2 more ships taken by pirates

[Kelvin Davies]

The BBC is reporting that the general cargo ship Bosphorus Prodigy IMO 8415158 was seized by pirates while sailing from Yemen to Malaysia.
Also taken was an Indonesian tug (no details) that was on charter to the French oil company Total.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs & Crime, Antonio Costa has said:
"Pirates cannot be keelhauled or forced to walk the plank, nor should they be dumped off the Somali coast."
Errr, Why?
Shoot the lot and feed a shark!

[Allan RO]

Hi Kelvin

He's right, they should be shot first and then dumped off the Somali coast !!

Allan

[Morten]

I don't think feeding them to the sharks is the best solution, however, I see no problem in handing them over to Yemeni or Kenyan authorities! I know that there have been a few incidents with the danish navy vessel "Absalon" arresting pirates and then not knowing what to do with them. A few months back, they picked up a bunch of pirates, but since no one knew what to do with them, they sunk their boat, destroyed their weapons and delivered the pirates back to the Somalian coast with a pollite "Don't do that again". And just the other week, they picked up 7 pirates from their stalled boat, but as they weren't allowed to deliver them to Yemen as pirates as they would face capital punishment (they'd be killed), they had to deliver them as shipwrecked. But then they disappeared in Yemen anyway and there was a huge uproar in Denmark over it as their human rights hadn't been fulfilled. But no one mentioned the psychological impact to the sailors who are kept hostage for months on end by these "people"!

Anyway, though I wouldn't make them "sleep with the fishes", I  would have no problem ramming them with my 150.000 tonnes container ship!

[Bob Scott]

Imagine yourself in this situation: You are a crew member of a tanker with a cargo of some

[Michael Meredith]

While incidents of crew killing have not been apparent on the Somali coast, as yet, the step from ransom to hostage killing is very small, and cannot be too far away. Crew killing has been a regular issue in other piracy areas. Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria have all had very distressing incidents where crew and officers have suffered the ultimate penalty for going about their legitimate business.

While feeding pirates to the sharks might seem a trifle extreme to some as an ex sailor I can understand the feeling. The issue in Somalia is the current lack of sensible government. That being the case incarcerating them on a suitable island might be an answer.

Michael.

[Kelvin Davies]

The argument against arming (or providing armed escorts for) merchant ships is a bit like saying "If I don't have a gun, the bad guys won't shoot me".
Hoping to use a ship's speed to out-run fast speedboats is a bit futile too.
I am usually in favour of the "human rights" argument but I also think that anybody who chooses to disregard the human rights of others should automatically forfeit his entitlement to any protection under these rules.
As Somalia doesn't have a de facto government, I don't think it is entitled to the rights and conventions that normally come with a sovereign state. In which case, the various navies trying to contain this problem should sail into the Somali ports and sink every vessel that looks as if it could be used as a raider. A blockade of as many Somali ports as possible should be feasible; who remembers the Beira Strait patrols carried out by the RN?
The bottom line is; these pirates go about their business with violence in mind and they should be met with violence. Being polite and politically correct is not going to solve this issue.
By the way, I have been on the receiving end of RPGs etc and they don't cause things to blow up. They do chuck a lot of nasty shrapnel about which is quite unpleasant. If they were likely to cause big ships to blow up, then the pirates would not be so keen on using them as they would presumably become casualties of their own attacks; rather unproductive.

[mooringman]

I really don't understand,what is going on there in these waters.The motherships are well known,the main shipping routes are well known.It should be possible for all the warships to avoid the seizing of a big vessel.Even a convoi traffic should be possible.
I watched today the discussion in the german parliament....and i got rather mad,because nobody,not a single politican, was talking about the hijacked sailors and their families.But they talked alot of the poor somalian people and the poor somalian pirates,nobody has the right to hurt them.... :lol:
Go and get the motherships and bring the poor pirates ashore(not all of them are somalian people),that will clear the scene awhile.And then all the secret services should stop the people behind the poor pirates,which make the real business.The criminals or the polticans or the terrorists in the arabian countries,in UK ,Canada,Kenya and somewhere else.That's what people said in different newspapers.

[Morten]

I agree that we should just go and get them showing them as little respect as they show us. The problem is that the pirates are avoiding the heavily trafficed lanes in the middle of the Gulf of Aden and north of Socotra and are targeting the ships in the less traveled areas. And the problem is that despite the risks, many shipowners are urging their captains to cut the corner and go south of Socotra to save a few hours and bit of fuel! I have even sailed with captains who had the opinion that they weren't in any danger and could go south of Socotra.

Also, I'd just like to address this idea about giving sailors weapons to defend themselves. Though I would love to take a shot at a pirate boat if I got the chance, I think it is a VERY bad idea! I don't fear RPGs as they aren't going to blow up my entire ship! They are made to make a very clean and small hole in whatever it hits. The problem is that if we have weapons onboard the pirates are more likely to execute a few crewmembers to show that they mean business and that they'll fight back!
You also run the risk of jumpy sailors shooting at fishing vessels and other small ships. And when would it be justifyed to shoot? When they approach? Or only when they come onboard? Or when they start shooting?

[Gerolf Drebes]

I recently read an article in a German magazine about piracy in Somalian waters. These pirats are celebrated as local heroes in a very poor country.
So one fact is the criminal activity, but the other are  the living conditions in that poor countries. With lots of people without any hope for a good life, piracy seems to be a god and accepted method. And nobody in that country seems to be interested to stop these guys. So the action has to be done in 2 ways, first to Protect the ships in that area, but at the same time to achieve better living conditions in that country.
Gerolf

[Morten]

This is the thing: Everyone are talking about how sad it is that the people of Somalia is forced into crime, but I haven't heard anyone ever mention the people who are the targets of these criminals, us, the sailors! Sure they suffer in Somalia and sure that is a very, very sad thing, but I'm just trying to take care of my job, but now I have to worry about being shot or held hostage simply for trying to do my job. And what about our families?! I'm sick and tired of hearing people talk about having to do something about the situation in Somalia! We need to do something about the situation at sea first! Restoring Somalia could take years, putting the hand down and "tell these people who are the boss" will only take a few months if the effort is big enough!

To begin with, what we need to do is to tell these people that this is not kosher and that there are servere consequences to being a pirate and that it isn't tolerated! If that means sinking ships instead of boarding them and arresting the pirates, then so be it! If it means sending forces into Somalian waters or into Somalia itself, then so be it! There is no government, so I don't see any sovereignity! I don't consider lawless ganglands as sovereign territory.
Then when we have brought this under control and have beat down these savages (which is what they are) we can begin helping Somalia, or they can start helping them right away, the point is though; They shouldn't try to draw focus away from the core problem here: Pirates!