14 April 2009
Pirates have captured four more ships and taken more than 60 crew members hostage in the Gulf of Aden in the last two days, following the death of three pirates in a standoff with the United States Navy.
Irene EM, a Greek-owned bulk carrier, was captured overnight Monday, according to the shipping news website Lloyds Register-Fairplay. The
22-man crew is believed to be unharmed.
In addition, the BBC is reporting that the MV Sea Horse, a Lebanese-owned cargo ship, was captured Tuesday. On Monday, pirates seized two Egyptian fishing vessels, according to the BBC.
The Nato Shipping Centre also reports a number of unsuccessful attacks on shipping in recent days.
On Sunday, U.S. Navy Seals shot dead three pirates in order to free Richard Phillips, the captain of a American-flagged vessel who was taken hostage. Earlier in the week, French armed forces stormed a yacht, resulting in the deaths of two pirates and one hostage.
Pirates have vowed revenge on the U.S. and France. One pirate told AllAfrica publishing partner Shabelle that they would kill any captured French or American citizens.
On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to crack down on piracy. "I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal, we're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks," Obama said in a speech in Washington DC.
The piracy reporting centre of the International Maritime Bureau has warned shipping off the Somali coast that intelligence sources have
revealed that "that there are a number of suspicious vessels in the Gulf of Aden believed to be pirate mother vessels looking to attack ships with the intent to hijack."
The centre's website carries photos of Russian-made trawlers suspected to be mother ships.
"All vessels... are advised to take additional precautionary measures and maintain strict 24-hour visual and radar anti-piracy watch using all
available means." the centre said. "Watch-keeping crews should look out for small suspicious boats...
"Early sightings/detection and accurate assessment will allow [a ship's] master to increase speed and take evasive manoeuvres to escape
from pirates and at the same time request assistance..."
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Agreed that the only long term solution is on the ground, not out to sea. Part of the solution has to be control of rapacious "factory" fishing ships and of dumping. That said, I'd have to agree with the author. Identifiable "mother ships" should be sunk. I'd go as far as to say that there should be a defined "corridor" in international waters, say ten miles wide. Ships that haven't identified themselves have an hour to transit. (change width and time to suit the situation). Respond to a radio challenge with something believable (navy personnel in the area are going to become pretty tough to convince) and you get a once-over by the nearest military vessel. No response, or no good one, more than the allowed time limit and shipping vessels potentially in your area, you get warned to abandon ship, and the vessel is sunk. The international community has the remote imaging resources and the weapons systems to make this work. I'm not suggesting that this is a long term solution. It's not - but it might make the "mother ship" system impracticable for piracy.
No can do, because all the problems of Somalia are self-inflicted. The Somalis themselves used modern technology to overfish their waters and dump their sewage into the sea, and make up stories that westerners did it... then when the more liberal westerners ask them for the names and registration numbers of the ships that violated their waters, the Somalis just stare at them in shock for a few seconds, then go completely wild, screaming that it is racist to look for proof of the stories they weave!
No, there is no way to redress imaginary crimes. Any attempt to do so will only result in more imaginary crimes being invented, until the west has destroyed itself trying to appease the imaginations of the Somali people.
SOmeone send the somali pirates the Flag with The SKULL AND CROSS BONES and AHOY PIRATES!!!!
Forgive me if I am stating the obvious, but it seems that with all of the pirate attacks, merchants are ignoring not only wartime practices but natural systems for thwarting predators. To protect merchant ships during wartime, conveys were formed; to keep herds safe from predators, they cluster together and move as a group. It is when ships or animals stray from the group or herd that they are the most vulnerable to predators.
While besting the pirates is a daunting task given the vast area that must be patrolled, it seems that the merchant's best chance is if designated shipping channels are created. The shipping channels would be designated areas that would be the primary (or only) patrol areas for NATO to defend. The channels would be far enough from the coast to make it difficult for pirates to safely flee to land-based harbors and to minimize the impact on fishing fleets, while remaining close enough to the coast to conserve fuel. The channels would be wide enough to safely accommodate shipping traffic, yet no wider. This would reduce the area that would need to be patrolled, maximizing the impact of NATO patrols. If narrow enough and far enough from shore, the channels could also be off-limits to fishing, ensuring that the channels would only be used by merchants and NATO ships - any other ship would be suspect. If feasible, ships could also travel in actual convoys. While merchant ships would not be mandated to use the designated shipping channels, NATO patrols would be limited to those channels, so the best chance for protection would be to stick to designated channels. While the drawback to designated channels would be that the pirates would better be able to predict where merchant ships could be found, by creating channels, protection could be concentrated in an area where that protection would be the most effective.
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Active Discussions: Crisis Over Somali Pirates