reply to post by sanchoearlyjones
When I first read about this story I was dumbfounded.
I am always suspicious, but this is just bizarre.
As I understand it, they were boarded by what they believed were anti-drug police. They stated this after it had happened, and then shortly after they
vanished. Officials suspect that the person they spoke to on the radio to explain that they had been boarded may have been coerced by a pirate into
stating that everything was okay.
My problems with this are as follows.
1. Why would pirates who had taken control of a vessel like this advertise the fact that the vessel had been boarded? If the person on the radio
communication had not said anything no one would have know about it.
This is just asking for trouble.
If the pirates forced him to state that they had been boarded, tied up for 24 hours, and then they just left, wouldn't they have expected massive
military involvement to deter the almost unprecedented threat of Pirates in the channel?
2. Why would a team of "Pirates" have the appearance of Drug Police? If the person on the radio stated that they were boarded by such and were tied
up for twelve hours, they were obviously not in regular clothing. This suggests that whoever boarded that vessel were in a uniform, were a tight unit,
had facilities and weapons suited to their role as drug police. You or I could tell the difference between a unified professional force and a rag-tag
bunch of desperate pirates, why wouldn't experience men on such a vessel be able to tell the difference?
Traditionally, pirates don't pretend to be anything else, search a ship and then leave. They circle, attack, threaten and coerce the ship, and then
take everything they can.
3. These "pirates" supposedly found nothing of value, at all. What, no jewellery, watches, phones? There were what, fifteen men on that ship? And
none of them had anything worth taking?
I find that hard to fathom.
If a group of pirates attack a ship hoping for a big pay off and find nothing but wood, they would then attack the occupants and take everything of
theirs of value.
And there would have been money on board, because after such a trip the guys on that ship would have wanted a break at their destination, a few nights
in bars, in a proper bed, with a friendly lady...
4. The involvement of several vessels in the locating of this ship is also suspicious. Russia has been blasted internationally in the past for not
doing more to rescue members of their own military in marine accidents. What makes fifteen civilians, and a cargo of wood, more valuable than a
multi-million dollar nuclear sub and the lives of at least double that of this vessel in military crew?
There's a lot about this that doesn't make sense. But I do not for one second believe that they were boarded by pirates and then held captive and
coerced into telling this story before vanishing.
I don't know exactly what I think really happened, but I am almost certain that the boarding team were not drug police or pirates, they were an elite
team sent in on the basis of intelligence, or with the intention to hijack that ship for military purposes.
If it was an intelligence-led interception, Russia has something on that ship worth retrieving.
In which case, something important has been stolen from Russia and is on its way to god only knows where and for unknown purpose.
The other alternative is that Russia has staged all of this to get a foot in the door and justify a presence in certain waters, ready for
something.
A little far-fetched, perhaps. But we are always suspicious of having Russian military hardware anywhere near us.
It's just occurred to me that several days ago it was reported that a Russian vessel was mysteriously patrolling an area of the US coast.
You can guarantee that wherever this vessel is, it's not in a US or UK operated location. Because Russia would have taken a peek at those first.
Hang on, how long would it take to paint that ship a different colour and install a new identity?