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| Africa Horn |
| Pirates capture German tanker with 22 crew |
| 2010-05-09 |
| SUSPECTED Somali pirates have hijacked a German-owned chemical tanker and 22 crew during a dramatic boarding, a European naval force says. The crew of the Marida Marguerite - made up of 19 Indians, two Bangladeshis and a Ukrainian - were nevertheless said to be "well" by the anti-piracy naval task force, citing radio contact. "The ship was approached by a pirate skiff firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades and the crew reported that they saw the pirates climbing onboard," a statement from EU-NAVFOR headquarters said. "It is believed that all (on board) are well," it said. "A passing merchant ship tried to make contact by VHF radio but received a response from the bridge of the hijacked vessel to 'go away'." The 13,000-tonne Marida Marguerite, sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, was captured 120 nautical miles (220 kilometres) south of Salalah, in Oman, the EU mission said. In a separate incident, Somali pirates captured a Taiwanese fishing boat off the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles, a maritime observer said earlier yesterday. It had a crew of 26 including nine Chinese and an unspecified number of Kenyans, Mozambicans and Taiwanese. In a statement, Taiwan's foreign ministry said that contact was made on Friday with the pirates who made an unspecified ransom demand. That hijacking took to at least 25 the number of ships now held by ransom-seeking pirates, according to Ecoterra International, an environmentalist group monitoring maritime activity in the region. More than 400 seamen are being held hostage, the highest number since an surge in Somali piracy in 2007. Russian marines on Thursday stormed a hijacked Russian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden in a daring early morning raid, killing one of the Somali pirates aboard and capturing another ten. The capture of the Moscow University was a jolt to the international anti-piracy system put in place along one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Heavily armed and equipped with GPS navigation and satellite phones, pirates raked in an estimated $US60 million ($67.68 million) in ransoms last year. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 RJ, Do I want $8.00/gallon gas? No. The options, then, are maintaining the status quo, or expend blood and treasure going into Somalia to remove the pirates. The first option means I get to read "sink 'em all" comments over and over here at the Burg. Which may be emotionally satisfying to the writers, but useless and worse- boring as hell. You won't see the second option exercised because there there is no political or economic will on the part of the nations to do so. Raised insurance rates worked when dealing with piracy in the Straits of Mallacca because the economic and political repercussions forced the nations in that region to deal with the problem. Admittedly, this is a larger geographic area, with (slightly) different traffic and national make-up. But I think the fear of economic damage would force some sort of coordinated action. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-05-09 20:04 |
| #6 They can just take a little longer route and avoid the whole thing. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-05-09 19:59 |
| #5 Lastly, raise the insurance rates to the point of pain for ships transiting the area. Pappy, they'll only pass it on to us, do you really want $8.00/Gal Gas? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-05-09 19:00 |
| #4 Blow up the ports, piers and homes of the pirates. I doubt that we'll ever see that happen. It's organized crime on an international scale with a limited target. Most nations don't want to deal with it. So there won't be any bombing until it reaches a critical point. Until then, part of the ad hoc Destroy their sea-going assets. Sink the motherships, force them to dump the weapons. While leaving then at sea in a raft is somewhat satisfying, it might be less of a public-relations hassle to find another way to make the pirates a burden on their organization. One might also consider 'encouraging' one of the Somali armed groups to start taking over the pirates' ports, as was done last week. Lastly, raise the insurance rates to the point of pain for ships transiting the area. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-05-09 13:09 |
| #3 This will go on, until the bases are bombed to hell and gone. Blow up the ports, piers and homes of the pirates. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-05-09 11:18 |
| #2 The capture of the Moscow University was a jolt to the international anti-piracy system put in place WTF? What "system" would that be? Put in place by whom? |
| Posted by: lex 2010-05-09 01:41 |
| #1 Someone tell the Russians that the tanker is full of vodka. :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-05-09 00:11 |