Pirates seize ship carrying tanks, ammo

Thanks Mike .

Pirates seize Indian dhow with 13 crew off Somalia

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• Tue Oct 21, 6:20 am ET
  

AFP/File – Canadian Navy sailors escort a ship into Mogadishu on September 18. NATO warships will start to combat …

• KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Armed pirates in speedboats have hijacked an Indian dhow with 13 crew members off the northern coast of Somalia, a maritime official said Tuesday"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_re_af/as_somalia_piracy_2

 

And it looks like some others are taking the attack against the pirates too.

Somali forces free pirate hostages



(CNN) -- Somali forces on Tuesday freed the 11-man crew of a hijacked ship and captured the 10 pirates who seized the vessel last week, according to the foreign minister for Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of northern Somalia.
Puntland's coast guard and Rescue Commando Forces raided the Panama-flagged ship -- the Wail -- in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), Puntland Foreign Minister Ali Abdi Aware told CNN.
Ten pirates hijacked the ship, with its crew of two Somalis and nine Syrians, Thursday night, Aware said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/14/pirates/

 

What Somali forces, a different set of pirates from another tribe?

 

The Puntland's Coast Guard and Rescue Commando Forces!!! LOL

 

"It was the Puntland forces' second attempt to free the ship. On Sunday, their rescue effort triggered a gun battle that left two pirates and a Puntland soldier dead.
The Wail was hijacked while it was heading from Oman to the Somali coastal town of Bosasso -- located in Puntland."

"Puntland -- which declared its independence from war-wracked Somalia a decade ago but is not internationally recognized -- wants the international community to do more to combat the problem, Aware said."

 

Too bad the rest of Somaila couldn't be like Somaliland .

 

Really? They don't seem to be in that much of a hurry do they?


Russia wants to fight pirates in Somalia's waters

Thu Oct 23, 7:34 am ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia, which sent a warship to Somalia's coast to combat pirates, asked the African nation on Thursday for carte blanche to use force in its territorial waters.
Last month Moscow sent the frigate "Neustrashimy" -- or "Fearless" -- to the Gulf of Aden, and the Russian navy said at the time that its ships would regularly head to zones where there was a danger from maritime piracy.
Some observers say Russia's navy is being used by the Kremlin to project its renewed power.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081023/wl_nm/us_russia_somalia_piracy;_ylt=Aq.7c2JHtIZ.SorRLorlyOK96Q8F

 

Did that one arrive? What ever happened to the other one. The one that translates into "Intrepid"

 

I'm no expert on the Russian language, but I'll bet that "Intrepid" and "Fearless" are alternative translations of "Neustrashimy".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read reports that both the Government of Somalia and the UN have given permission for other countries to take whatever military measures are necessary to suppress piracy in the territorial waters of Somalia. In fact, didn't Somalia specifically name Russia when it said gave such permission? What else does Russia need (besides actually having some military assets on the scene, LOL!) to proceed?

Well, if the Neustrashimy's performance is an exercise in Russian "power projection", I'd say the US has absolutely nothing to fear, LOL!

 

Pirates to kill crew on arms ship if NATO ships attack


NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Food and water are running low on the Ukrainian arms ship hijacked by Somali pirates, and a pirate spokesman warned Thursday if the ship was attacked by NATO forces its 20-man crew would be among those killed.

Armed Somali pirates, at top and in red boat, guard the captives on the hijacked Ukrainian arms ship MV Faina.





Spokesman Sugule Ali also mocked comments by Tomex Team, the firm operating the MV Faina cargo ship, which said it has accumulated only $1 million toward the $20 million ransom the pirates initially demanded.
"That is worthless," he said. "It would only pay for several nights' stay in a hotel!"
However, Ali declined to say whether the pirates had lowered their ransom request.
He told the Associated Press that supplies were running out but the pirates would share what remained with the crew.
"We Somalis don't eat in front of a hungry person," he said, speaking Thursday by satellite phone. "We will share our food with them."
But he repeated his promise to fight back if attacked, regardless of the arrival of a flotilla of NATO warships.
"Either we get the money or hold onto the ship. And if attacked, we will fight back to the bitter end," Ali said.


"The important thing, though, is if we die they will die too," he added, referring to the Faina's crew.
The Faina was heading for a Kenyan port with a cargo of 33 battle tanks and heavy weapons when armed pirates seized it September 25 off coast of Somalia. The ship is now anchored off Somalia's coast near the central town of Hobyo, where Ali was seeking medical treatment Thursday.
U.S. warships have surrounded the Faina for weeks, making sure its heavy weapons don't fall into the hands of any insurgent groups linked to al Qaeda.
Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year have surged 75 percent, the International Maritime Bureau said Thursday, calling for serious international action against the brigands who "operate with impunity."
It says the waters off Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden, are the world's most dangerous, accounting for 63 -- or nearly a third -- of the 199 reported pirate attacks worldwide between January and September 2008.
The agency urged navies around the world to target the pirate's main supply ships before they succeed in hijacking cargo vessels.
"The locations and descriptions of these mother ships are known. We therefore call upon all governments to direct their navies to disrupt the activities of the pirates and their mother ships. This is vital to protect this major world seaway," bureau director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement.
The lawless Horn of Africa nation has had no central government since a group of clan-based warlords overthrew a socialist dictator in 1991.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/23/Somalia.piracy.ap/index.html

 

IMO It sounds so much better and braver if you ASK for specific permission rather then recieve the permission in general LOL. Looks like the good old PR mill is trying to make them look more aggressive.

 

Then attack then with some non-NATO forces LOL.

 

Like some Russian forces. Oops! I forgot there are no Russian forces on hand. Where is the Russian Navy when you need it? Sightseeing in Egypt, or playing patticake with Chavez in the Caribbean! What a way to run a country, LOL!

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Putin and his Neo-Soviets look less than anxious to come to grips with the mean old nasty pirates?

 

Exactly DA. Seems they are taking their sweet time. Perhaps they are waiting for someone else to do something. Or for something to be screwed up so they can come to the rescue?

 

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I dunno, but something is seriously rotten in Denmark, or rather Moscow, in this case.

I think there are a number of possibilities, including something in the ship's cargo that would be extremely embarrassing if it came to the world's attention.

You might be right about them wanting things to get screwed up, so they could come riding in on a white horse and put things right, but that would seem to be a very risky game.

Maybe the Spetsnaz isn't all that confident of being able to assault the ship and rescue the crew without getting half of them killed in the process. After all, the recent Russian hostage rescue operations don't exactly have a great track record in that regard.

I really don't know what the reason for the Russian's reluctance to get involved in this situation, but I'll bet American and NATO intelligence organizations are watching with great interest.

 

I'm a bit lost here, why would the Russian government be so interested in rescuing an Ukrainian ship carrying Ukrainian cargo with a mostly Ukrainian crew (inc. 3 Russians) under Belize flag, other than to show the blue St.Andrews Cross?

 

Supposedly to protect Russian nationals and Russian interests .

 

And the Ukrainians claim they know nothing about the ship or it's cargo, and apparently, don't give a damn about their own nationals. That leaves the Russians as "protectors of "Slavic interests and citizens". Makes for great press for the Neo-Soviets inside Russia. LOL!

 

Perhaps they're waiting for a supply of Fentanyl to use like they did in that Moscow movie theater 10/26/02.
I'm allergic to it, as the Hospital discovered, much to their "Brick-Passing" chagrin.
When their belly buttons touch their backbones (from hunger) perhaps they'll give up?
The weaker they get, the easier they'll be to overcome.
Either way, this will set a precident for the future of the new world order.
Is "Nanny" there for you?, or are you on your own?.

 

Im thinking that the Ukrainians are wishing it would just go away. And of course it is great press for good ol "I wish for the old days" Putin.