Taiwanese Captain of Hijacked Vessel Killed in crossfire

Being held against his will as a captive on a vessel that had been pirated by armed men

At this stage no none knows, for all anyone knows he might have been tied up in his cabin or on the floor of the wheelhouse when a stray .50" round parted his eyeballs.

That IF is what needs to be confirmed before a kangaroo court convicts in absentia and applauds the outcome

As you are no doubt aware I am usually amongst the nuke em , spray em, kill em brigade but in this case the casualty this thread refers to is a or was a fellow professional seaman not a pirate.

The risk of being pirated is very real for thousands of seafarers whose ships pass through these areas of the real world far from the ICW.

It is very easy to sit in the comfort of your safe secure base in NY to criticize, blame and ridicule this guy without any real facts try leaving your comfort zone and put yourself in the real world.

I hadn't realized that you were aboard the vessel to get that 1st hand info. Thanks.

For over a year? Hey I'll concede since you were there.

Again your 1st hand info I guess. And the previous professions of the other pirates was what? Or is it that all or only Somalians are pirates?

Never did. But unlike some places in this world we are allowed to question, and this is extremely questionable. I'm still waiting for someone to come down from their high horse with a reasonable explanation of why pirates would cruise around for over a year conducting mayhem with a person on board who is dedicated to freeing himself, disabling the vessel and killing them when they could easily leave him on shore with the other hostages.
So without the facts to condemn him, nor the facts to give him sainthood which some seem to think he deserves simply because he's a captain. I'll once again say: "There is something seriously wrong with this story". And the questions will go unanswered except by you who was apparently there to get that 1st hand info. I had only questions of a questionable situation. Thank you for reporting the true news and 1st hand accounting.

Hi,

Ed, You are missing my point here.

Were you there and saw it all yourself?

If not then everything you have written is supposition isn't it?

All I did was suggest a possible scenario as to why he might still be onboard.

You seem to have some wild hair in your a s s this week and are determined to keep banging away that this guy was a pirate and got what he deserved with no facts to support this.

If he was working voluntarily as a pirate then I would agree that he got what he deserved if not he is an unfortunate victim.

We may never know the truth but to slag the dead off without basis is a new low even for a New Yorker I think.

There has been a lot of supposition here, but it didn't come from me. I had only questions.

"...he was captaining a pirate vessel. There is a line, and he crossed it. He was acting as a pirate; a criminal doing criminal acts."

"His actions were criminal. He became a pirate."

"He was captain of a pirate vessel."

"...he turned against his fellow seaman."

"He was killed during the commission of a crime that he was a participant in."

"Rather than potentially suffer hardship or even forfeit his own life he was willing to put their lives at risk."

Either the ? on your keyboard is broke or you are backpedaling like a mad fool. Or are you just trying to wriggle out of a really deep pile of bulls**t?

Do you honestly believe no one read your first posts?

Evidently some read only what they wanted to see. And of course they may have kept him on board, at their own peril, because he brewed a great cup of tea. We'll have to ask him when we next meet or defer to K1W1 who was evidently there to give a first hand accounting. Til then I'll consider his actions questionable, because he was still on board his ship a year after being hijacked and while his vessel was being used for pirating. Sorry if I don't push for his sainthood, but you're known by the company you keep. Being a captain doesn't make a person any more or less an honorable man. I would hope, with a year to disable the vessel or take other more direct action, I would do so rather than allow my vessel, with me aboard, to be used against my fellow seafarers. Sorry to those who don't think a person has a right to question questionable actions.

Hi,

The formatting of my first type line in Post 21 has not come out as I wanted there should have been a ? at the end and not in bold.

I have never written that I had first hand knowledge nor inferred that I did.

From what I and I am sure many others have read once you are taken captive by these people you do not have a freedom normally enjoyed by free people in the west. There are a number of captives currently who could attest to this I am sure - if they could be reached for comment that is.

Oh, I almost forgot, I suppose you would be banging on that the Captain of the Maersk Alabama joined his captors willingly and was helping with their navigation when the Navy interfered and shot them if he wasn't one of your countrymen.

Why didn't the four who got shot on their catamaran last year disable their boat or overpower their captors - maybe they were helping them along with the word of god - Whatta ya think about that Cappy?

I think that you just back-peddled and complained about being taken out of context. You also maligned true heroes who set the bar for others to aspire to (or did I take that out of context?). As for those on the cat, a) they were not professionals and b) they were not on their boat a year later while it undertook piracy. Once again for the slow folks I'll say it again: This was over a year later That's what I find questionable, not conclusive, but questionable. This discussion really reminds me of the discussions I used to walk away from with my brother when he was drunk. So, I'm going to do exactly that now. Good day folks. I have a boat to move.

You came into this very strongly condemning the hostage captain. You stated in no uncertain terms that he was a criminal who deserved to die. You did not raise a single question.

Your most recent attempts to backpedal and actually lie about the statements you made in the beginning are contemptible. Don't try and deflect the criticism you have so well earned by nitpicking K1W1's post.

This is so typical, I wish I had a $100 bill for every time you spouted that line when you get hoisted by your own little petard. I probably could have paid the guy's ransom.

For a smart guy, you're an idiot. Go back to your party.

Hi ,
I am no pirate expert but I want to make my point of view here clear ,too.

@ NYCAP123 The pirates near to Somialia controll in these days round about
20 ships and drive with them around ,waiting for ransom or useing as a base.
I am shure that you don't believe that every captain on these ships switched
the sides to the pirates.
Why this taiwanese captain?

Many ships are controlled by the pirates for months and captain/crew
didn't end their hostage .
When 20 somalis are on your boat with weapons would you attack them ,
when there is a chance to be rescued , I don't think so.

Yea maybe he died as a pirate , but maybe he died when the Somalis used him for protection and fired behind him on the special forces , only an idea like yours . But I haven't posted it yet 'cause like others say, we don't know how it happened and which role he was .
So I think it's not fair for his family to say that he was an pirate.
Yes it maybe he bcame a bad guy , but until we don't know that let's stop this disccusion and at his family in these hard times for them.

Of course thats only my opinion and I hope you could understood what I mean , if not ask me.

Hi,

Personal attacks on folks do not improve the environment for non participants here at YF.

They also do not make your falsehoods any easier to believe or digest.

Two words, in no particular order...

"Shield", and "human".

Is it really that difficult to fathom? A month later, a year later... whatever... it wouldn't surprise me one iota if the pirates dragged a captive along every time they went out to sea.

Surely your legs are getting tired by now NYCAP... pedalling backwards is awkward and uncomfortable at the best of times.

bottom line is that we dont' know what happened and to even suggest that the captain could have been involved in shape or form, for any reason, is in very poor taste.

Well said Pascal. And with that said, it's time to move on to another thread. I'm closing this thread (for awhile).