Kinda casually mentioned tanks in the story. 30 of these could ruin your day.
Posted on 09/29/2008 9:39:26 PM PDT by Schnucki
More US Navy forces have been sent to surround a hijacked ship loaded with Russian-made tanks
Extra destroyers and cruisers were deployed within 10 miles of the Ukrainian vessel Faina being held by Somali pirates because of "great concern" over the possibility of the tanks and other weapons aboard the ship falling "into the wrong hands," said a spokesman for the 5th Fleet.
American helicopters were flying over the ship in the Indian Ocean after the pirates demanded 20 million dollars to release the ship and its cargo.
The navy spokesman said the weapons had been bound for Sudan and not Kenya, which had been claiming to be the arms' destination.
The 5th Fleet said the ship was headed for the Kenyan port of Mombassa, but that "additional reports state the cargo was intended for Sudan".
It did not specify whether the arms were intended for the Khartoum-based government, or southern Sudan, which was granted a degree of autonomy under a 2005 peace deal that also guaranteed the oil-rich region a referendum on full independence in 2011.
The UN has imposed an arms embargo on weapons headed to Sudan's Darfur conflict zone. The ban does not cover other weapons sales to the governments in Khartoum or southern Sudan.
"We will maintain a vigilant watch over the ship and remain on station while negotiations take place," said Rear Admiral Kendall Card, commander of the task force monitoring the ship.
"Our goal is to ensure the safety of the crew, to not allow off-loading of dangerous cargo and to make certain Faina can return to legitimate shipping."
(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...
Let’s do the world a favor. Blow the ship up. Dead hijackers, no Russian tanks. What’s not to like?
USN vs Barbary Coast Pirates III, the final SMACKDOWN! On PPV, check with your cable provider. Thomas Jefferson not only approves of this, he did it first.
/johnny
Kinda casually mentioned tanks in the story. 30 of these could ruin your day.
Never seen what a bunker buster would inflict on a ship. Here’s an oppurtunity.
Lots of dead Ukrainian allies?
I vote for sinking the ship too and being done with it. No idea why in the heck we are protecting Russian assets.
Dang right. You'd have to find 30 empty beer cans, a bunch of aluminum shavings (like under the metal lathe), a bunch of iron filings (like under the gravity band saw), and a bunch of magnesium, and put them together right and get some rednecks to put those devices on the right spot.
That's a lot of work, unless they are in lagguer and sloppy. And we know what crack troops they have on the continent south and east of Europe
/johnny.
Is that the ship that we are surrounding? Or this one? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2092429/posts
LOL, get National Geographic on it.
Yea whats up with the Nue ka lur one?
Turns a sticky situation for the pirates into a stinky situation.
Why is everyone talking about Russians coming?
‘Extra destroyers and cruisers were deployed ‘
How many are normally deployed around pirate ships?
Not sure but these people like to talk like a pirate everyday...of course Somalian pirates aren’t what everyone thinks of in that context.
I think the tanks are just an excuse to get a Navy team closer to the other ship, the one with glowing hairless pirates.
This will not end well, I fear. The Russians should be sending the cruiser Peter the Great here where she is needed and not on a Caribbean Cruise.
I figured this was going to be a story about the military surrounding the US Capitol.
These guys took “Talk Like a Pirate Day” way too seriously.
The Russians are sending a ship:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080926/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_somalia_piracy
But..the below was on Llyod’s a few days before the ship got jacked:
http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/russia-sends-naval-vessels-to-somali-waters/20017573576.htm
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