Posted on 04/08/2009 4:04:52 AM PDT by rightwingextremist1776
NAIROBI, Kenya - Somali pirates have hijacked a cargo ship with 21 Americans onboard, officials said on Wednesday.
The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was taken Wednesday, according to the Kenya-based diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet confirmed that a Danish-owned, U.S.-operated container ship carrying 21 Americans "came under attack" about 240 nautical miles southeast of Ayel, Somalia. She said the crew had radioed for help but the closest naval ship was about 300 nautical miles away at the time. The official was unable to confirm the name of the vessel.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Zero’s Cousins?
Don’t worry........FUBO will send out a strongly worded letter along with the ransom money..
Well let’s not count on any Brits to help, recently it was reported (and discussed on FR) that the Brits have no laws or authority to capture or prosecute pirates.
We should make these pirates pay and let the lesson known that Americans are not a good target.
Wasn’t America’s first war against Muslim pirates?
. Arm the merchant ships! At least Americans
LOL! Sorry, we gave away that right.
Under international law, all merchant ships must be ... Unarmed.
Mark my words. This incident is going to be a huge, prolonged embarrasment to the Hussein Administration. It will show just how weak and incompetwnt he really is. More and more people will know, inside and outside of the US.
(Was this the international incident that Plugs Biden was talking about?)
My BIL’s a merchant marine, has been for 30 years...yep they still exist. Luckily right now, he’s running domestic routes, but in years past he’s been on ships that have traveled to Africa and Asia. Pirates have always been a concern, but things have definitely escalated in the last couple years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Merchant_Marine
>>>>> Wasn’t America’s first war against Muslim pirates? <<<<<
Yes, under U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
I guess they haven’t pulled Odumbo away from his morning workout yet to tell him this news...otherwise he would have surrendered by now....
Prayers for all those held hostage.
He has probably already sent them a “ALL-CAPS” email.
one wonders why ships sailing in known dangerous waters aren’t armed for self-defense - let ‘em board, then take care of them.
it looks like these ships are sitting ducks and there is little or no resistance - free money for the hijackers. one wonders why nobody is fighting back.
>>>> things have definitely escalated in the last couple years. <<<<<
Amazingly, the civilized nations of the world seem completely impotent in the face of Somali piracy.
Piracy’s also a problem in the Straits Of Malacca, but it seems much more opportunistic due to the confluence of Singapore shipping and the geography of Malaysia and Indonesia.
This nonsense from Somalia is just a brazen and egregious F.U.
And with all the current firepower and patrolling there the civilized world can’t stop it?
I believe it was a few weeks ago that $3 million was paid to the Somali pirates of the Saudi oil tanker.
It’s kind of weird. I know there are problems with being armed in many ports of call. But there also are several private companies that provide shipping defense, such as Blackwater.
Maybe the piracy problem - while being an odd and interesting news story - is such a blip on the financial screen of commercial shipping that it isn’t worth any real bother.
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