Pirates anchor hijacked supertanker off Somalia coast

Pirates anchor hijacked supertanker off Somalia coast

www.guardian.co.uk

The Saudi Arabia-owned supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates in a raid several hundred miles out to sea is understood to have anchored off the coast of Somalia.

The Sirius Star, which is fully loaded with crude oil, is understood to be at anchor close to a headland called Raas Cusbad, near Hobyo.

The owner of the ship, Vela International Marine, said the 25 crew members on board were safe.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Again...

Every month of so, a big incident like this happen off the coast of Somalia...

And the worlds powers stand by and do nothing...

We have Warships that are bigger then entire Countries, and yet we let these scumbags, in rubber dingies, and using AK47s, take control of giant super tankers.

And the world sits back and does nothing...

Over 200 years ago, the USA figured out how to stop this nonsense, that is how the US Marines were formed, to CRUSH pirate scum. To crush the cowardly thieves.

Today, we could have the US Special Forces drop onto that boat in the dead of night, and end this in a min...
and there are DOZENS of counties that have Special Forces capable of taking out these Pirates.

So last time something like this happen, it was WEEKS, before the Somalian goverment stepped in.


Now who is going to do something... The Saudi Special forces???

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I agree,

It seems this is becoming an everyday event.

Unfortunately I don't think too much will happen until the public outcry it just too much to hide.

The Brits and Germans have managed to stop a few of these pirate raids within the last week, but the ocean is a very big place and very hard to patrol.

The world is not sitting back 'doing nothing'.

Perhaps it might be better if the companies stopped sending these tankers out with minimal crew and depending on autopilot instead of a human watch. Then an alarm could be sounded before the vessel is boarded and there would be a chance that someone would get to them in time.

reply to post by Duzey


All good points


But when a Situation like this DOES happen...

We have ALL the tools to stop it when we want.

this should be solved before it hit global media...


I am still amazed people get boarded so easy at sea...

I guess on a vessel that size... But what i do not understand is why the crew is not armed...

You protecting and shipping millions of $$$ worth of goods, and your only guard is that everyone is going to follow the rules...



I just get angry when stuff like this is happening...

A bunch of men in rubber boats pushing around the nations of the world...


If this stuff ever came to the Caribbean this would not last long...


The Somalian coast is the WORST place in the world for pirates. Weak nations everywhere, and 40% of the worlds oil supply going thru there...




I think this is a case of these guys just took too big of a bite.
Like a fish that is so hungary that it trys to eat a fish that is too big to swallow...

These pirates highjacked the ship, and when they saw what they had, they couldn't steal it, so they have to ransom it.

Now, they know they are sitting ducks

And they are dead men waiting

opps!

[edit on 18-11-2008 by masonwatcher]

If Aidids training these pirates then they may pose a serious threat to anybody attempting to board these vessels but if they are just rogue somali pirates they are probably just well armed and not much training. I dont know who it is that mentioned more security on these vessesls but its a great idea, Think of all the people out there looking for work, people who have good credentials and who are qualified to provide safety and security for these companies assets. That is a great idea and maybe somebody with the right hook ups can bring this to somebodys attention.


And yes gunfights on board fuel tankers..Not a good idea

[edit on 18-11-2008 by cmd18B]

reply to post by TKainZero


You would be surprised how easy it is to board a ship that size when no watch is posted. The Sirius Star is over 1,000 feet long and was crewed by 25 men. I've been told it's almost the size of one of your big aircraft carriers - would the Navy send one out with that laughably small crew?

I can understand why the crew wasn't armed. They are in close quarters for quite a while and fights break out regularly on ships. I had one guy take an axe to his own brother after a night of drinking. I doubt any master is going to want armed crew members on their vessel, aside of the pirates. Besides they don't own the goods, they are employees. I like my employer, but I doubt I would give up my life to protect the product. These guys just want to get safely home to their family.

Many of the pirated ships are held for ransom. It's common and way easier money for the pirates than unloading the goods.

It's a terrible shame and I hope the crew of all the vessels currently being held for ransom get home safely to their loved ones.

[edit on 18-11-2008 by Duzey]

reply to post by Duzey


Yes...

Its bigger then our Super carriers...



I think having a gun is the Sure most way of protecting ones self...

And being on a ship, particuarly in this region, that would be a must...


I think the pirates would rather have a ship that has goods that they can use... IE, food, guns, ammo, UN aid... stuff like that...

They would RATHER not ransom, cause that is so much more dangerous...


I hope by the time we wake this next day, that the Crew of the Ship is safely on the way home, and the scum that attacked them are resting on the bottom of the ocean.

Something's fishy about the whole pirate situation.

You're right, any number of special forces could swiftly solve the problem.

For some reason, I'm thinking that major powers are turning a blind-eye to the pirate action.

Maybe there's something ahead in the works, where ALL shipping, by law, will need extra security and a NWO company steps in to rake in billions of dollars, by providing the mandated security. We might be seeing the beginnings of a protection racket, on a global shipping scale?

Thugs are thugs, right? They see an opportunity for profit, so they'll exploit it.

It will be easy for them to find disposable 'pirates', at will, when they give them some of the kick-backs in profit - therefore justifying the need for the 'security' in the first place.

It's funny too....What are they gonna do with the ship? You can't really put a supertanker in the market next to the fake Rolex vender

reply to post by TKainZero


I would be willing to bet that ransom is the main goal for these pirates.

Case in point:

The ransom demand for a hijacked Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and weapons has been cut to $8m, according to one of the Somali pirates on board.

The pirate, who identified himself as Jama Aden, is not the usual spokesman for the gang but answered the satellite phone of the spokesman, Sugule Ali.

"There are high hopes we will release the ship within hours if they pay us $8 million," Aden said. "The negotiations with the ship owners are going well."

www.guardian.co.uk...

The Faina had 33 tanks (T-72) plus RPGs, anti-aircraft guns and ammo as cargo when hijacked. If the pirates wanted goods to sell, they would unload this precious cargo instead of ransoming it back.

reply to post by tezzajw


You know what the problem is...


Most of the western countires are run by men with NBAs from harverd and yale, and not men that UNSERTAND the military...


I wish nonsense like this wasn't an issue


but the 'whimpyness' of the US and Western world is what is causeing this...


Yes, they SHOULD loot the ship for what they can, and then try to ransom, in this case... This is a huge ship...

I still say they are dead men walking, and they do not get 1 cent

[edit on 11/18/2008 by TKainZero]

No it's not the wimpyness on our part, its just that this isn't so important. While it's not a good thing that happened, it's not worth sending people over there to take care of it when Saudi Arabia is even more capable of completing the job, and it directly involves them.

Yes I agree that ships should be able to defend them selves, and yes there is a lot of money tied up in the cargo. But...... (and I'm gonna use quite large text to make the following point! )

IT'S AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER SIZED FLOATING FUEL TANK!!!

Personally I wouldn't want to encourage small arms fire, cos it might lead on to RPG's and even some bigger kit the Russians 'forgot' they made and left somewhere.


[edit on 18/11/2008 by Now_Then]

Very good point. Do you think they could use rubber bullets or something instead of regular firearms? I watched a show once about one of (if not the) biggest cargo ship in the world and they said all they had to defend themselves were high powered hoses...

reply to post by 7H3Y 4R3 C0M1N6



Now thats pretty funny...I like that

reply to post by 7H3Y 4R3 C0M1N6


I don't think it would be the best idea for to try and take a supertanker back from a group of pirates with carrying automatic weapons with hostages while using rubber bullets.

I don't see that ending well for the hostages.

First there are very few US flagged ships in the world and most are research or fishing vessels.

There not our ships being hijacked.
so we do not have a real interest in ship that belong to other countries.

There are world treaties on arming civilian ships that make it very hard to have weapons on board.
I have worked with friends that own large boats and the rules on having weapons on board are so confusing to say the least.
There are a large number of countries that will not let you dock in there ports with weapons like handguns or semi-auto rifles on board.
If you hide these weapons and they find them you are looking at a long prison term.
Mexico is one of those countries.

One of the few things we have found is salute cannons are overlooked by most countries.
I know sail and power boat owner the have cannon with bores up to 3 inch as protection on there boats. these are black-powder muzzle-loaders.

filled with BBs these would wipe out any one trying to board.

The other option for large merchant ships is to hire a security company like Blackwater.

This has big drawbacks.
I believe that some small hole in the wall countries will use this as a excuse to seize ships and arrest the crews in a bid to extort money.
THE SAME THING THE PIRATES ARE DOING.
But under the guise of a legal court system.
This leads to having to hire a company to get your ship back.
www.vesselextractions.com...

If blackwater starts operating a maritime protecting unit in this area i give it about two years before a group of blackwater people are arrested by some Arab country on trumped up charges.
Or set up by a terrorist group so that it looks like they killed a number of innocent people. This is standard operating style for groups like Al Qaeda

Anyone who read about the Battle of the Atlantic would have a clue what should be done to deal with the situation at hand . A convoy system is the answer because Pirates will have a hard time attacking merchant ships that are guarded by warships . You can forgot any real assistance from the government of Somalia because the premature UN withdrawl has doomed that country .