Thursday - April 09, 2009

US warship arrives at site of pirate kidnap .

Is anyone impressed yet?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MORE HERE



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted by peiper     on 04/09/2009 at 10:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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