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+--- Thread: 21 Americans taken hostage by Somali Pirates (/thread-6465.html)
21 Americans taken hostage by Somali Pirates - Jakensama - 04-08-2009
First time American crew have been taken, wonder what or navy will do
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Maersk ship seized
A Maersk Line boxship has become the second such vessel to be captured by Somali pirates in under a week.
The 17,000-dwt vessel, which TradeWinds understands is the 1,098-teu Maersk Alabama (built 1998), has an all American crew of 21, according to a brief statement from the UK-based Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa).
The MSC(HOA) said the incident happened early on Wednesday morning about 400 miles east of Mogadishu. However, a naval source told TradeWinds the attack took place 240 miles off the coast of Eyl at 07:30 local time.
A spokesperson at Maersk's Danish press office could not confirm that one of its ships had been seized. The naval source, however, confirmed that it was a US-flagged Maersk ship which was involved.
The Maersk Alabama is operated by Maersk Line Ltd in Virginia, US but was not under contract to the US Department of Defence at the time of the hijacking.
All crew are understood to be unharmed.
The navy source said the closest US Navy ship to the seized ship at the time of the assault was around 300 miles away.
This is the first time that a ship with any US nationals onboard has been hijacked off Somalia with attention now focusing on how the US Navy handles the situation.
Although this is the first time Maersk has had a ship hijacked off the Somali coast it is not the company's first scrape with piracy in the region.
Only last Wednesday the 11,646-cbm LPG/chemical carrier Sigloo Tor (built 1989), which is on charter to Maersk Gas Carriers but owned by the Eitzen Group, came under fire in the Gulf of Aden but managed to avoid capture.
In mid January the 5,248-teu Barentsz (built 2000) came under grenade fire off Somali's coast and only avoided seizure after the action on the crew and help from the Russian Navy.
In November last year the 29,000-dwt tanker Britta Maersk (built 2007) narrowly avoided capture in the Gulf of Aden after crew repelled an attack by pirates in two speed boats.
- 1000xZero - 04-08-2009
After all ships and crews are released, move the Navy from the Gulf and go Carthage style on their asses.
Nothing else will work.
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
The problem is there is nothing to go Carthage on and American forces area bit wary about sending ground troops into Somalia. We'll see what their tune is now that is white people being held Ransom instead of the hundreds of Indonesian and Fillipinos.
- Venganza - 04-08-2009
They should have gone with the armored escort craft package.
- Zephyrs - 04-08-2009
Sink the ship with everyone and everything aboard.
we do not negotiate with terrorists.
Only way to be sure they do not fuck with America in the future.
that or send in Metal gear!
- Thudz - 04-08-2009
Zephyrs Wrote:Sink the ship with everyone and everything aboard.
we do not negotiate with terrorists.
Only way to be sure they do not fuck with America in the future.
that or send in Metal gear!
You say "we" like you're an American and not a sackless Canadian poutine gobbler. And the proper American response is to nuke Somolia and then sink the ship.
- Slamz - 04-08-2009
Pretty much just need to find the pirates and sink them rather than driving them off. My understanding is that there's little or no authority out there for arresting these pirates and putting them on any sort of trial. So just blow them up. Hang em by the nearest tree like the good old days and leave the body there with a sign that says "PIRATE".
Once enough pirate sorties have failed to return, they'll probably find something else to do.
Also, if this ship can't get help within 5 hours of a pirate attack, then our anti-piracy patrols clearly need some work.
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
Pirate ships hide among thousands of local fishing boats, and the naval forces have to patrol a section of ocean 4 times as large as Texas. Not as easy as it sounds.
Up to recently its been cheaper & safer to just pay the ransom, but eventually...
- Snowreap - 04-08-2009
they don't have to patrol that whole section of ocean, only those parts of the ocean that have our ships in them. how hard could that be?
if there are too many ships, maybe we could get them to bunch up and travel in groups so they're easier to watch/protect? isn't there a term for when multiple ships sail together for mutual protection?
-ken
- Jodah - 04-08-2009
Step 1 : Send in the navy
Step 2 : Bombs bombs bombs
Step 3 : ???
Step 4 : Profit
- Thudz - 04-08-2009
BREAKING : U.S. crew has regained control.
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
Snowreap Wrote:they don't have to patrol that whole section of ocean, only those parts of the ocean that have our ships in them. how hard could that be?
n
I just wonder at what point does the US Navy become a private corporation's personal security detail. Anyways, IMO there are so few ships with American crews around we shouldn't waste resources on it.
Although I suppose we have the navy just sitting around, we might as well pay them to do something other than have homosexual intercourse.
- Snowreap - 04-08-2009
Jakensama Wrote:a very good question. another good question is, why is the US Navy patrolling there at all? are they protecting "public" (i.e. "government") shipping? if the US government doesn't have shipping in the area then it's natural to suppose that security for private corporations is *exactly* why they're there.Snowreap Wrote:they don't have to patrol that whole section of ocean, only those parts of the ocean that have our ships in them. how hard could that be?
n
I just wonder at what point does the US Navy become a private corporation's personal security detail.
-ken
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
They are there for regional stability along with other nations because fighting the piracy in general is in the interest of the whole world since shipping is an international concern.
Also you have to ask, what are the American interests - is it just ships with US crews? Is it ships with cargos that are exported from the US? Is it ships with cargos that are imported from the US? You can't expect them to be giving private escorts to every single vessel that travels in the region, and frankly the shipping lines are on too tight schedules to organize themselves into flotillas, most just take the risk and pay the ransom out of pocket or insurance when it happens.
- Slamz - 04-08-2009
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513238,00.html">http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513238,00.html</a><!-- m -->
Quote: American crew members aboard a U.S.-flagged ship have regained control of the vessel hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia Wednesday, FOX News confirms.Hopefully that means they were thrown overboard.
Defense Department officials confirmed that one pirate is in custody. A U.S. official said the status of the other pirates is unknown but they were reported to "be in the water."
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
They should keelhaul the captive.
- Thudz - 04-08-2009
Jakensama Wrote:They should keelhaul the captive.
Infect him with the Spanish Flu and send him back to port.
- Gnarnok - 04-08-2009
Where's steven segal when you need him
- Dustie - 04-08-2009
That's great. I was thinking the two options being considered were
1. Pay a ransom
2. Get rescued by the military
I didn't realize there was a third option:
3) "Give the pirates a good ole American style ass beating and throw them overboard."
Edit: ransom
- Slamz - 04-08-2009
Gnarnok Wrote:Where's steven segal when you need himThat's probably what happened. The old "our ship's cook is also, incidentally, a master of hand to hand combat" trick.
Yet another reason you should always be polite when ordering food.
- Gnarnok - 04-08-2009
I mean, its the oldest trick in the book.
- Jakensama - 04-08-2009
Good thing it wasn't a french flagged (I wonder what color that is, ha ha ha) ship, they probably would have surrendered Paris to the pirates.
- Vanraw - 04-08-2009
Jakensama Wrote:Good thing it wasn't a french flagged (I wonder what color that is, ha ha ha) ship, they probably would have surrendered Paris to the pirates.
Yes followed by a thrashing statement of discontent on why American hasn't resolved the Paris issue.
- bonestomper - 04-08-2009
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30103371/">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30103371/</a><!-- m -->
Quote:There are fewer than 200 U.S.-flagged vessels in international waters, said Larry Howard, chair of the Global Business and Transportation Department at SUNY Maritime College in New York
when i was in NYC once i did a tour of the USS Constitution (old ironsides) and it was there that marines where used as riflemen on the ships. why those 200 ships are not armed is honestly beyond me.
the ransom cost of the $100 million oil tanker was $3 mil, another mentioned in that article was $3.2 mil. i could get rednecks to sleep on deck and pay me for the opportunity to shot pirates; let alone what i could do with a limited budget far far below $3 mil.
interesting side note from the visit in NYC was that one of the requirements to be a marine at the time was that you had to have two teeth that met together so that you could bite through the packets that carried the gun powder.
- Slamz - 04-08-2009
Surely if the world has learned nothing about Americans (and Japanese), they should have learned that anytime you kidnap one of us, one of the following will always happen:
* One of the kidnap victims is a quiet ex-military guy who just wanted to retire and live a simple life, but previously he was a special forces judo master commando assassin. Also, when you boarded the ship and shot the dog, that was his one friend in the whole world and now he's really angry, in a quiet, seething, "I'm going to kill all of you" sort of way.
* One of the kidnap victims has a father or husband who is the previous described person. He knows what you did and he'll be right over, and/or he was in the bathroom with the kidnapping took place. The hostage you randomly select to execute will turn out to be his relative and the minion who leads that person away to shoot them will never come back.
* (especially true for Japanese kidnap victims) The kidnappers will be vastly more powerful than the victims, but through discipline and sheer force of will, one of the victims will manage to take a serious beating, persevere and come back to trounce all of the kidnappers, possibly after having one of his or her arms fitted with a minigun.
* The US military will somehow manage to get a special forces team on board without you knowing about it. Possibly this will involve submarines or dicey maneuvers with stealth planes, probably during a storm.
* Among the passengers will be at least one plucky every-man who organizes the rest of the hostages into a daring plot to overpower the hijackers, which always works. The plucky every-man will get shot (or, if Japanese, stabbed) in the shoulder during the action, but will live.
* When they ask for the roster, it will be missing. This is because someone on the roster was named "Bruce" or "Rambo". If you can't find the roster, leave immediately. Beating the person who you think hid the roster will only result in you getting killed later.
They should also know that before they execute anyone, they should ensure that:
* All doors behind them are tightly closed. Preferably, they should stand in the corner with their back to the wall.
* They are not standing under any vents.
* They are not standing on top of any grating of any sort.
* There are no pipes carrying hot steam anywhere within 25 feet of them.
I mean really, with all the money these pirates make, you'd think they'd spend some of it watching DVDs.