Posted on 02/26/2007 7:37:06 AM PST by SmithL
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Three Somali police speedboats and a U.S. military vessel were headed Monday toward a U.N.-chartered cargo ship hijacked by pirates, a senior police official said. Piracy has been rampant off the Somali coast.
Somali pirates boarded the MV Rozen — which had just delivered a total of 1,884 tons of food aid in northern Somalia — on Sunday, taking the crew hostage, officials said. It is the third U.N.-chartered ship to be hijacked in Somali waters since 2005.
Police boats were within sight of the ship "but we asked them to stop going further because our biggest concern is the safety of the crew of 12 on board," said Col. Abdi Ali Hagaafe, police chief of the Bari region.
"We have asked the U.S. navy in the Red Sea ... to help us in the operation, and they told us they have started to move towards the ship," he said.
The ship is not in international waters, but "U.S./Coalition forces are in the area and are monitoring the situation," said Lt. Denise Garcia of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command based in Bahrain.
Somali pirates are trained fighters, often dressed in military fatigues, using speedboats equipped with satellite phones and Global Positioning System equipment. They typically are armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades, according to the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Isn't a UN ship an enemy to the US?
"Somali pirates are trained fighters, often dressed in military fatigues, using speedboats equipped with satellite phones and Global Positioning System equipment. They typically are armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades"
Mr. Pirate meet Mr. SEAL.
YARRR!
I'm rooting for the pirates.
Imagine the horror in the eyes of these pirates when they see the US Navy has them in their sights?
Cap'n Jack Sparrow Lives!
R
Man, I hate stories like this. My son is finishing up building a 72-foot sailboat in Thailand and will be heading home in April through these waters with the boat and a crew of 10 Tsunami volunteers. What with various national laws prohibiting firearms, they'll be limited in what self-defense weapons they can possess.
'Course, anything short of a Ma Deuce would seem out-gunned.
TC
What is needed here is a few "Q" ships plying those waters. Look like tramp steamers, when the pirates sidle up close the plywood panels fall off the concealed gun mounts and the fun begins.....
SEAL Team job
Recommend a .50 cal. Maybe a couple.
Yes I am a pirate
Two-hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder
There's nothing to plunder
I'm an over-40 victim of fate
Arriving too late
Arriving too late
--A Pirate Looks at 40
You might want to tell him to invest in several flare pistols. In a pinch, they can do some harm if aimed correctly.
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