Pirates: Part Two

Hi,

Here is a lnk to the MSNBC Article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30178013/

I guess BBC America on NPR isn't what they broadcast to the rest of the world via NEWS 24 and the Web as unless I am mistaken NPR is an audio only presentation.

I just found this when searching to see what BBC NA really does.

BBC America - Home Page
The best and the latest of British television in the United States. 60% of the programming on this new US cable channel is original to the American market.

Yes, it is radio, I haven't turned on my tv in a month, sorry.

Totally agree. The one captured will be a great source of intel, and great propaganda. The other 3 will be pretty good for PR in the area. Can't imagine how this was even possible. Navy seals are amazing.

From CNN.com:

Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says

(CNN) -- The American captain of a cargo ship held hostage by pirates jumped overboard from the lifeboat where he was being held, and U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed three of his four captors, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation.

Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

At the time of the shootings, the fourth pirate was aboard the Bainbridge negotiating with officials, the source said. That pirate was taken into custody.

Maersk Line Limited, owner of the cargo ship that Phillips captained, issued a statement saying it was informed at 1:30 p.m. by the U.S. government that he had been rescued. John Reinhart, president and CEO, called Phillips' wife, Andrea, to tell her the good news.

Crew members from the ship, the Maersk Alabama, were "jubilant" when they received word, the statement says.

"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be re-united with his family," Reinhart said. "Maersk Line Limited is deeply grateful to the Navy, the FBI and so many others for their tireless efforts to secure Richard's freedom."

"We look forward to welcoming him home in the coming days," Reinhart added.

Earlier Sunday, Maersk said the U.S. Navy had informed the company that it had sighted Phillips in the lifeboat where the pirates were holding him.

A man who answered the door at Phillips' home in Underhill, Vermont, on Sunday afternoon told CNN's Stephanie Elam that the family had known the news for hours. He said details would have to come from Virginia, apparently referring to Maersk's home base in Norfolk.

On Saturday, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship by Somali pirates, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The probe will be led by the FBI's New York field office, which is responsible for looking into cases involving U.S. citizens in the African region, the officials said.

Snippets of information started to emerge Saturday about how the Maersk Alabama's crew managed to retake the ship after it was hijacked by pirates Wednesday about 350 miles off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

The Alabama reached port in Mombasa, Kenya,on Saturday. Crew members aboard the freed cargo ship described how some of their colleagues attempted to "jump" their pirate captors.

A scuffle ensued and one of the sailors stabbed a pirate in the hand in the battle to retake the container ship, one of the sailors told CNN.

Crew members smiled broadly as they stood on the ship's deck under the watchful eyes of security teams. Although the crew was kept away from the media, CNN's Stan Grant got close enough to ask crew members what happened after the pirates climbed aboard the ship.

One crew member said he recalled being awakened around 7 a.m. as the hijacking began. View a timeline of the attack and its aftermath »

"I was scared," Grant quoted the man as saying.

Some of the crew managed to hide in a secure part of the Alabama as the pirates stormed the ship, the sailor said.

As the sailors described their clash with the pirates, a crew member pointed to one shipmate and said, "This guy is a hero. He and the chief engineer, they took down the pirate. ... He led him down there to the engine room and then they jumped him."

The shipmate added that he stabbed the pirate's hand and tied him up.

"Capt. Phillips is a hero," another crew member shouted from the deck of the freed ship.

An earlier attempt by Phillips to escape from the 28-foot covered lifeboat was thwarted by a pirate, who dove into the Indian Ocean after him. Phillips' captors appear to have tied him up afterward, Pentagon officials said.

Maersk CEO Reinhart told reporters Saturday that the crew will stay on board in Mombasa while the FBI conducts an investigation.

CNN's Zain Verjee contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/index.html

Go NAVY!

Three down, one to waste a few million $ on, and how many to go? It's a good start anyway. Glad to see someone took the initiative and ended that debacle before a good man was sacrificed for no good reason.

It would be nice to read how the surviving "pirate" was last seen jumping over the side trying to steal a 12" pipe flange and swim ashore with it.

So this leaves us with at least one known "pirate's representative" on shore, and a well known "haven for pirates." Why is this guy still alive and why is the "haven" not a smoking pile of rubble?

The "pirates" are now saying they will extract vengeance. Let them do what they want inside their own national waters but if they stick a bow outside they should be boarded and if found to have offensive weapons, sunk. If they run or fight they should be vaporised. This problem wouldn't last for another week.

Hi,

Would that Flange be tied to his ankles with Ty Wraps through a couple of well spaced bolt holes just so he didn't drop it on the way?

He would have stolen two flanges....you know how greedy pirates are.

Well, such a bright young man would probably have tied the flange to some part of his body so as not to lose it while swimming home to the local Pirate's Marine Surplus Sales store.

Either that or maybe he should be offloaded to spend the next couple of weeks floating with his buddies in that lifeboat. It must be a lovely place to be by now. Tow him out to where the original attack took place, he didn't mind being there last week.

Actually, I'm glad there was one left alive crying because he has a hole in his hand. He'll be great for intel and propaganda. Plus, he'll be tried in a US court and sent to a US prison where I'm sure she'll be very popular. Well worth the money spent.

Unfortunately if he is tried and sent to a US prison it will be a federal prison where he will be protected and well cared for. He will have dental care, get a degree in international finance and probably go home a hero in a few years. He will receive the kind of treatment that most American taxpayers can no longer afford.

He wanted to be on that lifeboat, put him back on it.

They said he is only a kid of 16 years of age. Maybe Madonna will adopt him.

Oh, he is a middle-aged Somalian ... old enough to be a "pirate leader," old enough to threaten people with an AK, old enough to contemplate the splatter patterns on that lifeboat while drifting into the Indian Ocean.

1st, There is no way he will go to kiddie court. They said he is 16 to 20. By the time of conviction he will be at least 18 which puts him with the big boys. 2nd, People tend to think Club Fed. Doesn't he only wish. This is no watergate burglar. Think SuperMax and Levenworth. Within a year this guy will so envy the dead and within 5 he probably will join them. This is a time for total celebration. Other than the Alabama being attacked and the captain spending 5 days as a hostage this has been textbook perfect from the actions of the crew and the Navy to the end which is a long ways from here. The "pirates" (terrorists) don't want to be their comrads who sweltered for 5 days on a sloshing lifeboat only to be shot dead, but to be the one who is in custody better scare the hell out of them. The US government won't torture him, but the prisoners she'll be with have a whole other set of rules.

Yup, you got it. A veteran Child Soldier by African standards, and a confused minor by ours.

You keep saying "she", is this Pirate female?

soon enough.

I'm glad this worked out the way it did, and I am sure it's sending a good message to all of the Pirates in Somali. The sad thing is, had it gone wrong and the Captain was killed, the media would have had a field day blasting the Navy and telling them how wrong they were.

Got it ! … I'm a bit slow this morning.

Up to now, sea crew taken hostage were relatively unharmed.
Some security experts now fear that the recent rescue and elimination of three pirates will escalate violence towards hostages.
It's time the world's navies patrolling the Somalian area take more "active" measures against these pirates.
With a wide area of patrol coverage, this means more assets have to be deployed to interdict piracy in the area.