Pirates seize ship carrying tanks, ammo

"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli"!!

 

another article concerning an "overview" of the arguments against having armed guards on the ships. In the last set of paragraphs.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, a global clearinghouse for piracy reporting based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, , 88 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Aden alone this year. And 14 hijacked ships remain in the gulf — the heavily armed hijackers still on board, with the crews, cargo and the vessels themselves being held for ransom.

From:


Hijacked Supertanker Anchors Off Somalia
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/africa/19pirate.html?bl&ex=1227157200&en=19a61f8eea16eb41&ei=5087%0A

 

Some realities;

1. Destroyers and "jeep carriers" are not "Brown water" navy vessels. The US Navy currently has in commission all the vessel types needed to deal with the pirates, either at sea or on the beach.

2. It is not a lack of appropriate assets that keeps the US Navy from tackling the problem of pirates in, and around the Horn of Africa, but a lack of political will occasioned by media criticism, both international and domestic, of the tactics required to be successful.

 

They seem to be getting bolder and moving more afar to hit thier targets .

"On Monday Mullen said he's "stunned" at the pirates' ability to hijack a vessel in the open ocean so far from the coast (though most attacks occur closer to the Gulf of Aden, this one took place 450 miles off the coast of Kenya).
"[The pirates are] very well armed. Tactically, they are very good," Mullen said.
Indeed, the seizure of the Saudi tanker is the latest in a series of high-stakes incidents in recent months. Piracy has long plagued the waters off the Horn of Africa, but attacks this year have spiked 75 percent, according to this video from AP.

Just last week, the British Royal Navy got into a firefight with Somali pirates attempting to hijack a Danish cargo vessel. As the Times of London recounts:

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory."
Drama on the high seas - Yahoo! News

 

Somali pirates hijack Thai fishing boat, 16 crew

Tue Nov 18, 11:32 pm ET
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A maritime official says pirates have hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia — the eighth ship seized in the area in the past two weeks.
Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau says it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday as it traveled toward the Mideast.
The vessel was captured the same day that pirates hijacked an Iranian bulk cargo carrier with 25 crew members. On Saturday, Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude, the most brazen attack in the region yet.

Somali pirates hijack Thai fishing boat, 16 crew - Yahoo! News

 

At least someone is trying to get the job done.


India: Pirate 'mother ship' left in flames

(CNN) -- An Indian warship has exchanged fire with a pirate "mother vessel" off the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, leaving the ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden, an official said Wednesday.
A file photo shows the Indian frigate Tabar, which was involved in the skirmish.





The skirmish took place Tuesday evening about 525 kilometers southwest of Oman's Salalah port when the frigate INS Tabar spotted a suspected pirate ship with two speedboats in tow, India's Defense Ministry reported.

"This vessel was similar in description to the 'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins," the ministry said in a written statement.
The battle follows a recent surge in piracy off the Horn of Africa, including the weekend hijacking of a Saudi-owned supertanker by pirates based in largely lawless Somalia.

Three other vessels have been captured since then in what a London-based maritime official called a "completely unprecedented" situation.
When the Tabar's crew hailed the ship and demanded it stop for inspection, the pirates threatened to destroy the Indian ship, the ministry reported.

"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar," the ministry said.
The Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board, the statement said. Two speedboats in tow behind the ship fled; one was found abandoned after a pursuit by the Tabar.

It was not clear Wednesday whether the mother ship sank after the fighting, naval spokesman Prem Raj Rawat told CNN.

Michael Howlett, assistant director of the International Maritime Bureau in London, which tracks pirate attacks, said the recent upsurge in activity was unprecedented. "We've never seen a situation like this," he said. On Tuesday, pirates hijacked a Thai fishing vessel and a Chinese-flagged Iranian cargo ship carrying wheat in the waters off the Horn of Africa.

A third ship -- a Chinese fishing vessel -- was hijacked Saturday, but word did not reach authorities until Tuesday, Howlett said.
Noel Choong, who heads the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said 95 pirate attacks have taken place so far this year in the Gulf of Aden.

Of those, 39 resulted in successful captures; 17 of those vessels and their crews -- a total of about 300 sailors -- remain in the hands of the pirates.
But the seizure of the 300,000-ton supertanker Sirius Star took place well south of the gulf, in the Indian Ocean off Kenya.

Pirate attacks are spreading farther north to the Gulf of Aden and farther south off the Kenyan coast, Choong said.
"The risks are low and the returns are extremely high for these pirates," he told CNN. Pirates know that their chances of getting killed or captured during a hijacking are very low, he said.
India: Pirate 'mother ship' left in flames - CNN.com

 

Spud Murpny, For Queen and Country....Ex Sas 2 Para. 1990's quotes in his own book about the time he and other ex members regularly served on board all manner of ships in Gulf and other dangerous areas as civilian experts. Armed experts.

I cannot believe this practice is not still the case.

Whole thing smells.

 

A start is a start, but it would be better if they just sunk them instead of setting 'em ablaze or soon there will be more Greenpeace boats than pirates over there.

 

It's OK, we can burn those boats too.

 

"Pirate attacks are spreading farther north to the Gulf of Aden and farther south off the Kenyan coast, Choong said.
"The risks are low and the returns are extremely high for these pirates," he told CNN. Pirates know that their chances of getting killed or captured during a hijacking are very low, he said."

Then this needs to change soon. And It looks like that may be starting.

 

Somali Pirates Keep Hundreds of Hostages in Pirate City of Eyl
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
By Joseph Abrams

The pirate city of Eyl is Somalia's only boomtown. In a country that has seen 14 provisional governments since 1991 — all of them corrupt — high-seas hijackings have been the best business in town, and may net upwards of $100 million this year.
The seizure of an Iranian-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden Tuesday was only the latest in a series of assaults that have accelerated drastically since the summer.
The International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center said before Wednesday's hijacking that 88 attacks have been reported in the area this year, including 36 successful hijackings. About 14 vessels — and 250 crew members — are still being held hostage. Intelligence sources believe the number of vessels held presently is about 15.
Many seafarers are receiving double pay for traveling by Somalia's dangerous coast. Most of the kidnap victims are Filipinos, who constitute about one-third of the international shipping force.
Major shipping operators already bypass the Gulf of Aden, traveling all the way around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip to avoid the waters that lie before the Suez Canal.

"It's got a lot of people's attention and is starting to have impact on the commercial side," said Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The risks for international shipping and the industries it serves are enormous. A report on the piracy crisis prepared by Chatham House, a British foreign affairs institute, called it a "very serious" problem, making insurance premiums skyrocket and raising the future prices of goods.
A number of navies have started sending warships to the gulf to protect their shipping interests, and Blackwater is planning its own small anti-piracy fleet. These renewed efforts haven't stopped pirates just yet.
Heres a list of ten of the biggest vessels still in pirates' hands.
1. Sirius Star
Hijacked November 17
Cargo: 2 million barrels of oil, valued at $100 million
Crew: 25 men
2. MV Karagol
Hijacked November 12
Cargo: 4,000 tons of chemicals
Crew: 14 Turks
3. MV Stolt Strength
Hijacked November 10
Cargo: Phosphoric acid
Crew: 23 Filipinos
4. CEC Future
Hijacked November 7
Cargo: Unknown
Crew: 11 Russians, one Georgian, one Lithuanian
5. MV Yasa Neslihan
Hijacked October 29
Cargo: Iron ore
Crew: 20 Turks
6. MT African Sanderling
Hijacked October 15
Cargo: Unknown
Crew: 21 Filipinos
7. MV Faina
Hijacked September 25
Cargo: 33 T-72 Russian battle tanks
Crew: 17 Ukrainians, 2 Latvians, one Russian
8. MV Captain Stefanos
Hijacked September 21
Cargo: Unknown
Crew: 17 Filipinos, two other nationals
9. Centauri
Hijacked September 18
Cargo: 17,000 tons of salt
Crew: 25 Filipinos
10. MV Great Creation
Hijacked September 17
Cargo: Chemical fertilizer
Crew: 24 Chinese, one Sri Lankan

FOXNews.com - Somali Pirates Keep Hundreds of Hostages in Pirate City of Eyl - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

 

Somali pirates transform villages into boomtowns
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN and ELIZABETH KENNEDY, Associated Press Writers Mohamed Olad Hassan And Elizabeth Kennedy, Associated Press Writers – Wed Nov 19, 7:33 pm ET

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women — even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.
And in an impoverished country where every public institution has crumbled, they have become heroes in the steamy coastal dens they operate from because they are the only real business in town.
"The pirates depend on us, and we benefit from them," said Sahra Sheik Dahir, a shop owner in Harardhere, the nearest village to where a hijacked Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million in crude was anchored Wednesday.
These boomtowns are all the more shocking in light of Somalia's violence and poverty: Radical Islamists control most of the country's south, meting out lashings and stonings for accused criminals. There has been no effective central government in nearly 20 years, plunging this arid African country into chaos.
Life expectancy is just 46 years; a quarter of children die before they reach 5.
But in northern coastal towns like Harardhere, Eyl and Bossaso, the pirate economy is thriving thanks to the money pouring in from pirate ransoms that have reached $30 million this year alone.
"There are more shops and business is booming because of the piracy," said Sugule Dahir, who runs a clothing shop in Eyl. "Internet cafes and telephone shops have opened, and people are just happier than before."
In Harardhere, residents came out in droves to celebrate as the looming oil ship came into focus this week off the country's lawless coast.
Businessmen gathered cigarettes, food and cold bottles of orange soda, setting up kiosks for the pirates who come to shore to resupply almost daily.
Dahir said she even started a layaway plan for them.
"They always take things without paying and we put them into the book of debts," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Later, when they get the ransom money, they pay us a lot."
Residents make sure the pirates are well-stocked in khat, a popular narcotic leaf, and aren't afraid to gouge a bit when it comes to the pirates' deep pockets.
"I can buy a packet of cigarettes for about $1 but I will charge the pirate $1.30," said Abdulqadir Omar, an Eyl resident.
While pirate villages used to have houses made of corrugated iron sheets, now, there are stately looking homes made of sturdy, white stones.
"Regardless of how the money is coming in, legally or illegally, I can say it has started a life in our town," said Shamso Moalim, a 36-year-old mother of five in Harardhere.
"Our children are not worrying about food now, and they go to Islamic schools in the morning and play soccer in the afternoon. They are happy."
The attackers generally treat their hostages well in anticipation of a big payday, hiring caterers on shore to cook spaghetti, grilled fish and roasted meat that will appeal to Western palates.

And when the payday comes, the money sometimes literally falls from the sky.
Pirates say the ransom arrives in burlap sacks, sometimes dropped from buzzing helicopters, or in waterproof suitcases loaded onto skiffs in the roiling, shark-infested sea.
"The oldest man on the ship always takes the responsibility of collecting the money, because we see it as very risky, and he gets some extra payment for his service later," Aden Yusuf, a pirate in Eyl, told AP over VHF radio.
The pirates use money-counting machines — the same technology seen at foreign exchange bureaus worldwide — to ensure the cash is real. All payments are done in cash because Somalia has no functioning banking system.
"Getting this equipment is easy for us, we have business connections with people in Dubai, Nairobi, Djibouti and other areas," Yusuf said. "So we send them money and they send us what we want."
Despite a beefed-up international presence, the pirates continue to seize ships, moving further out to sea and demanding ever-larger ransoms. The pirates operate mostly from the semiautonomous Puntland region, where local lawmakers have been accused of helping them and taking a cut of the ransoms.
For the most part, however, the regional officials say they have no power to stop piracy.
Meanwhile, towns that once were eroded by years of poverty and chaos are now bustling with restaurants, Land Cruisers and Internet cafes. Residents also use their gains to buy generators — allowing full days of electricity, once an unimaginable luxury in Somalia.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of pirates operating in Somalia, but they number in the thousands. And though the bandits do sometimes get nabbed, piracy is generally considered a sure bet to a better life. NATO and the U.S. Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, up to now, uncommon.

Somali pirates transform villages into boomtowns - Yahoo! News

 

Its nice to hear that piracy is doing so good for the local economy. Too bad thay can't put the same kind of effort into making Somalia better like Somaliland or Puntland.

 

Funny how everyone knows where the pirates lair is and yet nothing can or will be done. Get permission from the Somali "government".

 

Russia has permission. Why don't they do it? Maybe they will, if they get some territorial concessions, or Russian Nationals are being threatened. Oh wait, they are being threatened and taken prisoner, and one has even died.

 

Its not just Russia that has "permission". With all the other Naval forces in the area it should not be a problem taking action. Obviously the Somali "government" has no control there and could use a helping hand .

 

Oh Look! Just because a ship from a Muslim country was hijacked now the Islamists want to help? LOL


Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.
Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.
"We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia. We will fight them (the pirates)," Musa told AP Television News.
In the past two weeks, Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have seized eight vessels including the huge Saudi supertanker. Several hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates. The pirates dock the hijacked ships near the eastern and southern Somali coast and negotiate for ransom.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Friday that the Saudi government was not negotiating with pirates and would not do so, but that what the ship's owners did was up to them.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. When an umbrella Islamic group, which included the al-Shabab, controlled most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006, there were few reports of piracy.
The U.S., however, considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization and accuses the group of harboring the al-Qaida-linked terrorists who allegedly blew up the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing more than 230 people.
Now the umbrella Islamic group is split. But in recent weeks Islamists have again seized control of most of southern Somalia with al-Shabab holding the largest territory.
Kenya's foreign affairs minister said Friday that all nations need to work together to immediately end the increased piracy because it can disrupt world trade, adding that the pirates have earned as much as $150 million over the past year.
Most of the attacks have taken place the Gulf of Aden that links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, through which about 20,000 vessels pass each year.
"Major trading countries, India, Malaysia, China, your vessels are in danger. Our major trading partners, Germany, Britain and others, our cargo is in danger. We must act now and not tomorrow," Moses Wetangula told diplomats meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to discuss the increased threat of piracy.
He also called on ship owners not to pay ransom when their vessels are hijacked because such payments have emboldened the pirates.
The Somali pirates have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government. Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades — weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia.
Also Friday, one of the world's largest oil tanker companies warned that it may divert cargo shipments, which would boost costs up to 40 percent.
Frontline Ltd., which ferries five to 10 tankers of crude a month through the treacherous Gulf of Aden, said it was negotiating a change of shipping routes with some of its customers, including oil giants Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Chevron.
Martin Jensen, Frontline's acting chief executive, said that sending tankers around South Africa instead would extend the trip by 40 percent.

Bermuda-based Frontline plans to make a decision whether to change shipping routes within a week, Jensen said.
"It's not only our costs, but also those of the people who have a $100 million cargo on board," Jensen said. "We're not going to make a unilateral decision so we've been debating this with our customers."
A.P Moller-Maersk, the world's largest container-shipping company, on Thursday ordered some of its slower vessels to avoid the Gulf of Aden and head the long way around Africa.
The Copenhagen-based company said it was telling ships "without adequate speed," mainly tankers, to sail the long route around Africa unless they can join convoys with naval escorts in the gulf, group executive Soeren Skou said.
The company didn't say how many ships would be affected by the decision, but said it usually has eight tanker transits in the area per month. And Norwegian shipping group Odfjell SE on Wednesday ordered its more than 90 tankers to avoid the Gulf of Aden because of the risk of attack by pirates.

Islamists say they'll fight Somali pirates - Yahoo! News

 

Only Muslim ships should be off limits?

 

Thats what it looks like to me LOL. What hypocrites . Only if it concerns people and property of thier own faith it looks like.

 

Carpet bomb.