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Pirates Bring German Ship Into US Stand-Off ( off Somali Coast)
Sky News ^
| 4:14am UK, Saturday April 11, 2009
| Sky News
Posted on 04/10/2009 11:46:29 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Pirates are moving a hijacked German freighter into position as a reinforcement in a stand-off with the US Navy over an American hostage.
The Hansa Stavanger is heading to the area in the Indian Ocean where cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was seized, a pirate source said.
The 20,000-ton ship, which was taken a week ago between Kenya and the Seychelles, has a crew of 24, of whom five are German.
Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot, who is in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, told Sky News: "What the pirates are saying they intend to do is transfer the American and the four pirates from the lifeboat onto this other boat.
"They think the Americans wouldn't attack one or the other because they would be afraid of killing people."
The pirates holding Phillips have demanded $2m (£1.6m) for his release and a guarantee of their own safety.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: germany; piracy; pirates; somalia; somalipirates
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To: neverdem; NormsRevenge; Grampa Dave; SierraWasp; Marine_Uncle; SunkenCiv; blam; Allegra; ...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
To: All
Background info :
Somali Pirates Seize American Cargo Ship
Vessel was seized off the coast of Somalia
1:47pm UK, Wednesday April 08, 2009
Somali pirates have seized a cargo ship with 20 American crew on board off the Horn of Africa.
The 17,000-tonne vessel was attacked in the Indian Ocean, 400 miles from the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The vessel is owned by the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.
In a statement, the company later confirmed that the US-flagged vessel has 20 Americans onboard.
Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said all the crew are believed to be safe.
A spokesman for the US Navy confirmed there were American citizens on board, but did not say how many.
The vessel is the first to be captured with an all-American crew.
On Monday, pirates hijacked a British-owned, Italian-operated ship with 16 Bulgarian crew on board.
Over the weekend, they also seized a French yacht, a Yemeni tug, and a 20,000-tonne German container vessel.
Interfax news agency said the Hansa Stavanger had a German captain, three Russians, two Ukrainians, and 14 Filipinos on board.
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
They have already turned back.
5
posted on
04/10/2009 11:54:20 PM PDT
by
Domangart
(editor and publisher)
To: Star Traveler
"Well, I started off saying this, earlier today (in another thread)... I'll say this much, it doesn't look like there's a good option here. The absolute wrong thing to do, is to pay ransom. But, I'm sure that's what Barry will do, through back channels presumably. The Germans will certainly pay the ransom as they don't have a legitimate military option - thank you Adolph.
I suppose you could sink the German freighter, but the international outrage would of course be leveled us the US, and not the pirates. The US should have acted before the German freighter arrived. Now a complicated situation becomes exponentially more complicated. Way to go Barry!
To: Star Traveler
Excellent Work....look at the detail of what I just posted...the pirates have been really busy this week....
I count 5 ships including the small yacht and a tug.
To: Big_Monkey; Domangart
According to Domangart at post #5 the pirates changed their minds....now that is interesting.....
To: Domangart
Is that detail on an earlier thread...?
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Hmmm..., in post #4, are you talking about the same ship for which they’ve got one hostage right now, the captain? Or are you talking about another ship with Americans (a second one) in addition to the first ship with Americans?
I’m not sure what you’re posting there...
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
"According to Domangart at post #5 the pirates changed their minds....now that is interesting..... Couldn't find it apparently. My brother and I were talking today (he's active duty Navy) about this. We couldn't figure out how the the hijacked vessels were going to locate the life raft. Certainly, the US vessels on station would be jamming any electronic communication from the raft. I guess we have our answer now.
To: Big_Monkey
Yeah, you’re right about the outrage being directed at the U.S. if they sunk another ship that had hostages on boards. Other countries wouldn’t take that sort of thing too well... :-)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
This story just gets more bizarre by the second.
13
posted on
04/11/2009 12:05:02 AM PDT
by
Proud_USA_Republican
(Trust unto God and He shall direct your path)
To: Star Traveler
To: Star Traveler
Talking about this one:
The vessel is owned by the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.
As far as I know there has only been one ship seized with americans as crew.
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
All right... I just had a different name for it on my list...
To: Big_Monkey
Now that relieves the pressure on Obama...a bit!
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Saw it on a wire story a few minutes ago. They apparently got lost and turned back. Now they’re talking about sending elders to negotiate safe passage and dropping the ransom demand. Of course, at the rate the story’s changing, that’ll probably also change before I can hit the return key.
18
posted on
04/11/2009 12:19:10 AM PDT
by
ArmstedFragg
(hoaxy dopey changey)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
"Now that relieves the pressure on Obama...a bit! It does. It will be interesting if any other hijacked ship tries to make it to the raft. Those SOLAS-A lifeboat are equipped with propulsion that can go at least a couple hundred miles. Plus, they have all the latest GPS and sat-com technologies, ePirbs, SARTs and whatnot.
To: Big_Monkey
Is this a good image of the lifeboat?
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