Pirates: Part Two

There are a lot of links on that page, Kevin.

Fixed it, sorry about that. I hit 'Paste' too quick and messed up the html code.

It appears that Maersk thinks that the way to handle the piracy situation is "diplomacy and cooperation". Maybe he should be riding along.

Our military has drones, some capable of being armed, that can stay aloft for hours and hours. They also are capable of sending back a video picture of what they are seeing below.

Why couldn't the military put several drones in the air? They would be much faster responding to a ship that is under attack by pirates and, with the correct on-board weapons systems, fend off the pirates.

Hi,

You are based in a good part of the country to answer this one yourself.

As an ex Merchant Navy Seaman and all round stand up guy I would echo the Captain sentiments about who says what and who responds to it.

Hi,

You are based in a good part of the country to answer this one yourself.

K1W1, would you please elaborate?

Boeing.

Just a hunch.

Croatia

I was told this week that last year there were about 26 pirate attacks in Croatia. It has been kept very quiet as this will damage the tourism to that area. From what i understand it happens on the remote islands where there are no boats or help nearby. They say the possible culprits are Romanian/ Bulgerian. I was quite shocked to hear this as i spent some time there as it is beautiful place to go. Has anybody else heard of this happening?

According to the ICC map there have been no such attacks. In addition, the last attack shown in the med was at Corsica in 2001. Of course they could have been reported as muggings or some such. See:

http://www.iccccs.org/index.phpopti...controller=visualization.googlemap&Itemid=219

Another round for the Pirates, and that’s without any representation at the table.
Go figure.
_____________________________
___________________
Anti-piracy body backs off on international maritime force
Tue May 19, 8:03 am ET
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – An international piracy conference on Tuesday backed off tough proposals calling for an international naval taskforce to be set up under U.N. auspices to fight Somali pirates after members disagreed over implementation.
The measure was aimed at fighting a sharp rise in piracy, with Somali pirates mounting 81 attacks between January 1 and April 20, according to United Nations data. The attacks threaten trade routes and aid supplies and push up insurance costs at a time when most of the global economy is in recession.
The initial resolution from more than 60 countries and the European Union was watered down after a two-day conference in the Malaysian capital that brought together governments, navies and shipping bodies.
"The United Nations is invited to consider further the possibility of taking joint measures through the contact group on piracy off the coast of Somalia and its working groups to coordinate maritime force operations to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia," the final statement said.
That was far weaker than a draft statement, seen by Reuters, that called for the United Nations to consider "the establishment of an international maritime force to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships off the coast of Somalia."
A senior maritime official who attended the conference said: "Asking for the formation of an international maritime force has legal and political ramifications."
"We are going forward too fast," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Differences over laws concerning the arrest of pirates, some of whom work to order at the behest of criminal gangs outside Somalia, have bedeviled operations in the Gulf of Aden and more force was needed, naval officials said.

European Union human rights laws, which guarantee all people including pirates respect for their basic rights, are a particular problem, said Geoffrey Till, Professor of Maritime Studies at King's College in London.
Kenya, which neighbors Somalia, last year agreed to prosecute pirates on behalf of countries that are unable to do so themselves. Till said it had prosecuted 60 pirates since then.

That's no surprise. Bureaucrats debate, not fix problems. It's up to the shipping and insurance companies to act. When they get tired of paying or the price gets too high they will hire forces or demand action from their country's military to protect their assets. Sort of reminds me of the 1970's when insurance companies routinely paid nuisance claims under the rationale that it was cheaper to pay the claims than fight them. Of course the result was that "slip and falls" and "rear-enders", and such became a very lucrative profession for many. For now the insurance and shipping companies are just passing the cost down the line to the consumer at the end. The only ones with a real problem are the crews that are held hostage or worse. Oh, and the consumer who has to stretch his budget a little farther. Neither of those really affect the corporate bottom line though.

Tired of playing Twister on Saturday night, or tossing horseshoes at the company B-B-Q
Somebody was listening....
____________________________________
_____________________

Rich Russians hunting pirates on Somalia

16,000 unarmed merchant ships each year to try healing through the Gulf of Aden to sail and not the Somali pirates to be upset. A Russian cruise business now turns the tables around and loads of Russians to hunt down pirates before the coast of Somalia, the most dangerous waterway in the world.

His business idea is simple: His cruise ship is the bait for the pirates. Try the real pirates, the seemingly harmless ship to enter and experience the wonders of blue its Africans. Instead defenseless sailors are trading them to the teeth armed Russian tourists compared. A macabre tourist fun.

A day on board the chartered Kreuzfahrschiffes costs $ 5,790. It is geschippert while until the real pirates are actually attacking. At least one pirate attack Kaperungsversuch with entrepreneurs from the travel is guaranteed.

The route goes from Djibouti to Mombasa in Kenya. The ship sails as close to the Somali coast with a speed of five nautical miles along. The tourists can taste and budget in accordance with arms monoplane.

A gun-type AK-47 can cruise by the Russian passengers on board for $ 9 a day for rent. 100 rounds of ammunition cost $ 12. A grenade launcher costs $ 175 a day. These included three grenades, which are included in the rent. The use of Reeling in the permanently installed machine guns should cost $ 475.

In order for the pirates but not yet on stupid ideas, rich Russians will receive an extra personal protection. On board the ship at any time hold a large number of former employees of Russian special commands a watchful eye on the guests. The Russian elite fighters will be mainly at night for security on the cruise ship care.

As the international naval associations tourist to this military operation to combat pirates react, however, is still unclear.

Editor's note: Goldman Morgenstern & Partners announces that it is "probably satire" is.

That just drips with awesome goodness.
Hunting pirates goes mainstream rich guy sport.

That sounds like fun!!! I'd love to try that out!

US Doesn't seem to support others in fight of Piracy

Hi,

It seems kinda funny when the Maersk Alabama drama unfolded that everyone was out for blood.

According to this the US failed to authorise a German Special Forces Op to re capture a German Ship.

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090502-19019.html

I wonder why the US would host these guys but not let them have a go at the ship.

Reported as Germany's Call

Special operations missions are dependent on excellent intelligence and target data. Having open shots at the targets on a life boat by snipers is like shooting ducks on a pond.

While G-9 is supported on the USS Boxer, the article states that it was at an emergency meeting in Berlin that canceled the op. Likely too many innocents are risk which is the usual red flag.

Hi,

Stan I know a bit about your background and am just wondering why it says just before the line abut the crisis meeting that permission was not given by the US for the mission when the Erics were all ready to go.

The troops are always ready to go, as they are wont to do.

The discretion and ultimate "go/no go" is issued by the National Command Authority which assesses the political impact, collateral damage, risk to innocents, etc. Soldiers never do (and never should) consider these ancillary issues.

The way it works is the troops are immediately positioned and all available intelligence (signals/comms, photos, human, local, open source) is fed to the mission commanders. They develop the plan and forward their recommendations to higher headquarters including preferred insertion methods, actions at the objectives, extraction options and success assessments. The boys are ready if HHQ gives the nod, and if not (which happens more times than not); they stand down.

While the above planning was on-going, the pols were negotiating, considering alternative solutions and generally assuring their arses are well covered. It is ironic that those who are not at risk of life and limb are least willing to take any, lest they not get re-elected.

But I retired from the business in 1990, so I could be wrong in this new world of Hope and Change!

Interview with a pirate

I'm uncertain if we may post such links, but from The Vancouver Sun is an interview with a 35-year-old fisherman turned pirate. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Once+poor+fisherman+enjoys+riches+pirate+life/1634323/story.html