Pirates arggg
yoke
Posts: 1,440
Is it me or is this on the rise? I know I have seen these in the past but not as much I have seen in the past few months and even days. I thought that these types of ships would have some sort of armed security force on them or something. Any thoughts?
Thats a lovely accent you have. New Jersey?
www.seanbrady.net
www.seanbrady.net
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Supposedly, the area that needs to be patrolled is too large for any type of African security force ...
Maybe the Blackwater type groups can repurpose themselves from Iraq to the east coast of Africa ... :rolleyes:
"I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
He also mentioned that several countries have navies out patrolling for pirates, but there is so much space to cover that it makes it difficult to stamp out the problem. He added that scores of pirates get caught, but scores more slip through the safety net.
As far as being armed, man, the thought of live ammunition on a floating gas tank makes me kind of nervous.
However, the pirates have no problem taking them over with guns and they don't seem to worried about breaking the law.
www.seanbrady.net
There would be pirate heads on pikes if the Saudis put their guys on ships. It would be like old-school naval justice: catch a pirate, cut off 'is 'ead and lash it to the bow of the ship.
The more I hear about the money these guys can get, the more I want to become a pirate.
That's the thing with criminals: They don't have much respect for the law.
And he who forgets, will be destined to remember...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7623329.stm
Life in Somalia's pirate town
By Mary Harper
BBC Africa analyst
Whenever word comes out that pirates have taken yet another ship in the Somali region of Puntland, extraordinary things start to happen.
Pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have been surging
There is a great rush to the port of Eyl, where most of the hijacked vessels are kept by the well-armed pirate gangs.
People put on ties and smart clothes. They arrive in land cruisers with their laptops, one saying he is the pirates' accountant, another that he is their chief negotiator.
With yet more foreign vessels seized off the coast of Somalia this week, it could be said that hijackings in the region have become epidemic.
Insurance premiums for ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden have increased tenfold over the past year because of the pirates, most of whom come from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
In Eyl, there is a lot of money to be made, and everybody is anxious for a cut.
The going rate for ransom payments is between $300,000 and $1.5m (£168,000-£838,000).
A recent visitor to the town explained how, even though the number of pirates who actually take part in a hijacking is relatively small, the whole modern industry of piracy involves many more people.
"The number of people who make the first attack is small, normally from seven to 10," he said.
"They go out in powerful speedboats armed with heavy weapons. But once they seize the ship, about 50 pirates stay on board the vessel. And about 50 more wait on shore in case anything goes wrong."
Given all the other people involved in the piracy industry, including those who feed the hostages, it has become a mainstay of the Puntland economy.
Eyl has become a town tailor-made for pirates - and their hostages.
Special restaurants have even been set up to prepare food for the crews of the hijacked ships.
As the pirates want ransom payments, they try to look after their hostages.
When commandos from France freed two French sailors seized by pirates off the Somali coast in September, President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had given the go-ahead for the operation when it was clear the pirates were headed for Eyl - it would have been too dangerous to try to free them from there.
The town is a safe-haven where very little is done to stop the pirates - leading to the suggestion that some, at least, in the Puntland administration and beyond have links with them.
Many of them come from the same clan - the Majarteen clan of the president of Somalia's transitional federal government, Abdullahi Yusuf.
Money to spend
The coastal region of Puntland is booming.
Fancy houses are being built, expensive cars are being bought - all of this in a country that has not had a functioning central government for nearly 20 years.
Observers say pirates made about $30m from ransom payments last year - far more than the annual budget of Puntland, which is about $20m.
A Canadian navy ship escorted a recent delivery of food aid to Somalia
When the president of Puntland, Adde Musa, was asked about the reported wealth of pirates and their associates, he said: "It's more than true".
Now that they are making so much money, these 21st Century pirates can afford increasingly sophisticated weapons and speedboats.
This means that unless more is done to stop them, they will continue to plunder the busy shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden.
They even target ships carrying aid to feed their compatriots - up to a third of the population.
Warships from France, Canada and Malaysia, among others, now patrol the Somali coast to try and fend off pirate attacks.
An official at the International Maritime Organisation explained how the well-armed pirates are becoming increasingly bold.
More than 30% of the world's oil is transported through the Gulf of Aden.
"It is only a matter of time before something horrible happens," said the official.
"If the pirates strike a hole in the tanker, and there's an oil spill, there could be a huge environmental disaster".
It is likely that piracy will continue to be a problem off the coast of Somalia as long as the violence and chaos continues on land.
Conflict can be very good for certain types of business, and piracy is certainly one of them.
Weapons are easy to obtain and there is no functioning authority to stop them, either on land or at sea.
"I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
i have a feeling they went to far with the oil tanker. you dont take that much oil without pissing the wrong people off.
"I don't believe in damn curses. Wake up the damn Bambino and have me face him. Maybe I'll drill him in the ass." --- Pedro Martinez
http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2005/11/08/inside-dvd-seinfeld.jpg
The diamond trade is being controlled through mercs and dictators as it is...the situation is favorable to US interests (so favorable in fact that some of the diamonds are being destroyed, to control the supply). there's no reason to send in troops.
Nigeria sits on plenty of oil and even more natural gas. The US has been toying around with that place for years now but still no real action seen there.
As for the pirates.. "The Somali pirates behind the hijacking of a Saudi super-tanker have effectively gained control of one of the world's busiest shipping lanes — with seven ships snared in 12 days."
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=668170
Definitely going to see some military action soon..
That's some serious booty. I guess the next step is to bury it and draw a map.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
naděje umírá poslední
The Indian navy got some high-seas justice on those pesky pirates:
"NEW DELHI — Days after pirates seized a Saudi-owned supertanker carrying more than $100 million worth of crude oil, the Indian Navy said on Wednesday that one of its warships fought a four-to-five-hour battle at sea with would-be hijackers in the Gulf of Aden, sinking one suspect vessel in flames and forcing the pirates to abandon a second as they fled at high speed."
Well played.
The shipping lanes are very important to free trade. We already have some people there, but I really do see a larger force in the near future...
They don't know where the pirates are found. That is the problem. The Somali coastline is way too large of an area for any effective patrol or military solution. The problem is the underlying issue of poverty and state failure. Until there is security and stability in Somalia we can expect more of the same. Really what does a Somali pirate have to lose? Statistically, they will die at a young age without any prospect of security or legitimate means to economic success. Hopelessness and desparation is a good motivator.
Somalia is extremely important to the west but has gone ignored ever since '92. It is one of the most important shipping lanes which will have significant economic impacts if nothing can be done. Furthermore, many of the pirates are linked with international terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and al-shabaab who threaten the developed world.
As for resources, there is a popular theory that being resource rich is a good recipe for state failure and stagnation. Example: Congo is one of the most resource rich countries in the world, but gov'ts become overly reliant on exporting raw materials instead of strengthening the real engine of economies ie. manufacturing etc. Resources also are easy to exploit and can easily facilitate corruption.
http://thepiratebay.org/
gimmies yer bandwidth!
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
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