Pirates...

What you mean that appeasement isn't working? But it worked so well when we wanted to avoid war with Hit ... well Nazi's are different, these are pirates, world renown for there respect for the private property of others.

What really gets me is that they demanded repayment for their boat.

They were just talking on the news about there being a whole industry that has sprung up to facilitate the payment of ransom to the pirates. Sounds a bit like the fact that I always seem to get a ton of solicitations for anti-virus software around when a new Y2K virus is announced. Like P.T Barnum used to say, "there's a sucker born every 11 seconds". Just kill them and anyone who happens to be near them! What the hell is Samolia going to do, stop trading with us?

Pirates Are Feeling The Pressure

Evidently the Somali pirates, feeling the pressure of the anti-piracy efforts, have decided to try their hand at kidnapping on land. In October they kidnapped an American and a Dutch aid workers. As of last night they have been rescued and 9 of their captors are dead.
World News - American hostage in Somalia rescued by US Navy SEALs in overnight raid

More anti-piracy tech

Navy sends robot helicopters to find pirates

I thought the pirates still held close to 700 prisoners ?? if that's close to true, any attempt to "destroy" the Port may result in more deaths of the prisoners than the pirates..?? pretty hard to turn back the clock at this stage, the time for fast action is long past, thanks to those who believe that piracy is not really a crime or a real bother to anyone, to blazes with the innocent, protect the guilty...

Warning shots

Private Security Guards Shoot Somali Pirates Video

Far

Fantastic ! Now if any pirates should happen to get aboard and get detained, please don't hold them for arrest. Simply tell the to dive in and swim back to where they came from....and film it so you can broadcast that as the new procedures for dealing with pirates on vessels. I think this could get those new pirates ready to 'swim for it'

Hello everybody, I am evidently new here as I was browsing around about new inspiring yacht designs (oh boy I'm pretty impressed even by the hobbyists' works) when I chanced upon this piracy thread - a topic close to my heart being a former coast guard involved with piracy patrol in Southeast Asia myself.

I think there are lots of inconvenient (painful) truths that the authorities are unwilling to face with regards to piracy. The overall picture said there is very little we can do to stabilize the country where the piracy originates from. I'm just going to leave it as that.

When it comes to combating piracy, I hope I don't sound overly extreme but realistically do we expect an unarmed ship (and crew) to defend against armed pirates well? We're not talking about small little .38 revolvers. We're talking AK47s and RPGs here. I find it laughable at times when I read about the authorities' responses to the issue of piracy, not limited to the ones in Somalia. The reality is (and these ministers jolly well wake up), you can't manage piracy like the way you manage political opponents or rival states. The sheer amount of ships hijacked and number of crew held hostage is a clear evidence of epic failure at its best.

If my coast guard commander does not expect us to engage a suspected pirate boat unarmed, I see no reason why we expect the merchant ships to do the exact opposite. The weapons are there for obvious reasons. Enabling the ships to respond with firepower is an obvious answer under those circumstances where 90% of the times coalition warships are nowhere near. If the authorities do not believe in armed response/defence, why even bother to send the warships? With 30mm anti-aircraft guns even? I don't know if anybody even sees this as a anti-thesis like I do.

If armed auxiliary police (supplement to the national police) is a long standing component when delivering bank notes in anti-hijack armored vehicles or safe-guarding the airports worldwide, why not make armed auxiliary police available to the seafarers as well? IMO needs to talk less and act more.

There are also brokers who help pirates to negotiate for ransoms. Some of them operate from countries that send warships to the piracy regions. I don't know if something's missing but trying to react directly to the pirates while the power brokers continue to earn a cut of commission from the ransom paid is a direct slap back in the face of my coalition nations. BBC highlighted this ransom brokerage some years back in a documentary I remembered. And strangely, not a single ransom broker has ever been hauled into the courtroom to stand trial.

Just my 2 cents worth.

That would be interesting to look up,....I don't recall that,...but I don't doubt it either.

I can't reveal some specific details pertaining to my previous work but at some point in Southeast Asia's piracy, we have intelligence reports telling us that there are some very capable people who have access to information to the ship whereabouts.

How else do some pirates know which exact ship will be transiting the exact channel at an exact timing? Some of them are definitely not cherry-picking on targets, they were planned way advance. I am just short of saying some piracy were 'inside jobs' by some corrupted authorities.

Hi,

This is not a new revelation.

Turn off AIS and run without lights and you reduce the chances of being targeted. If you are transiting these areas and targeted and have not taken the precaution of some armed deterrent then it is just too bad there have been plenty of warnings about the situation.

Hello K1W1,

That method may work in open waters but if you're transiting in extremely narrow sea lanes like Philips Channel in Indonesia or Straits of Singapore or Straits of Melaka, running without lights is seriously asking for trouble (of collision).

Anti-piracy curtain to deter pirates from attacking ships

Anti-piracy curtain to deter pirates from attacking ships - DigInfo TV - Tech News Videos From Japan | The latest technology, products, gadgets and scientific research direct from Tokyo

Lets see now, the effective squirting range of a fire hose is XX and the effective firing range of an RPG is 10XX. OMG, the would be pirates must be panicked!

That's a hot script. Cross market appeal, pre-teen date to 20-something dem, have your people call mine... we'll do lunch!

When was the last attack on a private yacht in the Melacca Straits? I've just completed a delivery trough the Melacca Strait up to Phuket but couldn't find anything suspicious despite having all lights and active radar reflector on.

That depends on which you are talking about? Reported ones? Or unreported ones?

Why wouldn't you report a pirate attack on your yacht? I believe there haven't been any attacks on yachts for over 10 years in the Melacca Straits.
Piracy of the coast of Borneo is increasing, the Melacca Straits decreasing.

Somalis tried in Paris for yacht ("Le Ponant") crew hijack