Posted on 11/20/2008 9:19:10 PM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
WASHINGTON: Citing the Indian Navy's sinking of a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden, the US said action is taking place to deal with the problem of piracy in the international system.
"The issue of piracy is a concern to us as well as others in the international system," state department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday, noting: "The issue of piracy has been with us, as an international system, unfortunately, for quite some time."
Asked about reports that the owners of a hijacked Saudi supertanker were in talks over a possible ransom, he said: "I'm going to decline to offer any advice to the Saudis on this matter." The state department is "trying to come at it from the diplomatic and political angle", McCormack said.
"We're working in the Security Council to try to pass a resolution that could perhaps help deal with some of the limitations that currently exist in dealing with vessels on the high seas," he added. McCormack noted that "the Indian Navy engaged with some pirates off the Horn of Africa as I understand it, the Indian Navy vessel was fired upon. They fired back, sank one of the vessels, and captured some of these pirates as well".
"So there is action that is taking place. But you are also talking about a very, very large surface area in the Indian Ocean just off the Red Sea, off the coast of Somalia. It's an international problem. You're not going to solve this - the United States is not going to solve this alone. No one country is going to solve it alone," McCormack said.
"You can see, in very practical terms, the fact that this is an international problem by the fact that you have Indian naval vessels, you have Russian naval vessels, you have Nato vessels in the area."
At the White House, spokesperson Dana Perino said President George W Bush had been briefed about the Somali pirates, and ensuring the safety and well being of the crew was of paramount importance in preventing or dealing with issues of piracy.
India’s putting it on the line. Good on them.
Glad some country has the balls to kill the pirates instead of serve them tea.
Time for the Brits and the US to follow suit, otherwise, put our ships into mothballs right now instead of waiting for Obama to do it.
If you can’t fight your enemy, you might as well go home and let them have the battlefield.
when you fight a war, you fight, you dont do it half arse'd
I thought, at least on the high seas, it was always open season on obvious pirates and such criminals. Guess not.
Our Navy is too busy watching who gets the next bailout most likely as the rest of us Americans are since they have made it reality TV to watch to notice pirates. Yep, India is going to pass us soon, no joke and it is not doing the UN or EU dance like the EU or UN wants either and they have money and jobs (they got alot of ours) and make a far better product than China does. And, they have a strong science and medical and technology lead that is almost surpassing the rest of the world.
I say they find some pirate like Somalis and pay them to hunt down and kill the pirates for huge sums of money. They are all driving around in Cadillacs living high so they should be able to spot them easily.
I envision pirate hunting by modern naval vessels as sort of like clubbing defenseless baby seals. Sounds like fun. I hope those pirate suffer immensely.
“Yep, India is going to pass us soon, no joke and it is not doing the UN or EU dance like the EU or UN wants either and they have money and jobs (they got alot of ours) and make a far better product than China does. And, they have a strong science and medical and technology lead that is almost surpassing the rest of the world.”
India has many things going for it, but this is ridiculous hyperbole.
In response to the fact the pirates approached the Indian frigate with hostile intent, the Indian Navy has ordered a larger presence in the Indian ocean and Arabian sea in general, and off the coast of Somalia in particular.
At last press, the Destroyer INS Mysore has been ordered to proceed to the sector. at approx 7000DWT, shes a pretty big ship.
Newsclip follows:
New Delhi (IANS): The Indian Navy will be sending guided-missile destroyer INS Mysore to the Gulf of Aden for patrolling the waterways hit by a spate of ship hijackings by Somali pirates, defence sources said Thursday.
The move comes after a successful hostile action against Somali pirates in the area by the Indian Navy.
A Delhi class destroyer, INS Mysore will replace INS Tabar in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy official told IANS on condition of anonymity. He said the destroyer will set sail from Mumbai soon.
The official said a proposal of the shipping ministry to send four more warships to strengthen operations against piracy in that region was still pending.
The Indian Navy’s stealth frigate INS Tabar Tuesday night engaged the pirates and sank a “mother vessel” that had two speedboats in tow. INS Tabar, which so far has escorted 35 merchant vessels passing through the region, had also staved off pirate attacks on two merchant ships last week.
The 6,900-ton Delhi class destroyers are the largest indigenously built warships till date and pack more fire power in them than frigates.
INS Mysore carries on board two Sea King helicopters, along with a Cheetah or a Chetak, and stock 16 Uran missiles, 100mm AK 100 Gun, four multi-barrel 30mm AK 630 gun.
With Marine Commandos, INS Mysore is said to be a potent force to patrol the Gulf of Aden to stop the pirates from attacking or hijacking merchant vessels.
Newsclip ends
Seems to me that the presence of several vessels in the sector, and in particular, a destroyer with a heliborne component of Marine infantry, portends that the Indian Navy means some pretty serious business about these pirates.
Then you do not know much about India and need to take a look at them. It is far more advanced than you realize in many ways. Their version of MIT has been opened up for decades and now holds its own in the world and is now a world wide recognized school. And they are doing as well likewise in the medical profession. Also, they refuse to join such UN groups as the ICC and they are independent and a growing capital base or emerging economy. They have nukes too. While they have severe poverty and have some problems with treating the Christains right, they now thanks to outsourcing have a growing middle class. And it is the only stable country politically in that region. India is going to be a stronger country than China before long market wise. You should look at India again. It has changed and no longer fits that sterotype from the 80’s. No, I stand by what I said no matter what you call a ridiculours hyperbole.
The report keeps mentioning this as something important, and while true, it's only really relevent in a full scale combat situation.
The Talwar class Frigates and Delhi class destroyers have a broadly similar weapons fit
Differences on the Delhi
A Talwar FFG is quite sufficient to handle any conceivable pirate threat
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