A look at how Somali pirates operate

Associated Press ^ | December 05, 2008

[george76]

As piracy explodes off Somalia's lawless coast, the questions become ever more stark: How can ragtag bands of Somali pirates stand up to international warships? And why not just shoot the bandits when they try to clamber aboard?

In Somalia, pirates are well-funded, well-organized and have easy access to heavy weapons in a country that has been in tatters for nearly two decades. Pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and have an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.

[the invisib1e hand]

[the invisib1e hand]

I find it even more amazing the cruise ships seem to keep “outrunning” them. I gather they want goods, not people.

[doc1019]

You find a business idea you think will survive, get financing and you go for it. The free market thought process at its best. ;-)

[DBCJR]

These are people that have been raised in violence and are immune to fear.

[jmcenanly]

They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and have an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
Anyone who goes to sea these days has GPS and satellite communiations, as these are available commercially, as are the ladders and possibly the grappling hooks. The problem is that, unlike the pirates of old, these pirates are facing nearly unarmed ships.

[Lysandru]

How can ragtag bands of Somali pirates stand up to international warships? And why not just shoot the bandits when they try to clamber aboard?

What sort of morons does the AP have writing for it?

Somali pirates who get too close to a real warship get killed or captured. That's why they avoid warships!

Morons

[Migraine]

raised in violence and are immune to fear

Ships with phalanxes aboard would alter that.

[stboz]

R2D2 10
Pirates 0

[DBCJR]

http://www.defencetalk.com/news/uploads/1/Phalanx-Close-In-Weapon.jpg

[SouthTexas]

Wow, the AP noticed there is a pirate problem off the coast of Somalia?

[spokeshave]

"I find it even more amazing the cruise ships seem to keep “outrunning” them"

Yeah...so they can out-run the pirates.....do a quick 180 and RUN THEM DOWN..

....nothing like sending a bunch of pirates to Davy Jones Locker.

[Blood of Tyrants]

No, they want hostages. If they just got goods, they would be killed in minutes.

[Brucifer]

The AP probably have some of their journalists embedded with the pirates.

[SouthTexas]

That would not surprise me.

[Elsiejay]

Have you ever conned a ship, and tried to execute a short-radius turn “quickly?” Inertia is a powerful force.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Ahhh. That kind of “phalanx” — sorta like a Gattling gun. Not the Spartan kind...

I was thinking that even a couple of Oerlikons deployed sensibly could surely send a few pirates to Davy Jones’ Locker. Maybe even a 50 cal machine gun or two.

They surely couldn’t be running a particularly hi-tech pirate operation...?

[gaijin]

Danish navy RESCUES Somali Pirates:

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/how-to-kill-tha.html

Think I’m making it up...? VIDEO.

[spokeshave]

"Have you ever conned a ship, and tried to execute a short-radius turn “quickly?” Inertia is a powerful force."

Yeah...but the rag heads will die of fright.

Can't they use those bow thruster thingies for a quick turn?

[epow]

Somali pirates who get too close to a real warship get killed or captured. That's why they avoid warships!

I recently watched a video clip shot by a reporter aboard an Italian Navy destroyer that was escorting a small convoy of what I assume were EU merchant ships through the waters off Somalia.

Strangely enough, or maybe not so strangely, the reporter said that no Somali pirate boats were spotted as they were passing through that general area of the Indian Ocean. I guess the Somalis are smart enough to only pick on unarmed ships that don't have friends nearby carrying big guns. I was hoping to see video of a pirate boat just as it was being blown out of the water by a HE round from the destroyer, but no such luck.