Tne Chinese are big drinkers.
Posted on 12/19/2008 11:39:03 AM PST by Flavius
Keeping low to avoid being shot, a sailor lights a Molotov cocktail before throwing it at Somali pirates trying to board his ship.
He and his crewmates were expecting trouble and had prepared dozens of the makeshift grenades to repel an invasion.
Their cargo vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Aden by pirates using speedboats and armed with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Be prepared for anything - keep vast quantities of alcohol on hand at all times?
And who calmly snapped photos of the bad guys? Nice and level, well framed.
They had RPGs and couldn’t get to the crew in their locked accommodations?
They took helicopter fire that drove them away (from 2 helos) but they got away?
This story stinks. Show me damage from the “heavy machine gun fire”
The photos of the prepping of bottles doesn’t convince me.
If my son came home after curfew and told me a story like this, he’d be washing cars and cutting brush the next day.
Why didn’t the Malaysians blast the pirates fleeing back to their hideout?
A dead pirate is one less pirate.
And as far as “heavy machine guns” go ... There was nuthin mounted on the boats, no crew served weapons picutred anywhere, just the ususal AK-47s and RPG crap.
Deadly if used right, but not ‘heavy’.
Also, correct me if wrong, but I can’t see the reload pouch on mr. RPG’s back. One rocket? and no sidearm visible either.
I still call BS on this story as reported.
Their ship looks like a real rust-bucket, which probably means they have little contact with China, and there is less incentive for their owners to ransom these guys. They are really fighting for their lives.
On a side-note, Chinese flight crews have always been trained to fight-off airplane hijackers. I always thought it was a sensible policy, and then after 9/11, it was proven correct.
Party pooper!
That is one empty-looking container ship. Business must be terrible.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal have no purpose in defending against pirates. LOMR were issued to civilians usually in time of war to allow them to take captive enemy shipping or to conduct raids without being treated as pirates. LOMR were issued by sovereign powers to prove to anyone who might encounter the holder of the LOMR that they were not pirates but were operating under the rule of law. As such, if captured, the holder of the LOMR had to be treated as a lawful combatant and could not be treated as a pirate (hung from the yardarm usually). Or, in summary a LOMR allowed a civilian to perform legally perform acts normally associated with piracy in a legal manner. BTW, most nations have agreed as a part of the Hague conventions to no longer issue LOMR.
What is really needed is for the international community and it’s member nations to recognize the treat and neutralize it or to allow merchantmen and other civilian vessels to equip themselves with sufficient firepower to deal with these pirates. A small number of 7.62 machine guns per vessel should be sufficient.
Rotten tomatoes to the Malaysians for not killing the pirates when they had them in their sights.
Also wondering about the role of the open can of beer.
There are admiralty laws that overule things on oceans. I say let the Chinese blow up and burn up every port those pirates caame from. A president of ours told the navy to go on a rampage a few hundred years ago in north africa. Somebody has to do it again.
Tne Chinese are big drinkers.
The problem isn’t with the law while at sea. The problem is once an armed vessel enters port. Too many countries have laws that prohibit armed civilian vessels in port. Once a vessel enters port, those laws come into effect.
It’s really very similar to the same issues we face in armed civilians in our nation. Take for example, the ruckas about whether companies or businessess can prohibit employees or customers from taking weapons onto their premises. Even here on FR, many property rights advocates say it’s entirely within the right of employers and businesses to prohibit weapons on their premises saying they will protect you while you are there. The problem is they cannot protect you while you are traveling to their place of business. Exactly the same issue.
Never been to China, have you? The whole place is a rust bucket. You see, they burn low grade coal which releases lots of sulfer dioxide into the air. That becomes sulfuric acid when mixed with water. Even new buildings look corroded in a short while.
Communist nations are not much about image, except when they host the olympics or revamp cities like Shanghai to do business with the West.
Or very short women.
I'm also incredulous that the Malaysian helicopters could not easily sink the speed boats. If not, what kind of embarrassment is that? What were they shooting? BB-guns?
Body position is wrong to throw bottle.
I hope those Chinese sailors are suitably punished for their crimes. It is never justifiable to bear arms against those lower than you on the scale of morality. Turn the other check brother. It is selfish to protect your life and property — Yeais!
(Do I really have to qualify this?)
Such has been the carnage, that the IMO has referred the question of arming crew and ships to a correspondence group. Meanwhile, the pirates and crew are corresponding with RPG's and Molotov Cocktails, respectively.
Maritime Safety Committee - 85th session: 26 November - 5 December 2008
Piracy and armed robbery against ships
...The Committee instructed a correspondence group, tasked with the revision of guidance on the prevention and suppression of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, to consider the need for guidance to seafarers should they be attacked, fired upon, kidnapped or held hostage. The group was also instructed to discuss proposals on practical measures to enhance the safety and security of merchant ships against attack and to examine the carriage of firearms or armed personnel on board such vessels.
99 bottles of beer on the ship, 99 bottles of beer...
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