A time to arm?

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:58 am

Bill Glasheen wrote: The French navy stormed a French sailboat being held by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, killing one hostage and two pirates in the operation, a presidential statement said Friday.

The navy also freed four remaining hostages, including one child, who were seized Saturday when pirates boarded their ship, the Tanit.

This sounds like a family sailboat, what the heck were they doing in that area given all the reports of pirates there in recent years?!?! Someone wasn't thinking straight when they planned that vacation. Taking the family sailing there would be like planning a family camping trip in Iraq. Maybe they were under the misguided perception that the pirates are only attacking large merchant ships. Or hoping to run into Johnny Depp in Hollywood pirate garb.

AAAhmed46 · Post by **AAAhmed46** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:07 am

AAARRRGGHHHHHH MMMMMAATTTEEEYYY

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:23 pm

Well this was an unexpected good outcome, given the circumstances. Kudos to the Navy for pulling this one off.

U.S. Navy Seal sharpshooters brought a five-day hostage standoff to an abrupt end Sunday with a hail of bullets that killed three pirates holding the captain of an American-flagged cargo ship.

The Navy acted after concluding Capt. Richard Phillips was in "imminent danger," said Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of naval forces in the Middle East.

He told a Pentagon news conference that the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat holding the pirates and a tied-up Capt. Phillips into calmer waters while negotiating with the pirates. He said sharpshooters, positioned at the stern about 80 feet from the lifeboat, saw the heads and shoulders of three pirates onboard, one of them pointing an AK-47 machine gun at the head of Capt. Phillips.

The Navy officer in charge of the operation ordered the pirates to be fired upon, he said.

***

Under federal law, the U.S. can bring any captured pirates back to the United States for prosecution, said Frank Wiswall, past chairman of the legal committee of the International Maritime Organization. Federal law states that "whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life."

- WSJ

That was one hell of a display of good marksmanship. That took both precision and perfect timing.

I also like that the men on the scene got to make the call. Gotta love those Seals!

- Bill

IJ · Post by IJ » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:42 am

Bravo and bye bye, pirates. Some heroes save another hero. I bet that's one heck of a scary rescue operation to survive.

Jason Rees · Post by **Jason Rees** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:21 pm

Jason Rees wrote: How many naval vessels do we have in the area? Sounds like more and more every day. Where the hell are the SEALs? Let them show the french how it's done.
(Fri Apr 10)

mhosea · Post by **mhosea** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:16 pm

IJ wrote:I don't know how much traffic goes through that area... probably thousands of ships, too many for us to really staff.

Very likely true, but a squad of US Marines on most US-flagged vessels would seem prudent just now, since some Somali pirates are sure to attempt to capture another US ship and with violence on their to-do list. It would be useful to us if the the pirates were to fail in dramatic fashion.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:52 pm

The Maersk Alabama had an American crew and is based in Norfolk, but is part of the Denmark based Maersk Line. Since most European shipping companies use what are called "flags of convenience", I am not sure what flag she actually sails under.

Shipping was one of the earliest segments of the economy to be negatively impacted by globalization, with U.S. flagged ships dwindling since the 1950s. Most shipping companies in the U.S. and other developed countries register their ships under "flags of convenience", where the ships are registered in certain, usually underdeveloped, countries because it is considerably cheaper. The three top ship registries in the world are in Panama, Liberia, and the Bahamas. According to this article on the U.S. flag merchant marine, in 2004 there were only 313 U.S. flagged merchant ships carrying only 4% of U.S. trade to and from our shores, and employing only 7,500 U.S. mariners.

The odds that the pirates will come across a U.S. flagged ship, or even another U.S. crewed ship, anytime soon would seem very slim.

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:01 pm

Found it, the Maersk Alabama is actually U.S. flagged. She was built in Taiwan, is owned by a Danish company, and U.S. flagged.

Maersk Alabama fact sheet
Owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited (http://www.maersklinelimited.com)
Capacity: 1,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit)
Geared: Yes, two cranes
Length: 155 meters
Width: 25 meters
Deadweight: 17,525 tonnes
Service speed: +18 knots
Build year: 1998
Built in: Taiwan
Flag: US
Home port: Norfolk, VA.

cxt · Post by **cxt** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:50 pm

Odd isn't it.......the first real overseas action the then very young USA was confronting pirates of the relgious extremist varity.

And now we seem faced with that again.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:17 pm

cxt wrote:
Odd isn't it.......the first real overseas action the then very young USA was confronting pirates of the relgious extremist varity.

And now we seem faced with that again.

I don't think there's any evidence that religion has anything to do with it, cxt.

These are enterprising opportunists making a living in an unconventional way in a country with no government to speak of. It just so happens that their enterprise involves kidnapping and seeking ransom money.

I'll grant you that religious extremist groups are watching. But at this point, I don't see them finding anything worth their while vis-a vis the United States. Hopefully we'll keep it that way.

- Bill

Jason Rees · Post by **Jason Rees** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:31 am

If anything, piracy would harm fanatics' ability to recruit, with its up-front criminal/commercial element. Which is kind of ironic, considering the prevalance of drug-producing elements like FARC in South America, where drug and ransom money finances those groups.