bekisman
10-Apr-09, 12:53
Pirates
Wonder what will happen here? These 'pirates' have been seizing ships for years, they follow a ship in a fast craft, usually creep up at night, climb aboard, threaten the crew and force the Captain to take it to port, and after a suitable time millions of $/£s are paid in ransom and the ship is let on it's way.. In the old days these bloody criminals would have been blasted out of the water or at least there would be one of 'our' gunboats bombarding Eyl in Somalia where a lot of these crooks come from.
Of course it seems that under Maritime Law cargo ships cannot be armed - apart from water hoses and acoustic devises, what stupidity is that?. Oh yes, if we (the Royal Navy) managed to catch these pirates in the act we are not allowed (because of Britain's Human Rights Legislation) to return a person to a country where he 'might' receive harsh treatment; again what stupidity is that?
It seems that fellow pirates are this very minute converging on the area where the Yanks are - thank God we have someone who will actually react!
The following comments in this article are (to me) beyond belief:
1. Mohamed Samaw, a Somali who claimed to have a "share" in a British ship hijacked this week, told AP news agency two hijacked ships had left the pirate stronghold of Eyl on Wednesday afternoon. He said a further two seized vessels were also sailing towards the lifeboat. A man identified as a pirate named Badow told AP: "They had asked us for reinforcement and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship."
2. "All we need, first, is a safe route to escape with the captain, and then (negotiate) ransom later," he said.
3. Analysts have said negotiations could be lengthy, with the pirates likely to want a hefty ransom for the captain as well as compensation for a boat that was wrecked in the attack.
This will be worth watching
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7993210.stm
Wonder what will happen here? These 'pirates' have been seizing ships for years, they follow a ship in a fast craft, usually creep up at night, climb aboard, threaten the crew and force the Captain to take it to port, and after a suitable time millions of $/£s are paid in ransom and the ship is let on it's way.. In the old days these bloody criminals would have been blasted out of the water or at least there would be one of 'our' gunboats bombarding Eyl in Somalia where a lot of these crooks come from.
Of course it seems that under Maritime Law cargo ships cannot be armed - apart from water hoses and acoustic devises, what stupidity is that?. Oh yes, if we (the Royal Navy) managed to catch these pirates in the act we are not allowed (because of Britain's Human Rights Legislation) to return a person to a country where he 'might' receive harsh treatment; again what stupidity is that?
It seems that fellow pirates are this very minute converging on the area where the Yanks are - thank God we have someone who will actually react!
The following comments in this article are (to me) beyond belief:
1. Mohamed Samaw, a Somali who claimed to have a "share" in a British ship hijacked this week, told AP news agency two hijacked ships had left the pirate stronghold of Eyl on Wednesday afternoon. He said a further two seized vessels were also sailing towards the lifeboat. A man identified as a pirate named Badow told AP: "They had asked us for reinforcement and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship."
2. "All we need, first, is a safe route to escape with the captain, and then (negotiate) ransom later," he said.
3. Analysts have said negotiations could be lengthy, with the pirates likely to want a hefty ransom for the captain as well as compensation for a boat that was wrecked in the attack.
This will be worth watching
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7993210.stm