ShipSpotting.com Forum
Shipspotters all over the world => Shipping News and information => Topic started by: Fred Vloo on April 08, 2009, 09:41:18 AM
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The ship meassures 17.000 tonnes and has an American crew of 20
Maersk confirmed that their ship is being hijacked.
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It is confirmed:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD97E75G00
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AP Moller has issued a statement:
http://media.maersk.com/en/PressReleases/2009/Pages/APMM080409.aspx
Phil
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Bingo!!!!I still have the same question,what are the warships doing in that area?One german is in Mombasa or close to Mombasa with somalian pirates from the "Spessart" attack to deliver these guys safely to the Kenyan authorities,because Mrs. Merkel don't want them in Germany........
But what is really going on in the area???
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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30103371/
Possibly crew was armed or soldiers on board?
Rgds. Juergen
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Latest reports in lloyds list say the crew may have regained control of the ship, they have arrested 1 x pirate and two or three others were apparently pushed overboard.
Rgds
Andrew
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Yes i have read that they control the ship and only that the captain is still in hostage
Regards,
Dave
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i want to see these pirates burn! what a human garbage!
roostes
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Right on - Human Garbage. Should be an easy few shots for U.S. Seals and then recover the vessel's Captain. Lower the captive over the stern as the vessel sails off to her destination - might be used as bait ti catch a few sharks
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Could we please lower the muscle talk a little bit.
Have fun
Fred
btw, the news here in Holland keep on telling that the Maersk Alabama is one of the largest container ships in the world.
How stupid can you be.
Update:
Guess what, I sent them a mail and in the 24:00 news they did not say it was one of the largest ships anymore. ;-)
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Fred,
The dutch press seem as good as the (UK) press they just never seem to get things right!! :lol:
Andrew
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Apparently the fbi are negotiating with the pirates, and that the lifeboat that is holding the captian hostage, has ran out of fuel according to mrs clinton.
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Feed the ( BEWARE OF PROPELLOR SIGN) :-x :-x :-x
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Peter Chalk, an expert on piracy at the Rand Corp., said it is a predicament of the U.S.
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LOL... Maybe they should have read the specifications for the lifeboat before stealing it! 6 kn for 12 hours is the requirement as far as I remember... And most lifeboats in use won't do anything close to that as fuel is being burnt each time the life boat is being tested, but most forget to refill the tank! And they'll run out of rations and water in a few days too! Especially if it is one of those closed lifeboats we have on most larger ships as they can easily heat up to 40+ degrees during the daytime...
Let's just hope that the captain will be okay and that the pirates get what is comming to them! My bet is that there is a pretty little Predator circling the lifeboat and as soon as the captain is released, it'll go in for the kill!
BTW: I just read in the danish news that the four pirates keeping the captain hostage have said that they will fight back if attacked! I laughed a little when I heard that! If they are attacked by american special forces (SEAL, most probably), they won't know what hit them! Same goes for an UAV, but those tend to result in more collateral damage, so they probably want the captain out of there before they resort to those!
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It gets even worse: The pirates holding the American captain of a Danish freighter hostage are demanding a ransom to free him.
Can you imagine, with Seals probably already under their boat, and 1 or 2 big warships in close distant
Update: there where probably no seals yet: The US ship captain being held hostage in a lifeboat by pirates off Somalia jumped off the boat early Friday but failed to escape his captors.
Fred
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It's actually kind of funny (don't know if funny is the right word, but in lack of a better...) but I haven't seen any real coverage of pirate attacks in the regular media lately, but then along comes a single american ship being hijacked and there is an absolute frenzy!
This might turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it might revive the medias coverage in the stuff happening around the horn!
Nobody cares when a crew of indians or phillipinos are taken hostage, but one single american get snatched and every camera in the world turns to Somalia! I'm not saying that it isn't a tragedy and that they shouldn't care, I'm just saying that it is a fantastic picture of the hypocracy of the media!
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if man puts in this way, then i would assume whether no other country care(want to handle hostage situation under such a wide media covergae) or simply has no muscle-shine to deal with this so.
I heard speculations that pirates in area are getting ready fleet of vessels currently hijacked by them are about to send it to confrontate US Navy surrounding this lifeboat. Sounds strange though...
roostes
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The French navy just ended the hijacking af a small yacht, killing two of the hijackers and 1 crewmember.
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Pirates attacking fully equipped destroyers with a bunch of old bulkers and tankers... Now I hope the media will send us a little of that action!
That just shows how stupid these pirates are! Even if the navy can't use deadly force on the ships because of the risk of collateral, they'd still "woop" them! And after 9/11 (actually, more after the USS Cole incident), they are allowed to and will use deadly force if pirates try to make an attack!
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The problem the US forces face is that the pirates plan to use the Hansa Stavanger and the 24 crew on board that vessel as human shields. Now that makes the problem a lot more tricky.
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That's the big problem with collateral! After Cole, the US navy doctrine is to attack any ship with hostile intention!
A ship full of angry pirates with AKs and RPGs has pretty hostile intentions, so if necessary, they will open fire and not the silly kind with RPGs and AKs, but the really cool kind with the 5/62 heavy gun and .50 cals!
But before that happens, they are probably going to launch a counter offensive and take over the ships with the collateral that might result in! And that pretty much sums it up! One way or the other, the pirates would loose their bargain chips - which I'd kind of like! But let's just hope it doesn't come to that because I'd hate to see those innocent crews get hurt because of some very stupid people with guns have no respect for anyone besides themselves!
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Pirates are asking for a $2m ransom for the release of a captain from the US, who is being held in a lifeboat off the Somali coast.
Captain Richard Philips was captured after a struggle on his cargo ship earlier this week.
He reportedly tried to escape earlier today by jumping into the sea and swimming toward a US warship. However, he was quickly recaptured.
AdvertisementHe was captured by the armed pirates and pulled back into the lifeboat, within view of a US warship.
CNN said that US officials believe Mr Phillips was unhurt in the escape attempt.
Four pirates have been holding Mr Phillips since a foiled bid to hijack his container ship, the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama, several hundred miles off Somalia.
Mr Phillips apparently volunteered to get in the lifeboat with the pirates to act as a hostage and secure the safety of his 20 American crew members, who managed to retake control of their ship.
The freighter, which is carrying food aid for Uganda and Somalia, is now on its way to Kenya, its original destination.
The USS Bainbridge is close to the lifeboat and has called on the FBI and other US officials to help negotiate with the pirates.
CNN said two more US warships were on their way to join the destroyer.
Meanwhile, one French hostage and two gunmen were injured when French commandos stormed a yacht held by Somalia pirates.
French forces staged their rescue six days after the yacht, the Tanit, was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and talks broke down, the French presidency said.
One hostage and two pirates were killed and three other adults and a child on the yacht were rescued, a French presidential spokesman said.
'Today, with the threats becoming more and more specific, the pirates refusing the offers made to them and the Tanit heading towards the coast, a operation to free the hostages was decided upon,' the spokesman said.
'During the operation, a hostage was unfortunately killed.
'The four others, including the child, are safe and sound.
'Two pirates were killed; the three others were captured,' said the spokesman.
Earlier, Somali pirates released the Norwegian tanker Bow-Asir and its crew, having held it since 26 March, its owners, Salhus Shipping, said in a statement.
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i suggest U.S. Navy seals to approach the lifeboat from beneath and drill a hole/holes to submerge it. captain Phillips is capable of staying afloat but i'm not so sure pirates are - those AKs will drag them down :-x
rgds
roostes
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I just read the news that the Captain is free
And 3 pirates have been killed
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Today, the captain has been freed. 3 hijackers are killed and one is captured by the american army.
The captain is unharmed.
Fred
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This are great news!!!Happy Easter!
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Very good news indeed!
The pirates got what was coming to them! Glad to hear that the cap'n is okay!
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I'm glad the captain is free and they killed three pirates, and I'd well imagine that Capt. Phillips' family is happy for this Easter gift as well.
Allan Cameron
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And again a master ignored the strongly recommended safety zone of 600 nm from the coast of somalia:
Marshall Island-flagged Container vessel DAL MADAGASCAR attacked in position 330 nm South-East of Hobyo on 11 April. Two skiffs launched by a smaller vessel at a distance of 7 nm each with four pirates on board attacked the vessel with small arms and RPG. Vessel has been chased by skiff with speed up to 23.5 knots. After thirty minutes the pirates abandoned the attack.[/b]
http://www.shipping.nato.int/CounterPir/copy_of_copy_of_SOMALIAPIR
Rgds.
Juergen
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You might find that the Master in question may not have been there through choice - his employers will have a large say in just how far offshore he should remain.
At the moment, general guidance is to remain circa 400 nautical miles offshore, not 600.
It sounds simple in practice to simply say move further offshore, but it's quite a detour. There was a report in early March of one ship which was attacked almost 900 miles off the coast, so just how far offshore do you go?
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I REALY think we need more navy vessels in the area , but the rules of engagement should be as the USA did to rescue the captain of the Maersk vessel, who agrees ?
Shoot the pirates first then ask questions later!!!!!!!!!!!
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It isn't as easy as shoot first, ask later! Because as the incident with the Indian Navy vessel which attacked a Thai fishing vessel showed, mistakes are made!
I'd like to see all these pirates burn in hell as much as the next guy, but we can't just start shooting at everything that looks slightly suspicious! That would be a bit like the police fining everyone they think have an intention of speeding.
If there have been a confirmation of the ship having weapons onboard or they have directly attacked another ship, by all means: SHOOT! But we have to make certain.
I think the best solution would be to deploy two carriers, one in the gulf of Aden and one east of Mogadishu. That would allow them to scramble jetfighters which can be just about anywhere along the pirate infested areas within an hour! And one short burst from a Vulcan 20 mm cannon would pretty much foil any attack. And I think most ships should be able to keep the pirates off for an hour from spotting them if they keep a proper look out!
Hopefully, with the latest developments and the US' renewed interest in the pirate attacks, that thought isn't that farfetched!
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It's interesting to see that the pirates were taken out by snipers on the US warship.
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@James_c
ICC recommends still a distance of 600 nm.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=58
See under Somalia.
Rgds.
Juergen
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Well that's changed recently as up until early March they were still advocating 400 miles on their weekly broadcasts, as I understand it UK advice is still 400 miles, with 200 miles offshore being the recommendation for those ships with a 'Protection Force'.
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If a vessel is bound for Mombasa or another East African port,how she can sail 600 nm off the coast?
....and there are attacks in the Gulf of Aden too between all the warships!
...i just heard ,the pirates seized at least two vessels again.
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It's very easy for people to sit at home and say that the ships should just follow the recommendations and then they'll be fine... 400 nm, 600 nm - doesn't really make the big difference! And you have to remember that we are not just sailing around out there for the hell of it! We have schedules, tight schedules and though it might not sound like a whole lot of reason to go through pirate infested waters, but it is! Time is money and to the owners everything is money. So they apply a whole lot of pressure, especially the smaller operators!
So you just sit there with your raised finger! But don't point it at the people just doing their job! Sure they should keep 600 miles! But keeping a 600 mile safety distance will mean a detour of at least one day for a smaller vessel... That is alot of money! And as "mooringman" pointed out, if you are heading to Mombassa, it is pretty darn hard to keep 600 miles off Somalian coasts...