Japanese tugboat attacked, crew kidnapped in Malacca Strait (Piracy or Terrorism??)

AP ^ | 03/14/05 | AP

[1rudeboy]

The pirates come at night. If you're lucky, there's one crew member awake in Engineering, and one or two on the bridge. Sometimes everyone's asleep (funny, but true). Short of having a fully-armed, awake and alert squad of Marines on board, you are SOL and you deal with it. Understanding that you are SOL is what keeps you alive, not acting like Rambo. The pirates want your ship, not you.

[monday]

"The pirates want your ship, not you."

Not these pirates. They want to ransom the crew.

[rmlew]

Where is the Malaysian, and Singaporean Navies? (I'll give Indonesia a pass, given the continuing humanitarian operations from the Tsunami.)
If Singapore won't patrol the straights with ships, helicopters, and aircraft, the US, Australia, or Japan will have to do so.
Singapore Navy and Air Force have a maritime patrol squadron of Fokker 50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.Singapore has a sqadron of 4 E2C Hawkeyes, which can also be used to vector aicraft and a squadron of A4U Skyhawks dedicated to maritime strike. If they need additional aircraft, I'm sure that we could help finance the purcahse of F-18s and P-3s.

[Oldexpat]

the risk of this happening to a LNG carrier, tanker of any size, and or a chemical carrier to too great..even with the current security. Quicker response by helicopter troops is needed with attack aircraft as back up. Indonesia simply cannot or does not patrol their coast, which is a haven for smugglers, people smugglers and pirates.

[Disambiguator]

Never heard that term before. I'll check it out.

[cricket]

"Well, Aceh province is heavily Muslim. I would imagine, given that it is a bunch of murderous pirates we're talking about here, that they are Muslim as well. I could be wrong, but I don't think so."

Just did a 'google' walk through Aceh. . .and, interestingly none mentions 'Muslims' - at least in the first ones I searched. . .but have read of their presence as well. . .

That said; sounds like life in Aceh was pretty bad; and that their independence is a worthy goal; with. . .or without - maybe - the Muslims. . .but without the pirates for sure. . .Muslim or otherwise. . .

[cricket]

"This image may not post, since it's from Tripod, but it is the GAM flag...A crescent moon and star on a red field with black stripes on white bands above and below. "

Just caught the 'rest of the story'. . . .on the other hand. . .maybe 'independence' is not such a good idea. . .

[investigateworld]

AAARRRRggg, the Code.

Yes the Code.


What code? I forgot me Code! AAARRRggg

[Gator101]

"the Code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules"

[investigateworld]

Gads, forgot the rest. LOL* * These pirates would be well advised that the USMC's Hymn begins with; "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..."
Tripoli was a pirates nest they cleaned out while we were still a young nation.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Piracy or Terrorism??

The two hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, the two activities are not disjoint.

[rmlew]

Piracy or terrorism?
Most terrorist groups raise mone through ciriminal means.

[bourbon]

Okay, Okay. It was a dumb question to pose (I know piracy and terrorism are not mutually exclusive), but please note that the same question was raised by the article.

[wtc911]

In 2003 a group of islamic "pirates" captured a tanker in the Straits. They held it for over a day and forced the Captain to "teach" them how to control it. Then they left.

On any day @ 30% of the world's traffic goes through the staits. They are a prime economic target for terrorists.