Hijacked German Vessel Heads Back to Somalia After Attempt to Reach Standoff

Foxnews.com ^ | 04/11/09 | uncredited

[Big_Monkey]

Pirates on a German ship with 24 foreign hostages said Saturday they had returned to the Somali coast after failing to locate the scene of a standoff involving an American captive on a drifting lifeboat, Reuters reported.

The pirates hoped to use the hijacked 20,000-ton container vessel, Hansa Stavanger, as a "shield" to reach fellow pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips.

"We have come back to Haradheere coast. We could not locate the lifeboat," a pirate on the ship told Reuters. "We almost got lost because we could not find the bearing of the lifeboat."

The Hansa Stavanger was seized earlier this month. The ship's crew of 24 is made up of five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 from Tuvalu.

[Big_Monkey]

Pirates apparently can't navigate like they used to.

[Star Traveler]

The article said — We could not locate the lifeboat,” a pirate on the ship told Reuters.

—

I guess they’re not using GPS, then... :-)

[Star Traveler]

What I want to know is who pays for the fuel for their “joy-riding” around? Does the company who owns the ship pay for refills? LOL...

[Cementjungle]

I guess they’re not using GPS, then... :-)

Or something's screwing it up.

[Star Traveler]

Hmmmm...., maybe the U.S. Navy is using some special technology... :-)

[CAluvdubya]

Hmmmm...., maybe the U.S. Navy is using some special technology... :-)

Nah, that would be doing something and the WH won't give permission for Navy to do it's thing.

[Star Traveler]

Okay..., we’ll just leave it with — “stupid pirates”... LOL..

[Ingtar]

Nah, that would be doing something and the WH won't give permission for Navy to do it's thing.

Not if the WH doesn't know it can do its thing.

[Smokin' Joe]

Nah, that would be doing something and the WH won't give permission for Navy to do it's thing.

It's the weekend. People are hard to get a hold of. Maybe someone took a page out of Rogue Warrior...UNODIR. (UNless Otherwise DIRected...)

Either that or someone managed to 'bump the switch'--How'd that happen?

[Ancient Drive]

stupid pirates it is... or maybe they felt the butterflies in their stomachs.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Hmmmm...., maybe the U.S. Navy is using some special technology... :-)

If that were the case, GPS users throughout the region would have reported erroneous behavior of the units, by now.

[oldenuff2no]

That was my thought. Are they too stupid to use a GPS????
They are going to look up in a day or two and see three or four huge gray ships looking down on them.
Are you ready for the stereotype?? The lifeboat has excess buoyancy, in other words if you fill it full of water it would not sink. So forget about sinking it. Put a few very small shape charges on its hull and blow it into several pieces.
Black people don't swim. This is true for the vast majority of blacks. A few seals just under the water could help them descend into the depths. Scuttle it and pull the bad guys down. If the mother ships get anywhere close to this action sink them. It's time to make a statement that even the ignorant muslims can understand.

[Star Traveler]

Okay, okay..., it’s just the Bermuda Triangle of the Indian Ocean... :-)

[Big_Monkey]

Here are some pictures of the lifeboat model that's being used by the pirates....

and a list of provisions and equipment stowed on this model...

1 sufficient buoyant oars to make headway in calm seas.
.2 two boat-hooks;
.3 a buoyant bailer and two buckets;
.4 a survival manual ;
.5 an operational compass which is luminous or provided with suitable means of illumination permanently fitted at the steering position.
.6 a sea-anchor of adequate size fitted with a shock-resistant hawser .
.7 two efficient painters (i.e. ropes) of a length equal to not less than twice the distance from the stowage position of the lifeboat to the waterline in the lightest seagoing condition or 15 m, whichever is the greater. placed at the forward end of the lifeboat and the other shall be firmly secured at or near the bow of the lifeboat ready for use;
.8 two hatchets, one at each end of the lifeboat; (these are used to cut the painters)
.9 watertight receptacles containing a total of 3 l of fresh water for each person the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate,
.10 a rustproof dipper with lanyard;
.11 a rustproof graduated drinking vessel;
.12 a food ration totalling not less than 10,000 kJ for each person the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate; these rations shall be kept in airtight packaging and be stowed in a watertight container;
.13 parachute flares complying with the requirements of section 3.1;
.14 hand flares
.15 two buoyant smoke signals complying with the requirements of section 3.3;
.16 one waterproof electric torch suitable for Morse signalling together with one spare set of batteries and one spare bulb in a waterproof container;
.17 one daylight signalling mirror with instructions for its use for signalling to ships and aircraft;
.18 one copy of the life-saving signals prescribed by regulation V/16 on a waterproof card or in a waterproof container;
.19 one whistle or equivalent sound signal;
.20 a first-aid outfit in a waterproof case capable of being closed tightly after use;
.21 anti-seasickness medicine sufficient for at least 48 h and one seasickness bag for each person;
.22 a jack-knife, to be kept attached to the boat by a lanyard;
.23 three tin-openers;
.24 two buoyant rescue quoits, attached to not less than 30 m of buoyant line;
.25 if the lifeboat is not automatically self-bailing, a manual pump suitable for effective hailing;
.26 one set of fishing tackle;
.27 sufficient tools for minor adjustments to the engine and its accessories;
.28 portable fire-extinguishing equipment of an approved type suitable for extinguishing oil fires;
.29 a searchlight with a horizontal and vertical sector of at least 6° and a measured luminous intensity of 2,500 cd which can work continuously for not less than 3 h;
.30 an efficient radar reflector, unless a survival craft radar transponder is stowed in the lifeboat;
.31 thermal protective aids complying with the requirements of section 2.5 sufficient for 10% of the number of persons the lifeboat is permitted to accommodate or two, whichever is the greater

[pepsionice]

I would imagine that someone might be jamming the hijacked German vessel a good bit...and that someone might be messing up the GPS onboard the vessel as well (note, we own the satellites).

For these dimwit pirates on the lifeboat...it’ll be a long period. As they start to run out of water and food...and threaten the Captain even more....we’ll likely just pull back another mile and just stand there. In a week...as they lay there in a thirsty condition and unable to do much of anything...we’ll just take them easily.

[PoliticsAndSausages]

Not necessarily. As the pirates most certainly use non-military GPS, it can be jammed or even spoofed without disturbing the rest of the region’s traffic too much, as far as I know, and I bet Navy ships are somewhat equipped with Electronic Warfare devices. If the ships in place there were spoofing the signal, they could have navigated the pirate ship anywhere, really.

[Big_Monkey]

"...as they lay there in a thirsty condition and unable to do much of anything.

The lifeboat may also have a manually operated desalinization pump on board. If so, they could have a much extended supply of water. Then again, these are third world savages, and if the Captain doesn't tell them how to work it, they might not even know what it was. The skipper seems like a very bright guy, so hopefully he wouldn't do anything to prolong the standoff no matter how thirsty he got.

[PoliticsAndSausages]

And as soon as the pirates realize this (if you’re not totally stupid you will notice after enough time), they will backtrack to avoid running into a carefully engineered trap.

[hoosiermama]

mark for morning

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Specificaly jamming one unit would require a ship with the jammer, following the German ship, all the way from Somalia, in one of the busiest shipping lanes on the planet.

Unlikely.