Somali Pirates

[CoryKS]

Nobody light a match! Perhaps this will be the catalyst that will put a tougher stance as opposed to the seeming tolerant stance against those pirates?

As long as they don't try to drive the damn thing into something, they've got at least that much more class than the *******s they stole it from.

 

[MA-Caver]

BBC Video on the hijacking of the supertanker...
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=10716615&ch=4226714&src=news

 

[TimoS]

I've got a simple solution for these: hire an ex Navy SEAL into each ship as a cook, preferably someone with a ponytail and who has about two facial expressions: with and without a hat Worked quite well on Under Siege, after all

Seriously though, I was listening to radio this morning on my way to work and they were wondering how did those pirates get on board the supertanker in the first place? It displaces huge amounts of water so I would imagine it would be very hard for anyone to come close to such a ship when it's moving.

 

[MA-Caver]

Gutsy move to be sure but probably seized while the ship was at anchor off shore. But a clue is found here in a snippet of the news article (below - bold underlined are mine)

Given that the pirates are well armed with grenades, heavy machineguns and rocket-launchers, most foreign navies have steered clear of direct confrontation once ships have been hijacked, for fear of putting hostages at risk. In most cases, the owners of hijacked ships are trying to negotiate ransoms.

Now they're demanding $250 million for the oil tanker. The Saudi government refuses to negotiate with terrorist and pirates but say that the owners of the ship have the final word on it. Stupid I know, but it's how they run things over there.

However this headline is encouraging.

Indian navy destroys pirate boat, more ships taken


By Abdi Sheikh Abdi Sheikh – 2 hrs 8 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081119/wl_nm/us_somalia_piracy;_ylt=AvZZRoG.R24KDI18xNWTqwsV6w8F
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – An Indian warship destroyed a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden and gunmen from Somalia seized two more vessels despite a large international naval presence off their lawless country.
The buccaneers have taken a Thai fishing boat, a Greek bulk carrier and a Hong Kong-flagged ship heading to Iran since Saturday's spectacular capture of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million of oil, the biggest ship hijacked in history.
The explosion of piracy off Somalia this year has driven up insurance costs, made some shipping companies divert around South Africa and prompted an unprecedented military response from NATO, the European Union and others.
"The pirates are sending out a message to the world that 'we can do what we want, we can think the unthinkable, do the unexpected'," Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, told Reuters in Mombasa.
India's navy said one of its warships, INS Tabar, fought Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and destroyed their vessel after a brief battle late Tuesday.
"Fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel," the navy said, adding that two speed boats sped away.

So yeah attack their bases if known but finding the head of the pirates is going to be tough unless they're already known and tend to be at one place. I'm all for tomahawk (non nuclear of course) missiles fired at the bases to wipe them out as they're found, but then there's collateral damage to consider since the pirates wouldn't be stupid enough to not hang out where there are innocent civilians in large numbers.

 

[TimoS]

So yeah attack their bases if known but finding the head of the pirates is going to be tough unless they're already known and tend to be at one place.

True, something like that might be a good idea, but apparently it's not going to be easy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7735144.stm

These days, there is no question of a bombardment of the port of Eyl, the main pirate base on the Somali coast. That might be the most effective response but it would require a UN Security Council resolution.
There is a resolution (1838, passed in October) which authorises the use of "necessary means", meaning force if need be, to stop piracy in international waters. There is also another resolution (1816) which allows anti-pirate operations within Somali waters, but only with the agreement of the Somali transitional government.

 

[CoryKS]

The Saudi government refuses to negotiate with terrorist and pirates but say that the owners of the ship have the final word on it. Stupid I know, but it's how they run things over there.

Professional jealousy?

 

[MA-Caver]

Professional jealousy?

:lol: probably

 

[MA-Caver]

5 Somali pirates drown with ransom share

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer Mohamed Olad Hassan, Associated Press Writer – 37 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090110/ap_on_bi_ge/piracy
MOGADISHU, Somalia – 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.
He said five people died and three people reached shore after swimming for several hours. Daud Nure was not part of the pirate operation but knew those involved.
Jamal Abdulle, a resident of the Somali coastal town of Haradhere, close to where the ship had been anchored, also confirmed that the boat sank and that the eight's portion of the ransom money that had been shared among dozens of pirates was lost.
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.

Well seems that Davy Jones is alive and well after all and still taking on new mates and plunders... arr... thar be justice for ye.
You get the image of these guys with bags of gold and refusing to let them go and the bags dragging them down to the depths below. Just makes ye wanna laugh don't it? iratesku

 

[Cryozombie]

Somalia is I believe one of the largest weapons markets in the world, so the pirates already have access to a huge arsenal. I recall reading that an AK47 is like $7 there.

Yeah, mine cost me a lot more, and isn't as good as the ones they get for 7 bucks. Stupid regulations. Grumble Grumble.

At least I bought mine when they were only around 200 as opposed to now when they are closer to 900.

As far as stopping them... While I'm certain there are weapons that can be brought to bear against those pirate ships with longer ranges and more accurate abilities than their RPGs... maybe they should just divert their shipping lanes away from Somalia?

 

[TimoS]

maybe they should just divert their shipping lanes away from Somalia?

Easier said than done. To do that, they would basically have take a long detour and go around Africa. Take a look at this map of Africa

http://www.globe-images.net/africa/africa-image.jpg

The Somali pirates operate around the Horn of Africa and as you can see, there isn't that much open sea there. Also note that e.g. the now released Saudi tanker was attacked about 800 km off the coast

 

[arnisador]

Old methods may be the only ones that work here...execute pirates when they are found at sea. I don't have a better idea.

 

[Randy Strausbaugh]

Make 'em walk the plank.
String 'em from the yardarm.
Arrrr!