Pirates seize ship carrying tanks, ammo

I have always advocated the use of Q-Ships LOL. That would certainly help. I think it has to do with International Maritime law. Im not sure though.

 

There should be more enforcement on this. More ocean then land. Gotta be more careful I think, and if so situations like this wouldn't necessarily be happening to this scale.

 

There are a few Naval ships from the US and other countries navies off the coast of Somalia right now trying to help in the prevention of the pirates.

 

I guess. You never hear about it really. Anything I read on naval piracy is more South East Asia. Aswell as a assortment of youtube videos. Regardless, I just feel a little unformed and perhaps deliverance of the article has made me even more attentive to how things are different everywhere else. Local News don't say much about pirates or anything beyond Country. *shrugs*

 

The French navy's Le Commandant Bouan, center, arrives to assist Le Ponant off Somalia's coast in April. French troops swarmed the cruise ship after Somali pirates attacked.

French Defense Ministry file photo via AP

Updated 7/21/2008 12:33 AM ​

DANGEROUS WATERS


U.S. targets Somali pirates

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    By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY​

The U.S. and international military forces are taking more aggressive action off the African coast as bolder and more violent pirates imperil oil shipments and other trade.
The area is a key shipping route for cargo transported to and from the U.S. and elsewhere. In response to pirate attacks, the U.S. has stepped up its patrols to deter them and sometimes intervened to rescue hostages and ships. It also has increased its intelligence-sharing in the area, says Navy Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, which patrols Middle Eastern and African waters.
The U.S. is "very concerned about the increasing number of acts of piracy and armed robbery" off the Somali coast, he says. Somalia's weak government has admitted it can't control its territorial waters, and Nigeria is fending off a rebel group.
A U.N. Security Council resolution, pushed by the U.S. and passed June 2, allows the U.S. and its coalition allies to intervene by "all necessary means" for the next six months to stop piracy off the Somali coast. Coalition ships have since scared off pirates in at least two attacks, says the London-based International Maritime Bureau.
African coastlines have surpassed Asian shipping lanes as the most dangerous in the world. Hijackings and hostage takings are increasing off the coasts of Somalia in the east and Nigeria in the west. The Asian straits, particularly Indonesia, held the top spot for most of the past decade.

Armed attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers and cruise ships are estimated to cost more than $1 billion a year, says Peter Chalk, a senior security analyst at RAND Corp. "Piracy does affect U.S. commerce. It is to the economic interest of the United States that the sea lanes are as stable as possible," Chalk says.
Piracy in Nigeria is leading to a drop in oil shipments because shipping companies are reluctant to risk ships, cargos and crew, he says. "That has implications for U.S. strategic energy supplies."
African waters account for 56% of all pirate attacks, spiking from 27 attacks in the first half of 2005 to 64 attacks since January. Meanwhile, pirate attacks elsewhere are dropping, reports the Piracy Reporting Center, a Malaysian-based group that monitors attacks for the bureau.
The attacks are more violent than in Asia, says bureau manager Cyrus Mody. Pirates near Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, Nigeria and Tanzania took 172 hostages in the first half of the year.
Somali pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades regularly hijack ships and hold crews for ransom.
The Lourdes Tide, a supply ship working for a U.S. company, was attacked in Nigeria on May 13 by armed pirates who demanded a ransom. Pirates released the vessel and 11-person crew June 16.
The United Nations' World Food Program has requested military escorts to get its ships carrying 32,000 tons of food each month into Somalia, where civil strife and drought have worsened the food crisis. A Dutch frigate ended its escort mission in June, says Peter Smerdon, the group's spokesman in Africa.
Ships alter course by hundreds of miles and expend as much as a day's supply of fuel to avoid Somali pirates, says Michael Livanos, president of Scio Shipping, based in New York. "The costs are gigantic," he says.
The bold pirate attacks along the African coast come as attacks decline in a key Asian shipping lane.
The U.S. military says it donated equipment, coordinated joint training exercises and nudged Indonesia to cooperate with its two maritime neighbors, Singapore and Malaysia. It wanted the three countries to get control of the Strait of Malacca, an important waterway for oil shipments, cargo and cruise ships.
"It's as critical a chunk of water as exists anywhere in the world," says Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Their efforts seem to be working. Ships sailing near Indonesia reported 13 attacks between Jan. 1 and June 30, down from 64 in the first six months of 2003 — an 80% drop, according to the Maritime Bureau's half-yearly report. Ships reported two attacks in the Malacca Strait so far this year.
The U.S. bolstered Indonesia's Coast Guard and Navy with 15 high-speed patrol boats and seven radar units. It trained with navies from all three countries and persuaded them to share intelligence about ships passing through international and territorial waters. Malaysia coordinated a joint air patrol with neighboring countries to surveil the waterway.
"If it wasn't safe to bring cargo through the Strait of Malacca, the U.S. Navy would go there and make it safe," says Vice Adm. Doug Crowder, who commands the U.S. 7th Fleet, based in Japan. Crowder says the cooperation now makes that unnecessary.
That same formula is unlikely to work in Africa. "If you were to try to call the leader of Somalia and ask to come for a visit, who do you call?" Keating says.

U.S. targets Somali pirates - USATODAY.com

 

I ranted on another thread that the US should invest in some retro naval vessels (Fletcher class destroyers) to better patrol those waters. The pirates are low tech and going at them with 21st century blue ocean naval vessels is like using a 30 .06 to shoot a rat. Granted, an AEGIS System on a 600 foot modern cruiser can be a command ship, but the smaller in fist to fist fighting should be done by an appropiate sized and armed vessel.

 

It's a hot spot, that would need an international police. They also take hostages and trade them for money. They recently got a fishership with Basques and a French tourist couple from Tahiti. The special Forces liberated the hostages last week , killing one pirate and taking the six other ones prisonners. I don't have a link in English for this story, but if someone finds one he can add it (not the Ponnan story that has already been posted by JC, but which also ended with an armed intervention killing some of the pirates and getting the ship back with crew unhurt.)

 

You'll just bury it hull down so that just the turret is showing, plant "Day Lillie's" around it, and smear chi-chi-chi-Chia seeds on the rest (suburban camouflage).
BTW SOLD, we don't deliver, it will be in a beached & scuttled Ukrainian freighter off the Somali coast.
Some possible water & fire damage ... as-is ... no warranty.

 

No problmem ,they are sturdy and will resist to anything. Bring your can opener though.

 

Thats why I suggested using Q-ships. Let them try to attack an innocent looking ship and SURPRISE!!!! Just some flotsam in the water.

 

No telling these days. I wonder if any of those Pirates actually knows how to read what buttons and levers or whatever-that will even start the things? Most likely not. I wonder whose :headbash: putin will want for this?

 

Who knows LOL? Though I do like the booy trapped containers idea though. Of course with the Q-ship I would love to see the pirate's faces when the guns are revealed and open fire!!!

 

Hi JC, heh heh, that's exactly what I was thinking-having some heavy Artillery on board ship-such as Flak 88's for starters ;-))

 

It would be precious!! Video it and broadcast the results of what happened LOL.

 

Heh heh, and it should be required viewing, by any who wanted to join these groups. :-D

 

LOL Yep. But I think so may think that killing them would be too harsh LOL. That we should just sit down and talk to them. Or maybe make more laws against them and take away thier guns LOL.

 

I like the "Q' ship idea as well.
Put out a fake cargo manifest (Diamonds, Opium, Liquor), Internet location route, distress signal (whatever), of something you know they'd be interested in.
Hide one of each of these on board, warn them away, and if they come in ... make them disappear. Bye Bye

 

US destroyer watching hijacked ship off Somalia
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 27, 3:50 PM ET


MOGADISHU, Somalia - A U.S. destroyer off the coast of Somalia closed in Saturday on a hijacked Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and ammunition, watching it to ensure the pirates who seized it do not try to remove any cargo or crew. As Russian and American ships pursued the hijackers of the Ukrainian-operated vessel, pirates seized another ship off Somalia's coast, an international anti-piracy group said.
The Greek tanker with a crew of 19 is carrying refined petroleum from Europe to the Middle East. It was ambushed Friday in the Gulf of Aden, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center based in Malaysia. He said pirates chased and fired at the ship before boarding it.
In Somalia, a man claiming to be spokesman of the pirates holding the Ukrainian ship said the hijackers want $35 million to release the vessel. But there was no way to immediately verify his claim that he represented the pirates.
On Thursday, pirates seized the Ukrainian ship Faina en route to Kenya with 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. Russia's navy said Friday it had dispatched a warship to the area, and the United States said American naval ships were tracking the Ukrainian ship with special concern because of the weaponry on board.
The hijackings were the latest in a series of audacious maritime attacks off the coast of Somalia, a war-torn country that has been without a functioning government since 1991.
A U.S. defense official said the destroyer USS Howard is pursuing the hijacked Ukrainian vessel and is now within a few thousand yards of it. The hijacked ship is anchored a few miles off the Somalia coast, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation.
The destroyer is watching to make sure the pirates do not try to remove anything, the official added.
The USS Howard's Web site says it is equipped for combat operations at sea with surface-to-air missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles, antisubmarine rockets, torpedoes, and a five-inch rapid-fire deck gun.
Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the Faina had not yet docked at any port and was still at sea.
Kenya "is not aware of any credible (ransom) demand being made," Mutua said in statement on his Web site. He said Kenya "does not and will not negotiate with international criminals, pirates and terrorists."
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the Kenyan Defense Department was using its contacts to try to resolve the problem. It said Kenyan authorities were sharing information with Somalia, Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and Britain in an effort to secure the swift release of the ship and its crew.
A man who spoke to the Associated Press in Somalia by telephone and claimed to be a spokesman for the pirates said they were seeking a ransom.
"We want the Kenyan government to negotiate with us about a $35 million ransom we want for the release of the ship and the cargo without any other intervention," said the man, who identified himself as Ali Yare Abdulkadir. "If not, we will do what we can and off load the small arms and take them away."
Abdulkadir, who local residents in the northeastern Somali region of Puntland said represented the pirates, declined to reveal his whereabouts. He said the ship is somewhere along Somalia's northeastern coast and warned against any military action to liberate it.
"Any one who tries it will be responsible for the consequences," Abdulkadir said.
A Russian Web site posted what it said was an audio recording of a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian ship's first mate. He said the hijackers are seeking a ransom and have anchored close to the Somali shore.

There was no way to immediately confirm the authenticity of the report on Web site Life.ru. Calls to the phone number listed on the site went to an answering machine at the publisher of two established tabloids that have reportedly reliably on news in the past — one of them also called Life.
On the recording, a man who identified himself as first mate Viktor Nikolsky said the hijackers were asking for a ransom but he did not know how much. Life.ru showed images of what it said were the Russian passports for both Nikolsky and the ship's captain, Vladimir Kolobkov.
Nikolsky said there were 35 people on the ship — 21 of them crew — and most were being held in a single overheated room, he added. Nobody aboard the Faina was injured, but the captain was suffering from heatstroke and his condition was "not so good," the man identified as Nikolsky said. It was unclear exactly when the purported conversation took place.
Ukrainian officials had said there were 21 crew members aboard — 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and a Latvian.
Nikolsky said the ship was anchored near the Somali town of Hobyo and that two other apparently hijacked ships were nearby. Hobyo is in the central region of Mudug, south of Puntland. It is a natural port and does not have any facilities.
Kenyan Defense Department spokesman Bogita Ongeri said the Ukrainian vessel was seized in international waters in the Gulf of Aden. He said that the pirates hijacked the ship beyond 200 nautical miles away from the coast of Puntland. Two hundred nautical miles in maritime law mark the end of a country's territorial waters.
Long a hazard for maritime shippers — particularly in the Indian Ocean and its peripheries — high-seas piracy has triggered greater alarm since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States because of its potential as a funding and supply source for global terrorism.
Pirate attacks worldwide have surged this year and Africa remains the world's top piracy hotspot, with 24 reported attacks in Somalia and 18 in Nigeria this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center. French President Nicolas Sarkozy this month called on other nations to move boldly against pirates, calling the phenomenon "a genuine industry of crime."

US destroyer watching hijacked ship off Somalia - Yahoo! News

 

Hinged flaps aft of the anchor hid 3" guns aboard USS Anacapa.

 

I agree. They should be the ones. Though I would wonder who would pay the ransom?

"A Russian Web site posted what it said was an audio recording of a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian ship's first mate. He said the hijackers are seeking a ransom and have anchored close to the Somali shore."