Posted on 12/09/2008 9:20:14 AM PST by george76
Somali pirates say they have thwarted an apparent revolt by the crew of a hijacked Ukrainian cargo ship...
sailors of the MV Faina tried to "harm" two of their captors.
The ship is carrying 33 tanks and other weaponry and was seized by pirates two and half months ago.
"Some crew members on the Ukrainian ship are misbehaving," the pirate said.
"They tried to harm two of our gunmen late Monday. This is unacceptable, they risk serious punitive measures.
"Somalis know how to live and how to die at the same time, but the Ukrainians' attempt to take violent action is misguided."
He claimed that two of the pirates were taken by surprise when a group of crew members attacked them.
Another report of the incident, by Russian Ren TV, quoted one of the pirates as saying that the crew responsible would be "seriously punished".
Meanwhile, the British commander in charge of the EU's anti-piracy mission ...Rear Admiral Phillip Jones says ...
The task force - codenamed operation Atalanta and working under a UN mandate - is not allowed to board seized ships or to free crews held hostage.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
UN mandate. How quaint.
Pirates as victims. Who’da thunk it?
Do they at least have permission to send stern semaphore messages?
Is the mandate going to condemn the racist attacks by White hostages on the impoverished African pirates?
I don't know, but it just doesn't seem like a good idea to keep pissing off other nations. At some point, they're going to say enough's enough and start painting the pirate boats with smart rockets before they get close enough to fire back and that live-die thingie going to be granted. It's just a matter of time...
I don't know, I think the word "Pirate" is too judgmental. I think we need to adopt the more sensitive and pc "Maritime Theft Technicians". ;)
Pirates often have peg legs and hooks. Certainly they’re due all kinds of consideration under the Americans with Disabilities Act. What? You say they’re not Americans? Don’t worry, that doesn’t matter any more...
Argh!
I cannot fathom how 4-6 pirates in a 30’ boat can overtake a tanker or freighter.
Put 2 guys with .50 cal chain guns and sink any boat that tries anything...
It is beyond stupidity that the shippers wont defend themselves
Unauthorized merchandise transfer personnel.
I don’t pretend to have any sort of knowledge about maritime legal matters, but every time I see one of these Somali pirate stories, I keep wondering why it is that any nation or company would venture into those waters without adequate security personnel on board.
Surely a few sharpshooters and a few RPGs is not too much expense when you are carrying millions of dollars’ worth of cargo. Perhaps their insurance costs might even be lowered because they are protecting the stuff better.
Am I missing something here?
I still think the best action to take with this scum, is if they try to take it into a harbor or bay ...sink the damn thing right in the channel.......
The priates do have grenade launchers, but I would assume that their effective range is a lot less than a laser-guided smart rocket. The shippers are going to have to do something as their insurance rates are probably going through the roof. At some point, they will have to take action on their own.
If the ship is not released with the hostages in 24 hours, Kill EVERYTHING in Haradhere.
I doubt there's a politician on the planet with the stones to do that, even though it sure would solve the problem.
What are you, some kind of racist?
:)
They don’t have guns on civilian vessels because they would
be confiscated by any country they called at. You think that you can just put a MaDeuce on the taffrail and have it be legal, say if you called at a foreign port. That would be the fastest way to get familiar with the local detention facility.
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