Sea Pirates

[Mr. Security]

The Latest Program - Pirates

National Geographic recently aired a program were security consultants fear that terrorists may hijack a Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) tanker and ram it into a high profile target. Experts say the explosion rivals a small nuclear blast and believe such an attack is being planned because pirates boarded a tanker and only took operating manuals - no valuables. Scary scenario.

[Alaska Security]

Personally, I think if it's known that it's hijacked, it'll end up catching something explosive before it ever hits a port.

[Rooney]

Personally, I think if it's known that it's hijacked, it'll end up catching something explosive before it ever hits a port.

I agree. In a situation like that sometimes you have to lose some life to stop a horrific incident. As the old saying goes "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Or was it "Today is a good day to die", or "live long and prosper". One of those

[integrator97]

I agree. In a situation like that sometimes you have to lose some life to stop a horrific incident. As the old saying goes "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Or was it "Today is a good day to die", or "live long and prosper". One of those

Of course if the hijack it in the Malaaca straights and head for singapore, it's really gonna suck for that area, and anyone in the vicinity. It would widen the straight though, make it harder for the rest of them

[Mr. Security]

That's why they hijack multiple planes/ships. They know not all will make it and multiple simultaneous incidents means mass chaos and confusion, all of which gives them time to strike.

[integrator97]

Somali pirates seize cargo ship, 20 U.S. sailors

Somali pirates seize cargo ship, 20 U.S. sailors
Hijackers attack vessel carrying emergency aid to Kenya, firm says

NAIROBI, Kenya - Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members onboard, according to the shipping company.

The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, at the time it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

In a statement, the company later confirmed that the U.S.-flagged vessel has 20 U.S. nationals onboard.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. 5th Fleet said that a Danish-owned, U.S.-operated container ship "came under attack" about 240 nautical miles southeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.

Officials said the crew had radioed for help but the closest U.S. ship at the time of the hijacking was 345 miles away.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, said all of the crew members were believed to be safe.

The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to a new strategy by Somali pirates operating far from the warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

Maersk Line is one of the U.S. Department of Defense's primary shipping contractors. According to GlobalSecurity.org, the firm "manages a fleet of nearly 50 ships in commercial and government service, including vessels requiring Top Secret security clearances."

U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the vessel was not working under a Pentagon contract when it was hijacked.

"The area, the ship was taken in, is not where the focus of our ships has been," Christensen told The Associated Press on the phone from the 5th Fleet's Mideast headquarters in Bahrain.

"The area we're patrolling is more than a million miles in size. Our ships cannot be everywhere at every time," Christensen said.

NBC News reported that the Maersk Alabama left Djibouti on Saturday and was due to arrive in Mombasa on April 12.

More on Ransoms & 'Mother ships' as the article continues.

Why Somali pirates are hard to defeat

MSNBC Interactive Piracy Map

ICC Interactive Piracy Report

[SecTrainer]

I think these pirates just made a very serious strategic error, don't you?

[SoCal Public Safety]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/piracy

Latest report. Hasn't been officially confirmed yet, but it appears the crew has retaken the ship... Leave it to Americans to go Rambo and kick some pirate @$$.

Pentagon says crew retakes US ship from pirates

NAIROBI, Kenya – Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel far off the Horn of Africa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because information was still preliminary. But they said the hijacked crew had apparently contacted the private company that operates the ship.

At a noon news conference, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO John Reinhart said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

"Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

A U.S. official said the crew had retaken control and had one pirate in custody.

"The crew is back in control of the ship," a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control — the other three were trying to flee," the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

Another U.S. official, citing a readout from an interagency conference call, said: "Multiple reliable sources are now reporting that the Maersk Alabama is now under control of the U.S. crew. The crew reportedly has one pirate in custody. The status of others is unclear, they are believed to be in the water."

The ship was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

It was the sixth vessel seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to a new strategy by Somali pirates who are operating far from the warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack "involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory." She did not give an exact timeframe.

The top two commanders of the ship graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Cape Cod Times reported Wednesday.

Andrea Phillips, the wife of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vermont., said her husband has sailed in those waters "for quite some time" and a hijacking was perhaps "inevitable."

The Cape Cod Times reported his second in command, Capt. Shane Murphy, was also among the 20 Americans aboard the Maersk Alabama.

Joseph Murphy, a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says his son is a 2001 graduate who recently talked to a class about the dangers of pirates.

Somali pirates are trained fighters who frequently dress in military fatigues and use speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades. Far out to sea, their speedboats operate from larger mother ships.

The U.S. Navy said that the ship was hijacked early Wednesday about 280 miles (450 kilometers) southeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.

U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the closest U.S. ship at the time of the hijacking was 345 miles (555 kilometers)away.

The International Maritime Bureau says 260 crew on 14 hijacked ships are being held off the coast of Somalia, including the U.S.-flagged ship seized Wednesday, the Maersk Alabama and its crew of 20 U.S. nationals.

The Combined Maritime Forces issued an advisory Wednesday highlighting several recent attacks that occurred hundreds of miles off the Somali coast and stating that merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in those waters.

The advisory said the "scope and magnitude of problem cannot be understated."

Douglas J. Mavrinac, the head of maritime research at investment firm Jefferies & Co., noted that it is very unusual for an international ship to be U.S.-flagged and carry a U.S. crew. Although about 95 percent of international ships carry foriegn flags because of the lower cost and other factors, he said, ships that are operated by or for the U.S. government — such a food aid ships like Maersk Alabama — have to carry U.S. flags, and therefore, employ a crew of U.S. citizens.

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.

[officerchick]

The status of others is unclear, they are believed to be in the water."

Good!

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack "involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory." She did not give an exact timeframe.

According to CNN's ticker, it's been over 200 years ( unless I misread it, which is possible)

[Rooney]

It was stated that the crew had no weapons but were trained on what to do if pirates attacked. Did the Mearsk lines actually think that an American, being hijacked off of Somalia which has a large radical Islamic violent war of its own going on, would just sit still and not do anything? If I was hijacked the first thing that I would think of is "His head or mine". I hope the ones in the water are dead and the one they captured gets beheaded. I would film it and put it on the internet like the a holes have.

[integrator97]

It was stated that the crew had no weapons but were trained on what to do if pirates attacked. Did the Mearsk lines actually think that an American, being hijacked off of Somalia which has a large radical Islamic violent war of its own going on, would just sit still and not do anything? If I was hijacked the first thing that I would think of is "His head or mine". I hope the ones in the water are dead and the one they captured gets beheaded. I would film it and put it on the internet like the a holes have.

I agree with you to a point, of course depending on the circumstances. The problem is that often freigters have women and children aboard. Also consideration must be given to what you have to fight with once they are on board, compared to the pirates. Once they have control, they haven't really hurt those who cooperated, as they want to ransom them. So I'm sure you have to look at your odds at the time, versus likely safety.

They really should set up some decoy ships, with an armed force to capture them. Seems like a few small freighters with sailors and marines or special ops or something, could knock a big dent in a few months. With actual military making the calls, you could even call in air support from a carrier, have a couple of fighters there in no time, and blow them out of the water.

[darkenna]

Holy Carp! I know Shane Murphy! Way to go, man!!!

I hope they hang the survivor from the first actual yardarm they encounter.


Can any of you imagine just how much fu--er, I mean effective--it would be to have an old diesel sub and a dozen retired bubbleheads right about now?

[Curtis Baillie]

The most recent reports circulating are the crew re-took the ship. Although this is unconfirmed at this time.

[integrator97]

Holy Carp! I know Shane Murphy! Way to go, man!!!

I hope they hang the survivor from the first actual yardarm they encounter.


Can any of you imagine just how much fu--er, I mean effective--it would be to have an old diesel sub and a dozen retired bubbleheads right about now?

Well I'm not a bubblehead, I'd volunteer or work cheap. Business sucks right now anyway. Sounds like fun, and I miss the Nav.

[Bill Warnock]

SecTrainer you and others have stated on more than on occasion the pirates are getting inside information.
The ship in question was retaken by the crew and one hijacker was reportedly thrown overboard. I can assume the sharks promptly threw him back.
Care must be taken though, remember the criticism the Chinese received when they blew a skiff containing hijackers and their women and children out of the water?
These people are not stupid. If the world's navies start sinking them right and left, the sympathy they will garner will stifle active efforts to curtail pirate activities.
During WWII a British General in the CBI Theater reportedly said, "Sympathy is a word in the dictionary between scat and syphilis."
Enjoy the day,
Bill