Posted on 11/24/2008 6:35:58 PM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
(CNN) -- Five Indian sailors who were among the crew of a Japanese-owned cargo ship hijacked by pirates and held for two months before a ransom was paid said Monday their captivity was "total desperation."
"I wish that no one else ever has to go through this -- (hijackers) are not human but rather animals," said Alister Fernandes, one of the sailors, at a news conference in Mumbai, India. They arrived in Mumbai on Monday after several days of rest and medical and psychological treatment following the release of their ship on November 16. The Stolt Valor, a chemical tanker, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen on September 15 and was one of several vessels hijacked in recent weeks by pirates.
Navies from various countries including the United States and India have sent warships to the area in an effort to protect cargo ships and thwart the growing wave of pirate activity off the Horn of Africa. Authorities blame many of the attacks on pirates based in Somalia.
"We were always ... all 24 hours we were on gunpoint," said Fernandes. "We were all staying on the bridge (in the) navigation area. All 22 crew members were sleeping there, eating there. Only for shower and all, only two people were allowed -- two people will go, then they come up, two (more) people will go." Another crew member, Naved Burandkar, said the hijacking occurred when pirates came behind the Stolt Valor on a boat and fired rocket-propelled grenades. "They were continuously firing (at) our ship," he said. "They boarded our ship. They were firing ... nobody was going to understand what's happening so you can imagine what the situation was
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I don’t understand that part of the world. No matter how hungry they are, they still have the energy to kill each other.
I agree. It’s about time Saudi Arabia flexed their military muscles.
Highly unlikely.
Somalia, for all intents and purposes, does not have a government.
And the Somali people, by and large, are victims of whichever warlord controls their area.
I don’t believe the Saudis will ever take any meaningful action against any kind of muslim terrorists. They may put on some kind of show for the sake of appearances, but nothing more.
You are right. I was just fantasizing.
At least until January...
If the Saudis were, in fact, our friends as they and certain politicians try to tell us, we would not be having near the problem with islamists that we are having. Their kingdom there has too much money among too many twisted princes, sheiks and such. I’d favor very strategically targeted “black ops” against certain of them and right there in the kingdom, too. The word would get out to the others that they can’t play that game. Nasty and dangerous business, but of the sort that would save lives and make the world a better place.
Ok, now things add up. Muzzies+UN= Fiasco
The pirates are smart enough to understand that taking a US Ship would result in some B-52 target practice...
There isn’t too many U.S flagged ship left!!
Except the Navy, and I really don’t think the pirates want to capture any of those ships.
Jack
If there’s a mess in the world. it’s a fair bet that the UN can be found rooting around like pigs at the trough.
It’ll be a wonder if the UN, the NAALCP, and other bodies don’t scream to haul the Indian victims before some court for “hate speech” in calling the Somali criminals “animals”. Fortunately the Indian government is more enlightened than the West to put up with such nonsense. At least when not directed towards them.
A minor point - “Alister Fernandes” sounds like possibly a Filipino name to my wife (who is a Filipina) and I.
Typical CNN lazy reporter?
Sometimes I wish someone would track all these media errors, even the small ones, so people could then e-mail and post them all over the Internet...
Probably a guy from Goa - Christian first names and Portuguese last names.
The scale of the ocean still fools folks. Yes, we have sats that can read license plates.....IF they have an exact coordinate to zoom down to. Yes, we have sats that can see entire oceans.....but they can’t see ships.
Even today, our carrier battle groups can time enemy sats, turn, and escape from observation by going where there sats are not making (known and predictable) passes.
So it’s not hard for pirates to disappear on the ocean.
For example, the “mother ship” that was sunk by the Indians was itself a victim, hijacked on the high seas by pirates in (invisible from above) speedboats.
So the pirates can leave port unseen in speedboats, and acquire a brand new mother ship from the thousands that ply their seas, then go into business hundreds or more miles away from their home port.
It’s not an easy problem to solve, simply by technical means.
I agree with you except for the “getaway” part. Once these guys (the pirates) are onboard a captured ship, and hold the crew hostage, it is pretty hard to deal with them without getting the hostages killed. Now, if the pirates craft can be tagged for later disposal, ie., go after them some time after the hostages are released, perhaps some progress could be made, but, I can see how that could become difficult.
Maybe someone with some naval / tactical experience can comment further: It seems to me that with GPS, relatively narrow “safe” shipping lanes could be established and monitored, as you suggest. Friend or foe I.D. systems, better capability for merchant ships to spot possible trouble approaching, and many other means are possible.
Basically, kill the bastards before they can even get close.
Incidentally, I would also note that the Japanese could surely help out significantly with surveillance and such.
Portuguese settled in Goa centuries ago, so there some Indias usually from around Goa with Portugeuse names. Or as they say in Hawaii, Portagee names.
Unfortunately, IIRC, the Indian navy’s only current aircraft carrier (an ancient former Brit one) is in dock for repairs for several months and its eventual replacement’s arrival keeps getting pushed back by the Russian’s working on it. At the rate the Russians are going it will be as screwed up as the French carrier by the time it gets there. India wants to have a blue water navy, but I don’t think they’re quite ready to take out Somalia for us.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.