28 April 2009
Nine suspected pirates have been captured north of the Seychelles after an unsuccessful attempt to seize an Italian cruise liner.
The European Union's Maritime Security Centre (MSC) said the pirates were intercepted by a Spanish warship, the Numancia. The suspects, who were "in poor health," were released as a result of lack of evidence, but the Seychelles coastguard then picked them up.
"The capture operation was conducted in co-operation with a... French maritime patrol aircraft and a warship from the Indian Navy which also discovered an abandoned skiff not far from the scene," the MSC said.
The cruise ship, the Melody, was attacked on Saturday night. Armed security guards and the ship's crew repelled the pirates, who approached the ship in a small speedboat, by firing shots into the air and deploying fire hoses against them.
In another incident, the Fairplay shipping news website reported that a Russian tanker crew used fire hoses to chase off pirates in an attempted hijacking on Monday.
"Three pirate boats approached NS Commander in the Indian Ocean, about 120 nautical miles east of the Yemeni island of Socotra," Fairplay said. "The assailants, armed with automatic weapons and grenade launchers, tried to board the tanker and fired at it, but the 23 crew members evaded capture, then turned the hoses on the pirates."
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Great thats good news, After trial and conviction, Please carry pictures of their hanging so we truely know there are 9 less pirates in the world.
The international media is now reporting that the passengers of the cruise ship are claiming they repelled the pirates by throwing deck chairs at them, while the captain and security guards did nothing but sit in the ship's lounge and drink martinis.
Deck chairs. Against pirates armed with AK47s and grenade launchers. Are these guys even trying to maintain even the tiniest journalistic standards any more? This is the plot of a Hollywood comedy movie, not a factual report! All we need now is a report that the bullet holes in the ship were a result of the Captain shooting himself in the foot when he dropped his service revolver trying to save his bottle of gin from falling off the end of the bar three hours after the pirates fled.
The only tiny sign of honesty in the reports is how they preface them with the words, "According to passengers..." Think about the kind of people tend to be passengers on a cruise ship... naturally the spoiled rich elitists will spin a yarn about how they repelled experienced bandits carrying enough firepower to cut the ship in half by dropping deck chairs on their heads as they tried to board. Who cares about how things really happened, when we can deliver a compelling narrative (with myself as the hero, of course)? If we have to ignore the fact that the deck chairs are bolted to the deck, or claim we were just so skilled with monkey wrenches that we could get the chairs up faster than the firing rate of a fully automatic AK47, well that just makes us look more awesome, right?
And the media reports it uncritically, leaving it up to the viewer to realize these "reports" are from liars, for morons.
While it is often hard to verify the veracity of any news report, I was stunned to see a comment that “the deck chairs are bolted to the deck” … What? I have never seen nor heard of such a thing … though I would like to know what company would do this, as I would most assuredly never go on a cruise with them.
Where is this African Union what is it saying about all this .What does it stand for ??
So, I have read all the comments above.
I must say, it is alarming that no one seems to have a clue.
In the actual world any dimwit who states that "no amount of naval power will stop piracy" is just smoking a bit of the ganja. Refer, for example, to the miniscule amount of "naval power" (namely, armed crewmen) it took to fend off a bunch of "pirates" from an Italian cruise liner.
Further, the wonderful post from the fellow who wants to shower goodies on Somalia and "provide" all kinds of wonderful benefits for them.... falls into Winston Churchill's classic quote: "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
If you want"pirates" to stay away from you, you have two options. 1) Stay away from them, or 2) defend yourself.
And on the subject of "pirates", are they? Or are they simply the "All-Volunteer Somalian Water Patrol Force"? Why is it, when they seize a cargo freighter, they are pirates, but when, say, North Korea seizes a warship, they are not? Even better, why is it that the country which sent a warship close to North Korea isn't piratical?
Every government on earth is piratical. It steals what it wants from its own citizens. It gives it to the boss pirate to spend. It is just that some pirates are better armed than others.
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