Hostages Taken off Somalia

[Solitude]

BBC NEWS | UK | MoD vessel 'watched yacht couple'

[Stillraining]

They are criminals ...escalate away... Na ..na.na..Na.na.....my gun is bigger then your gun.......

But if we don't put a stop to them soon that is going to be harder and harder to say I'm afraid... with out this much fire power pictured and allot of hostage deaths... I don't get it...I just don't get it....No attack at this point should leave any breathing pirates or attack vesels aflote...All ships passing that area should be blockaded themselves in my opinion if not capable of retaliatory fire in a big way.

Not doing so endangers ALL the world shipping by demonstrating that crime on the high seas does indeed pay.
Attached Images

[markpj23]

The Spanish government has now paid some $3.3M (US equivalent) to pirates that held the crew of a Spanish trawler.

Is it any wonder that piracy is a growing career choice in the region?

Maybe we need to start having escorted convoys again. Give the NATO folks something to do while spending those training days at sea.

[fishwife]

If the pirates are using 'mother ships' why is it beyond the capability of the joint task force to interdict those ships, shadow them and inspect or sink any skiff launched from said 'motherships'?

[Kentavik]

Fishwife not "Islamic" piracy, just "Piracy!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by fishwife

If the pirates are using 'mother ships' why is it beyond the capability of the joint task force to interdict those ships, shadow them and inspect or sink any skiff launched from said 'motherships'?

They cannot, because merely launching a skiff (or a dinghy from a yacht) is not a criminal act.

[fishwife]

Originally Posted by Kentavik

Fishwife not "Islamic" piracy, just "Piracy!

In my post I used inverted commas around the word Islamic to indicate that this was a slant being used by the British Government (and from my readings, other Governments). Sorry if I failed to be clear.

Paige

[fishwife]

Originally Posted by GordMay

They cannot, because merely launching a skiff (or a dinghy from a yacht) is not a criminal act.

Hi Gord,

elsewhere there is a thread on being boarded by the USCG, wherein it's noted that as long as the 'policing' vessel is acting in accord with the local state, it is legal to investigate vessels originating in that state. Alternatively the USA seems to have no problems intercepting 'cigar boats' in international waters when they are thought to be smuggling drugs.

Is it beyond the wit of our politicians to find a legal solution? I would propose it's beyond their political will.

Paige

[stevensc]

A million for a couple, 3 million for a ship, etc. etc. with little real punishment for the crime, except maybe for the couple of Somalis who were killed during the Maersk Alabama affair. These sums are being broadcast all over the world, it won't be long till more of these schemes are being carried out in many other places. It is really time for strong action or soon cruising won't be safe in a lot more places.
Steve

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by fishwife

If the pirates are using 'mother ships' why is it beyond the capability of the joint task force to interdict those ships, shadow them and inspect or sink any skiff launched from said 'motherships'?

Because it's like finding a needle in a haystack. There are thousands of vessels in the region covering millions of square kilometres of water. They don't paint "Mothership" on the sides of the ships - they look just like all the innocent vessels; also, many of the indigenous fishermen use "skiffs" and "motherships". Only a handful of nations that participate in the Task Force conduct boardings (due to differences in national policies). When suspected pirate vessels are chased down, they normally jettison their weapons before they're boarded. There's no point in arresting any of them without evidence; and Western nations wouldn't win any friends in the Middle East if we started sinking boats based on hunches.

[chuckr]

i do not want to make this political - but this is disgusting -
my family has fought for the usa in every conflict from ww2 to afgan - we have gov'ts now more interested in making political with 3rd world dictators and being nice to everyone instead of taking care of it's citizens
Britrianna once ruled the waves now a rubber dingy and a couple of guys with ak's can scare off the royal navy -
as for the usa - we can't make a decision on how many troops to put in afgan - how in the world can we make a decsion on taking out a few pirates
agree with above that once publized enough this will become a world wide problem once ransoms start getting paid -
as my son who did 2 tours in iraq as a usmc joked that all it would take is a squad of umsc and a few weeks and it would be over
backbone is what we need - and we nor the french(not surprising), british, or americans seem to have any anymore
just my thoughts
chuck patty and svsoulmates

[barnakiel]

Strong action would be, but will not - no oil there. And imagine they (who else - US Americans) step in; then what next? You want to feed the 'war' orphans and fight them as soon as the grow up a bit and join the guerrilla?

Something can be done but it will take a wise man to imagine what might work. And excuse me but can't see many wise politicians around.

b.

[sck5]

This is not as big a problem as "millions of square miles" . Just blockade Somalia and dont let ANY boat or ship leave territorial waters. It wouldnt take very many patrols to accomplish that and if innocent fishermen were prevented from fishing where they like, well I am very sorry but that is the price a country pays for being a haven for pirates.

We didnt blink when it came to pinning the blame on the Taliban for harboring murderous LAND pirates. In fact, we are still there chasing them and there is quite a bit of "collateral damage". Why the reluctance to do anything at all when it comes to SEA pirates?

[rustypirate]

mostly because the "land pirates" performed attacks targeting US citizens on US soil.

The "sea pirates" are operating in International Waters, which is a totally different story.

I think that it is somewhat naive for sailors or anyone else who travels in international waters to expect that their country of origin should protect them wherever they go.

This is not only impractical, but also opens up all kinds of political issues.
Trade is a political lifeblod for a country, and the government will expend the resources to protect that trade, but pleasure boaters are another thing entirely.

You must take some responsibility to protect yourselves when travelling outside the bounds of any country's territorial waters. This is part of the responsibility that comes hand-in-hand with the freedom of travelling this way.

[sck5]

Sure I understand that. I am going to protect myself by not going there. But the pirates ARE a danger to US flagged ships and boats. In fact the US Navy was invented in the first place to deal with precisely this sort of problem Back then it was the Barbary coast in the Med. but the issues were the same. Somehow they found it to be legal to go and attack the pirates where they lived. I would imagine they could do the same today. The problem is that as long as they allow this to go on it will be profitable and will grow. At some point they will have to say "Enough" and take measures. Why wait? It is easier to nip it in the bud. I would have thought that when it got to the point of stealing ships full of tanks, oil and other valuable stuff they would have taken action. I am now wondering what it will take to get them to do something.