Posted on 09/27/2008 7:16:16 AM PDT by LibWhacker
Pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia have reportedly demanded a ransom of $35m (£19m) to release the vessel and its crew.
The pirates earlier warned against any attempt to rescue the crew or cargo of the MV Faina, which is carrying 33 battle tanks destined for Kenya.
Pirates have seized dozens of ships near Somalia's coast in recent months.
A Russian Navy vessel is heading to the region and the US says it is monitoring developments in the area.
A spokesman for the pirates, who gave his name as Jalal Jama Ali, told a Somali website that the group were prepared to negotiate with the Kenyan government, but would not release the vessel unless the ransom was paid.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
It’s one thing to steel from the U.S.A., cause we won’t go out and kill them with prejudice. Now Russia on the other hand is still the not too much fun bunch and will go in and clean out this den of thieves with prejudice.
Hey puttie, go get em boy sick em.
Okay, there are 33 tanks aboard, and no one thought to bring a gun?
I wonder how the Chinese would handle this.
A Russian gunship/destroyer is on the way to “negotiate”.
ROFLMAO!
can you hide a ship with 35 tanks inside a cave? i think not. better to blow up the whole thing than submit to this escalating pirate BS.
arghhhh
Bad, bad, bad idea.
Now THOSE are (were) some stupid pirates.
The Russians are sending the ASW frigate Neustrashimy to the region.
A U.S. Navy response would include a CVN to darken the skies with air power and an LHA to provide amphibious and air assault capabilities by a 1,900 strong Marine Detachment.
It will be interesting to see how the Russians plan to wage an assault to rescue a ship in a heavily defended harbor with an ASW frigate unless the plan is to call 911-US-NAVY.
If the Russians are on the way my guess is the Pirates are dead. The Russians care little about human life and do not play well with those who try to take their things.
There will be no negotiations. The Russians will ask the Pirates to surrender the ship or have it and them destroyed. If the Pirates refuse the Russians will do exactly what they promised. The ship goes down with all aboard.
Scratch 1 band of Pirates.
It would be a bad idea to allow 33 Russian made battle tanks to get into the hands of a bunch of mussie pirates.
I hope the Russians blow this thing to smithereens.
I would imagine that Russian tanks headed for Kenya were probably in support of the Muslims there.
There’s certainly no reason on earth why the U.S. should help the Russians do their dirty work.
In fact, if this freighter were lost, with all the pirates and tanks on board, that would really be tough.
In so doing, the Russians become pirates. The ship is Ukrainian, not Russian.
It would be wild if the whole thing was faked, and the PIRATES are just delivering the tanks for the Russians..Maybe Russia wasn’t so choosy about who they sold them too?
Just sink the ship with a couple of bombs. Problem solved.
Them Ruskies are so prescient, it's amazing !!!
The Russian vessel was probably trailing the Ukrainian vessel waiting to help / s
Is this a Russian ship or a Ukrainian ship?
Agreed. The Russians aren’t hampered by a bunch of PC rules. When they go in, they will finish the job. Only thing needed for cleanup will be a firehose...
Minor detail. We're talking about Russians here.
I wondering if this is a staged event. Another “Putin Tranqulizes Lion” Stunt.
Ukranian Crew, Rescued by Russian Navy While US Navy watches.
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