U.S. / Pirate standoff intensifies

They need a bait boat. Make it look like a cargo ship and once the pirates get close enough break out some deck guns and sink their shit. I know it violates international maritime law in all, but fuck it.
 
If you keep appeasing these pirates they definitely will not stop. Doing nothing about this situation, just because countries/companies can afford the bill, is bullshit.

I think we should allow ships, at least off the Horn of Africa, to be armed. They don't need thirty deckguns or anything, but the crew should be allowed to carry arms or hire mercenaries. That or our Navies can get more involved. There could be some escalation but at least that will do something about the problem. Personally I'd rather take my chances in a fight than rely on some pirates good will.

Also, I find it funny how little the corporate media has covered Somali piracy until these recent events. Now it's pirates 24/7. :lol:
 
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Also, I find it funny how little the corporate media has covered Somali piracy until these recent events. Now it's pirates 24/7. :lol:

But that's how the retard ADD media acts.
 
I personally suspect, if Somalia had an actual government the piracy situation would be different... it's all Clinton's fault!
 
I don't know how much an actual government would help. IIRC as it is now a lot of the ransom money goes towards bribing the powers that be. Maybe that was in another Wired article? I can't remember.
 
I just figure Somalia is the one country that's been without a real government for so long, and all this is happening with Somali pirates. Why not pirates from other neighboring African nations?
 
I don't know about the circumstances under which the U.S. freighter was hijacked, but the last german ship was hijacked when passing pirate-infested seas unguarded cause the captian did not want to wait for the next navy-guarded convoy to start.
The massive presence of international navys in the gulf of aden so far only did one thing: Make the pirates start attacking all over the ocean, thus making it impossible for the navys of the world to guard all ships...
...the main problem is that -guns aside- our modern times are too soft on pirates. When our navy captured some pirates, there was lots of talk where they should be brought to trial.
TRIAL? PIRATES? The only question in dealing with pirates should be "keelhaul or send them over the plank". That's how it should be for pirates: Either you get your bounty or you die. No middle ground. I would still think of becoming a pirate (or a ninja pirate, that is) when the job market stays that bad, but the odds for a pirate should be "win or die". In the good old days, pirate captains used to torch their own ship as a motivation for their caper crews: If they did not take over the attacked vessel, they'd die. Modern society is just too soft on pirates, that's all.
 
The problem with the somali pirate issue is that fact that the somalian coastline is very long, and the pirates operate on a very large area. You'd have to move a ridiculous amount of warships there to keep everything in control. And even if you did so, a modern warship is not the right tool for fighting a small crew of pirates in a dinghy.

Imo the best resolution to this issue would be arming the trade ships with some relatively small amounts of weapons. It would go a long way at repelling the temptation of the pirates, as it is, they know that very few people on the ships carry guns, and they have loads of weaponry. Moving an armada of battleships to the coast of Africa would be far too expensive and really not the tool for the job.

Also, how were pirates abolished hundreds of years ago? By hanging them at ports to warn everyone of the consequences of stealing shit on the high seas.
 
I just figure Somalia is the one country that's been without a real government for so long, and all this is happening with Somali pirates. Why not pirates from other neighboring African nations?
That's a good point. Surely it's not just Somalians doing this. But since most of them are reportedly operating out of Somalia it's just easier to call them Somali.

TRIAL? PIRATES?
My thoughts exactly. When the Royal Navy handed those pirates over not too long ago my mind was blown. These guys are in a skiff with a shitload of guns, what in the hell were they up to? Fishing with RPGs? Sink them, send a message to other pirates that it will not be tolerated. According to Wired, something like 10% of the worlds cargo goes through there ... we don't need them screwing with it. No matter how 'nice' they are about it.
 
This was the first mission in cod4. Bunch of n00bs playing this game.
 
This is from wiki

Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US $13 to $16 billion per year
 
What we need is to reinstate escorted convoys and send a couple of Q-ships to the area.
 
I'd go with the Q ships idea - stuff a very attractive target with special forces. When the Pirates attack - blammo.
 
I'd go with the Q ships idea - stuff a very attractive target with special forces. When the Pirates attack - blammo.

Better yet make it a lucky dip which special forces they get to deal with, one ship you get navy seals, another royal marines etc :D
 
Remember these people are mostly just poor fishermen who have been driven into piracy by international overfishing off their coasts (a nonexistent governing body in Somalia for the last 15 years doesn't help either).

Just want to mention that these pirates holding the American hostage are asking for like 2 million dollars. And who knows how many millions of dollars other pirates have received. Poor people turn to petty crimes. Unless there is some kind of criminal enterprise at work here which is recruiting poor fisherman, and taking most of the ransom money for themselves.
 
Here?s another one that?s been hijacked.

BBC News Sat 11 April 20:00z said:
Somali pirates seize another boat

Somali pirates have hijacked a tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew members on board - 10 of them Italians.

Maritime industry sources say the tug was towing two barges at the time of the attack at 0800 GMT. The crew are said to be unharmed.

..article continues


BBC News Sat April 11 at 20:00z

(Let me know if you cant get the BBC url and I?ll paste it all up.)


I'd go with the Q ships idea - stuff a very attractive target with special forces. When the Pirates attack - blammo.
Like the Q ships idea.:)


Better yet make it a lucky dip which special forces they get to deal with, one ship you get navy seals, another royal marines etc :D

The Royal Navy's badboys are called the SBS (Special Boat Squadron), similar to the SAS who I reckon should also be involved in sorting these pirates out.:|
 
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