G2: What al-Qaida could do with 'terror navy'

World Net Daily ^ | October 20, 2003 | Joseph Farrah

[Bon mots]

I didn't see this posted yet...

[ChewedGum]

Al Queda Navy? Hmmm...I'm scared now. Glad I didn't see this last night or I might not have slept so well. ; )

Gum

[Bon mots]

You must remember this story...

Sudan firm claims ship explosives

The Baltic Sky had been on a long odyssey around the Mediterranean

The head of a Sudanese chemical firm has told the BBC a shipment of explosives impounded by the Greek authorities was destined for his company.

Issam Bakri Khalifa, of the Integrated Chemicals and Development Company, said the consignment was intended for peaceful purposes and he has demanded it back.

The ship - the Baltic Sky - was carrying 680 tons of explosives when it was stormed by special forces off Greece's western coast on Sunday.

Greek officials said documents on board linked the ship with Integrated Chemicals and Development but initial inquiries indicated the company did not exist.

The BBC's Panos Polyzoidis in Greece says the shipment of explosives is so large that it may have been intended for a government rather than an organisation.

Crew charged

Greek Shipping Minister George Anomeritis said the ship's manifest showed that cargo was officially bound for a company with "a post office box in Khartoum that did not exist".

It should have reported that it was sailing with an atomic bomb cargo

George Anomeritis
Greek shipping minister

Documents from the ship described the cargo as ANFO, a commercially-manufactured ammonia nitrate-based explosive usually used in mining.

Mr Anomeritis described the ship's cargo as akin to "an atomic bomb".

The crew of seven - five Ukrainians and two Azeris - have been charged with possession and transport of explosives - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

They have also been charged with failing to notify Greek authorities 24 hours in advance that they were transporting explosives into Greek waters.

Heightened alert

The ship's location when it was stopped suggested it was not heading towards Khartoum.

It had apparently been sailing around the Mediterranean for six weeks before being impounded.

It had loaded 450 pallets of TNT and 8,000 detonators in Gabes, Tunisia on 12 May, Mr Anomeritis said.

The vessel was later seen near Istanbul on 22 May and in the Aegean Sea on 2 June.

It was boarded in the Ionian Sea following a tip-off and then forced into the tiny Greek port of Platiyali, 235 kilometres (145 miles) north-west of Athens.

The discovery of the cargo comes amid heightened terror alerts in East Africa and elsewhere.

Anti-terrorist forces and army bomb experts have begun examining the cargo.

[Bon mots]

The shipment they just caught in Greece was not fertilizer, like in Texas city. The al-Qaida creeps probabaly know that they have little chance of bringing a renegade ship like that into any port, but they could hijack a legitimate ship, kill its crew and replace it with the bomb ship. The bomb ship could be disguised to look like a legit ship sailing from any port.

The ship in Texas City was not deliberately place to do maximum damage, as any ship al-Qaida sends surely would...
Here are some more photos from Texas City:

Anyway, you get the idea...

They could sail it right into Manhattan harbor, Baltimore, or any one of a zillion places, they might hit Europe this time, as they are much more complacent. Wouldn't be hard to sail right into Central London with a properly hijacked and disguised ship or two. You can be certain that they are very carefully planning a devious and diabolical plan right now. The Saudis are likely financing it.

[John H K]

You HAVE TO TAKE ON an American pilot and have him in charge to sail a cargo vessel into an American port...and he boards well outside the harbor.

It's a lot less easy to simply sail a cargo vessel wherever you want than people like to portray it.

[mrjeff]

The Halifax disaster of 1917 was worse than Texas City. A munitions ship exploded in Halifax harbor - over 2000 dead and wiped out half a squre mile of the city.

[John H K]

Also in most modern American cities the cargo terminals are now separated by a large distance from the downtown/financial centers. Manhattan,Brooklyn, etc. load and unload no cargo at all; it's all in Newark.

The Inner Harbor of Baltimore is well removed from the Dundalk marine terminal, etc. etc.

A large ship that doesn't take on a pilot, or has an unresponsive pilot, and isn't heading for the cargo terminals would be obvious; and given their slow speed, it would take time to get to near a downtown area.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Bump!

[OXENinFLA]

Wow!

[OXENinFLA]

The Halifax Disaster

On December 6, 1917, two war ships, a Belgian relief ship, Imo, and a French ship carrying munitions, the Mont Blanc, fatally collided in Halifax Harbor. Incorrect signaling and misunderstanding between the two ships led the Imo to strike the side of the Mont Blanc. The Mont Blanc, which was carrying 400,000 pounds of TNT, 300 rounds of ammunitions, along with other explosive ingredients, caught fire and drifted closer into the city of Halifax. Before the fire could be put out, the Mont Blanc exploded creating the "biggest man-made explosion before the nuclear age". The explosion killed over 2,000 people and injured 9,000. The explosion caused $28 million in damage - 326 acres of the north-end of Halifax's waterfront had been destroyed.

[John H K]

Al Queda Navy? Hmmm...I'm scared now. Glad I didn't see this last night or I might not have slept so well. ; )

Keep in mind Joseph Farah is a professional hype-monger. EVERY SINGLE article he writes is a scare story.

And he strikes me as barely above the DEBKA level regarding accuracy and real knowledge of defense/intelligence issues.

[OXENinFLA]

FYI

http://www.halifaxexplosion.org/

[BigBobber]

You HAVE TO TAKE ON an American pilot and have him in charge to sail a cargo vessel into an American port...and he boards well outside the harbor.

That may be true, but it means nothing after the ship's pilot is killed. As we all know, the 9-11 airliners all had American pilots on board as well.

This is a ruthless and clever enemy. I prefer not to underestimate them.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

In October 2000, the USS Cole, a heavily armed ship protected with the latest radar defenses, ...

Hooey. Radar is not a weapon, it's sensor. And if your weapons are locked down, they're not going to do you any good. The Navy could have repelled the Sears-Roebuck raft with a firehose, if they'd been willing to use it. Just that Madeline Notsobright thought that might stir up the natives. ("They're all yahoos, you know. The least little thing will set them off.")

[Prodigal Son]

I'm scared now.

Actually, this is the thing that worries me the most- not hijacked airliners. A ship or a container on a ship is the easiest way for them to slip a nuke into the USA. We have no capability to track all container ships or their cargo. The last report I've read stated that we could only screen one percent out of millions.

If the terrorists are very stupid, they will continue to focus on bringing down the great flying beast filled with people. If they are smarter, they will look to the sea instead.

[reg45]

There are several reasons why I'm not scared of the Al-Qaeda navy:

If the AQ navy? gets anywhere near our shores, they will join Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu, Yamato and Musashi at the bottom of the sea.

[BigBobber]

So after an explosives laden ship pulls up next to a cruise liner or navel ship, you're going to detonate it with a missle? Al Qaida would hate that. Not!

[Bon mots]

Yes, I understand that Farrah likes to spread the hype, except that this story has appeared elsewhere (of al-Qaida's flotilla).

The problem with all of our weapons is that the al-Qaida navy will not look like this:

But it could likely look more like this:

or much bigger of course...

...or this:

Neither of these types of vessels have had much difficulty crossing borders anywhere. We read of Chinese illegal immigrants making it right to US Shores, never mind the myriad of such landings in Europe.

But the al-Qaida creeps might go for an easier target that couldn't possibly avoid them...

Suppose they planned on using their 15 pitiful little ships to sink 15 Ocean Liners in one day... couldn't happen?
Both of the above types of ships can get very close to ocean liners like this. Even 15 at a time. Al-Qaida might even have a better disguise...

Nah, they wouldn't dare...

[Bon mots]

Re: Post #3

Credit should have been given to BBC. It got left out by accident.

Original Story
BBC story of explosives ship cont.

Fox News Version
Clymer News Network version of the same story

[IvanT]

Hey don't forget, if these creeps have a nuclear device, they won't really need to get very close to a major port, a mile out or so could be just as effective.