Posted on 01/06/2009 11:34:01 AM PST by Stoat
EXCLUSIVE
Brits fight off deadly pirates
The three-man ex-military security team were hired to protect cargo ship S. Venus in the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden off the Africa coast.
On four separate occasions between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Somali pirates – armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades (RPG) – tried to hijack the boat by force.
Alex Little, 43, said: "We knew if we engaged them and they won we would be killed.
"It was a fight for our lives but we decided we were going to save this boat - it was emotional."
The men, who work for APMSS security, were protecting the 190-metre long cargo ship on its two day voyage ferrying barley from Aden to Oman.
Denied guns by law, the men were forced to used improvised weapons – including mini grenades made out of light bulbs and paint thinner.
Former Royal Marine Kevin Brewin, 52, lead the team of Alex and Ian Knight, 38, on their mission to defend the vulnerable vessel.
He said: "We made the decision to fight and that is what we did. I suppose looking back it was pretty hairy but at the time you just get stuck in and do your job.
"Ian had made some Molotov cocktails out of light bulbs by taking out the element, filling it with paint thinner and plugging the top with toilet paper."
Despite the vicious onslaught the men hatched an audacious defence – pouring paint thinner straight into a pirate boat – before firing a flare gun into it.
During the last attack the S. Venus captain had headed towards a nearby French frigate which had been alerted to their plight during the third attack.
The Premier Maitre L'Her picked up and arrested eight pirates who were handed over to Puntland, a state in north eastern Somalia.
The trio are now safely back in the UK after their dramatic ordeal.
Their boss Nick Davis and owner of APMSS said: "It was unbelievably brave - to be attacked four times is unprecedented.
"They really are heroes. This team performed above and beyond the call of duty.”
cough heretic! cough
:-)
Oooooo, I would go and bring my own guns! Those portholes would make GREAT sniper locations.
So a three-man security team was hired to protect the vessel...with what weaponry? did their employer expect them to engage AK-47's and RPG's with hand-to-hand combat?
I think that denied weapons by law means that with any port they pulled into ,if that nation's customs inspectors were to search the ship and find weapons, then the crew would be put in jail and the ship held as evidence unless whoever owned the ship payed out a lot of money in fines / bribes.
So all these countries with ports, many of whom apparently can't prevent their own criminals from having AKs and RPGs, are going to bring the hammer of their anti- citizens owning any weapons even for self defense laws down on the owners and the officers and crew members of the ship.
Actually, what the security team brought to the situation was the will and the expertise to resist.
Proving that really, your mind is your greatest weapon...
I dunno about the paint thinner you Yanks have: ours is “Mineral Turpentine”, or “Mineral Spirits” — you might call it “Solvent”.
That stuff doesn’t burn very well at all: at best, it is like lighter fluid. Usually it is even less volatile than that.
I would guess they added gasoline or "white gas" to the Paint Thinner. I had a bunch of paint thinner I had used to clean brushes with after painting a bunch of stuff with oil based paint - I could not recycle it or (legally) throw it out, so I added white gas ()http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha and a bit of regular gasoline to it (just to be sure it would really go up), poured it all over a bunch of scrap wood and shot-up paper and cardboard targets, and then threw a lit rag on it...
That was the closest I ever came to accidental Self-immolation... (Thank you God for watching over me...)
This is great but what the freaking point of real security if you can’t even legally have a firearm?
My guess is that the "legally" part of the equation "may" be something that is not exactly adhered to in every step down the line......please see FReeper spetznaz's post here at #10...he makes far too much sense to be dismissed out of hand.
No disrespect to you whatsoever was intended by myself....I was being absolutely serious when I said that I would be delighted to participate in such a venture.
Oh, see, they had flare guns. Anyone who’s seen “Captain Ron” knows that’s pretty much all you need. ;’) Thanks Pharmboy, and Happy New Year!
Just thank the Lord these men were smart enough to know how to defend themselves.
I would rather a coalition of nations stepped in to bring order back to Somalia. The purpose should be to eliminate the problem, not create an industry were there would be vested interests lobbying to prevent effective action to permanently resolve the problem...
I hereby declare this particular ping, a Royal MacGyver Major Pain in their Arse Marine Ping.
Sticks and stone might break their bones, but light bulbs and toilet paper might blow ye up (or down, as the case may be) real good.
I knew you were serious. I just lament that there’s so few sane people in the world.
Where there is a will there is a way. Great work by these Royal Marines.
Yep. Congress has the authority to issue Letters of Marque for just such a problem.
>> George Peppard was also a former Jarhead. Must have drove him crazy, too!
> cough heretic! cough
> :-)
(Grin!) My apologies: there is no such thing as a “Former” Jarhead — once a Marine, always a Marine!
So George Peppard was a WW-II Marine. So was Lee Marvin. Two of the greats, ay! Gone but never forgotten.
Thanks for the link.
Any self respecting Brit will tell you that they are very rarely given the right tols for the job. But these men are professionals and have a duty to their role, and perform it with or without the ideal gear to hand.
All the satisfaction a true British man needs is knowing that he did his job as best he could, and wasn’t found failing.
Respect for the ingenuity of their succesful defence of this vessel.
Use em while you can. Your EU masters are mandating new low volume pirate friendly bulbs 
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