Pirates Capture Saudi Oil Tanker

Pirates Capture Saudi Oil Tanker

news.sky.com

A large, Saudi-owned crude oil carrier has been captured by pirates in the Arabian Sea, according to the US Navy.

It is understood that some of the crew on board the Sirius Star tanker are British.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is breaking news.

NATO ships are being dispatched to the last location of the known oil tanker.

According to UN reports, piracy is more of a problem now than the days of the infamous piracy of the Caribbean between the 1500 and 1700s.

The British Foreign Office have confirmed two British citizens are aboard the oil tanker.

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I think we need a multinational task force to pacify the entire area. Its clearly getting out of hand.

Why is it that piracy has seen such a surge in the last few years? It would seem that with our technology that we have now, it would be easier than ever to track down the pirates. It seems strange. I guess that criminals have noticed how easy it is to get away with so more and more seem to be willing to do it.

Now all they have to do is capture a refinery and hijack a truck or two and maybe another tanker to move the gasoline and the like around the globe and they're home free . . .

I find it bizzare that the folks who pump this oil from the ground . . . the one's who profit the most from the 'oil' can't afford to protect their own fleet.

Oh wait . . . they can . . . but they won't because they can get the US, the UN, or whomever to do it for them at no cost.

Go figure.

For a long time, people have been looking at the alleged war on terror in the middle East and asking 'if it's not about the oil or the resources but really about tyrants and civil unrest, then why aren't we in Africa?'

I think the West will be in Africa in the next couple of years at this rate, if not to exploit African resources (which I think will become inevitable, again) but to protect resources that originate outside of Africa, although I can imagine the two will go hand-in-hand.

time to punch them on the nose (read kill the MF's)
I am sure that with so many ships it is a tough job to protect them.
Oh you want some humanity ..
ok how about we subcontract the country to be run by others, oh hell, they have no natural resources (may be wrong) or anything of value? (Not my opinion, simply stating that there is no way the average person in thi spart of africa can better his lot it life,
SAM says life sucks more in some places than others...
Back to me original thought, punch their noses.

Send in the US Navy and US Marines Barbary States style. Well in modern times more like NATO task force, meaning US Marines and Royal Marines while the other guys enjoy wine, cheese and whatever else they do. I swear if it wasn't for Britain and its former colonies, meaning the US, Canada, and Australia how would we get anything done?

They are growing bolder and more confident. They have had quite the success with it! The longer this continues the more expensive it will be, in both monies and lives, to put an end to it.

Being an international concern, a "Rambo" approach isn't feasible.

It will be interesting to see how they manage to get Somali piracy under control.



[edit on 18-11-2008 by argilla11]

Being an international concern, a "Rambo" approach isn't feasible.

I don't see why not. I admit that I am tired but at the moment I can't really think of another way to do it, other than to continue to give in to their demands. I would think that it would not be very difficult to track them down and smart bomb them.

On hearing news like this I wish I was back in the Navy. Seriously would love to give these guys a kicking - and catch some rays while I'm at it!

Piracy on the high seas is rife, the military can't handle the situation so it looks like Privateers may have to step in. Hmmm, that scenario sounds familiar....

I noticed a small snippet of commentary on the strangely longer-than-usual news report last night (Channel4 news, UK) that mention was made that ships are opting not to sail into the red sea and on through the Suez, but instead sailing down the Eastern flank of Africa and rounding the Cape, despite a naval task force sitting off the saudi coast and meant to protect these shipping lanes.

Only brief mention was made of the Ukranian vessel carrying 33 T-72 tanks, parts, and ammunition that was hijacked recently, and now the pirates have seized oil supplies

..thats enough combined booty to wage a sustained armour-supported campaign in the region

Originally posted by citizen smith
Only brief mention was made of the Ukranian vessel carrying 33 T-72 tanks, parts, and ammunition that was hijacked recently, and now the pirates have seized oil supplies

..thats enough combined booty to wage a sustained armour-supported campaign in the region

Yeh that's probably enough to take over another nation,but it would help if they knew how to use those tanks.There's a big difference between tanks and RPGs.They probably will sell those tanks in the bakara market with 'buy 1 get 1 free' label on them for a couple thousand $$$$$.

reply to post by t0ken


I thought the tanks ended up getting recovered after everyone started dying of radiation poisoning. Am I mistaken?

reply to post by Karlhungis


The failed state of Somalia has created a safe haven for pirates to grow and expand in the area.

reply to post by infinite


The US has no qualms about bombing Pakistan or Syria, I don't see how anyone would object to blowing up some pirates in Somalia.

reply to post by Karlhungis


It has done before.

The United States led peacekeeping operations back in 1992.

reply to post by infinite


I am not talking about peace keeping operations. I remember how that went. I am talking about tactical strikes on the pirates.

When I first heard the story the first thing that came to my mind was, that now that the oil prices has gone down this is not good for business in the middle easter oil rich countries.

So lets create a crisis or a problem to boost oil prices again.

Or hey lets create another worthless war after all the last two has done nothing but sink our nation into a outrageous deficit.

I wonder how people when told news like this the first thing they think is "lets bomb the crap out of some country".

But do any of the war happy people ever, ever stop to think what is going on behind the scene?

Leaders of the worlds are nothing but liars and crocks and in the big game of greed anything can happen for the right amount of money.

Something that the middle easter oil rich nations have to burn and more.

Just to create a crisis in their favor after all they are losing money withthe oil prices right now.

reply to post by Karlhungis


Until there is a central government in Somalia, which is protected by an international peacekeeping force, then military action would become counter productive and achieve nothing.

The pirates are allowed to operate and create facilities in Somalia with the blessing of the Islamic Jihadists. Dealing with piracy will mean dealing with the Jihadist - ground operations would be required. And yes, we all remember what happened in 1992.

Unless we take the French approach - pursuing pirates into Somalia and eradicating small sections at a time. But NATO command is unwilling to take a determined proactive approach.