Maritime Security Directive

[GordMay]

U.S. ships must post guards if sailing off Somalia:
* U.S. Coast Guard requires guards on ships off Somalia
* Ship owners to decide on using armed or unarmed guards
* New mandate follows escalating Horn of Africa piracy
Goto: ➥ U.S. ships must post guards if sailing off Somalia | Reuters

[GordMay]

Updated Best Management Practices Re Piracy

An updated version (Version 2 dated August 2009) of the Industry Best Management Practices (BMP) re piracy in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia has been released to the shipping industry.

More ➥ North - Industry News: Piracy: Somalia and Gulf of Aden - *Updates* | www.nepia.com

MSC (HOA) Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa)

➥ MSC(HOA) - Welcome

MSCHOA Yachting Guidance:
➥ MSC(HOA) - Yachting Guidance

[MacG]

The whole subject of the Somali piracy could be ended in a few days.
Their 5 major operational bases are very well known even as their modus operandi.
The fact that their bases and boatproducing factory are left unharmed and no actions are executed, must have a political reason. The principal task of the Navy is to protect the merchant fleet. Not the issue of wise-cracks.

With growing disbelief I read the copycat stories of IMO, IMB, suborganisations and subsequently their sub-sub organisations all sounding the similar words and similar stories. Nontheless piracy is a growing business.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by MacG

... With growing disbelief I read the copycat stories of IMO, IMB, suborganisations and subsequently their sub-sub organisations all sounding the similar words and similar stories.

To which stories do you refer?

SOMALI PIRACY: NOT JUST A NAVAL PROBLEM
➥ http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publicati...ali_Piracy.pdf

Somali Piracy: An Escalating Security Dilemma
➥ ICT - Articles > Somali Piracy: An Escalating Security Dilemma

Time to Hunt Somali Pirates
➥ J. Peter Pham, Ph.D. : 'Time to Hunt Somali Pirates' : Strategic Interests : World Defense Review

[MacG]

Precisely..... All sounding similar. How effective, how difficult, Islam, information from other ports etc., hefty cooperation from other Islkamic groups and from Yemenites.

All known for a long time.

[Talbot]

The problem does not lie with the military forces deployed to the area.

It is entirely the responsibilities of the politicians not giving an achievable military task to the forces.

(does anybody remember Iraq!)

[MacG]

That is of course one of the main reasons.

It is a group of people that is becoming better and better in their organization. Now that the Americans are victimized and with naval help have suppressed the attack on the Maersk vessel successfully.
Specifically the Marine group of Somali pirates are using larger vessels as mother ships and attack vessels that are way out of coastal area's.
Looking at the world chart we may see that Pracy is now all over the world, probably promoted by the successtory of the Somali's and the lack of military counter action, provoked by the general political attitude.

Many European countries do not allow merchant vessels to get armed. With the more liberal American gun laws it is easier for US shipowners to have armed personnel on board of their ships, but definitely not for the EU vessels, whatever their port of registry.

[David M]

Like all wars, the way to win is to destroy their war assets. I do not understand why those maritime nations affected are not taking out their fleet of boats. If they have any sense they will quit before their entire fleet is destroyed. It may only take a few sinkings before they desist knowing they cannot win this war. Quite often in war it is better to go offensive by destroying their assets than to go defensive by arming the ships.

[osirissail]

- - The Somali piracy problem would disappear instantly if the shipping diverted to the route around the Cape of Good Hope (S.Africa) according to a report:
http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/H...f%20Piracy.pdf
- - But as the report says - it would cost the shipping companies an additional $3.5million per year per ship to do that. So paying off the pirates a million bucks is cheaper so long as each ship doesn't get highjacked more than 3 times per year. "Just the cost of doing business."
- - Of greater concern to the shippers contained in a different report is the raising of Suez Canal charges to $600K per ship (a different form of piracy) - two major container companies have announced recently that they will be diverting around S.Africa instead of paying the canal fees. The pirates ransoms are cheaper than the Suez Canal in the long run for such shipping companies.
- - Meanwhile the shipping companies want the taxpayers to fund the military costs to protect their boats from the pirates. If the various military assets in the area devoted to this activity billed the shipping company for the costs of operations, you would quickly see them diverting around the Cape of Good Hope.

[hellosailor]

"* New mandate follows escalating Horn of Africa piracy"
Gee, Gord, isn't this the forum where such denigrating remarks are simply not allowed, regardless of the truth behind them or whether they are official government statements?
Or have forum policies been changed to allow "truth" regardless of who it puts in a bad light?

[GordMay]

Hellosailor:
I smell the hint of a troll in your query. Nonetheless, I find it unintelligible.
Perhaps you could PM me a clarification of what you are trying to communicate.
FWIW: I cannot speak for Forum policy.

[hellosailor]

No, Gord, not trolling.

The forum staff have gotten very upset at the mention of things like US Dept. of State references to narcoterrorist states, to the mention of failed states, and in general to any statement--regardless of whether it is factual or objective--that disparages any nation, etcetera.

So, mandates and accusations (one man's official government statement is another man's unfounded accusation) claiming that certain nations are a dangerous hotbed of piracy....tchhh. I was under the impression that sort of talk simply wasn't allowed, at all, in any degree. And wondering if the forum had taken off the rose glasses and decided to allow a spade* to be called a spade.

*Which, to be clear, is a Shakespearean reference to gardening implements and not the racial slur that some terribly illiterate folks seem to be certain it is.

[osirissail]

I still don't understand what he is talking about. The "spade" reference is neither from Shakespeare nor has anything to do with race. Here is the source:
This is first recorded in Aristophanes' play _The Clouds_ (423 B.C.), and also shows up in Plutarch's _Apophthegms_. In the Renaissance, Erasmus confused Plutarch's "kneading-trough" (_skape:_) with the Greek word for "digging tool" (_skapeion_), and rendered it in Latin as _ligo_. Thence it was translated into English in 1542 by Nicholas Udall in his translation of Erasmus's version as "to call a spade [...] a spade".
- - Pirates, etc. are viable subjects for discussion but IMHO, I don't think the Somali incidents against commercial shipping qualifies as a subject on this forum. Piracy and attacks against cruising boats is in a totally different category.

[hellosailor]

osiris, my confusion over spades comes from Hamlet, Act V Scene 1, the churchyard in Elsinore:

"First Clown. [Sings]
A pickaxe and a spade, a spade,

How I could have confused that with the Aristophanes or Plutarch, just shows how poorly I am educated in the Classics.

[Hud3]

hellosailor,

Since we do not do our moderation in public here on CF, you wouldn't know what goes on behind the scenes. If you think any particular post violates our Community Rules, please use the "Report" button rather than posting about it in public. By posting, you're simply adding to the problem, if there is one to begin with.