amphibious assault vessel of such useful design that it isn’t even called a ship. It’s a dock. It holds several extra large hovercraft assault vehicles, a whole bunch of Strikers, Humvees, trucks, and a huge pile of angry Marines. 840 of them. Several helicopters and Osprey aircraft are carried on deck. USS Dubuque has been in service since 1967.

USS Princeton (CG-59), a guided missile cruiser 113 feet longer and 8 years younger than the TCG Gokceada was also on hand.



Now if only our navy would take a tip from the Russian navy, and return these poor pirates to their mother ship. As it sinks. And burns. With lawyers charging what they do, in the long run this saves money.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/10/2010 at 10:03 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
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