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 •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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