Modern Pirates

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[cptnchris]

Hello everyone!
 The increase of modern piracy is great. What are your thoughts? Here we can post stories and info. about the subject.  
 On that note -
      On the morning of 24 October, the MV York, a Singapore-flagged tanker, was confirmed pirated in the Somali Basin. The MV York had recently left Mombasa on route to the Seychelles. The vessel was attacked on 23 October by two skiffs, approximately 50 nautical miles East from Mombasa.
The Turkish warship Gaziantep, operating under the Combined Maritime Forces (Task Force 151) launched her helicopter to investigate. The helicopter was able to observe pirates with weapons on board the vessel.
Initially the MV York was drifting but then began moving at 10 knots. In a separate but seemingly linked incident the fishing vessel Golden Wave, pirated on 9 October 2010, was seen in the vicinity of the MV York.
The MV York, deadweight 5,076 tons, has a crew of 17, of which one is German (Master), two are Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos.
Including the MV York, Somali pirates are currently holding 19 vessels with 428 hostages.   Big numbers.   Hope everyone is safe soon.

Source: Here. (http://www.marinelink.com/news/merchant-pirated-vessel335958.aspx)

[Mad_Fred]

I saw a 'great' documentary about the pirates' side of the story a while ago.

If you take into account how desperately poor some of them are and that they and their families are literally starving to death, and how their main income (fishery) was often ruined by those very ships that they try to take over, and that they often have only one of two choices.. piracy, or starvation.. well..

Then I can undestand (not agree with!!) that some of them resort to these actions. Of course there's pirates, and then there's pirates. Not all have 'noble motives'.  (feeding their family so they don't starve to death, whilst not harming any crew members on the ships.)

But in some cases, it's their only option left. Some form of criminal activity is all they have to survive. That doesn't make it right.. but how far would YOU go to stop your loved ones from dying? I would go pretty far, myself.. I wouldn't harm anyone that didn't deserve to be harmed of course.. but robbing companies that ruined your only source of income by polluting the sea your family fished in for generations.. I can see how that is not a big problem to someone that has no other options left.


I'm not saying I agree with them.., but I do understand some of them.

Fred

[--tractorman--]

Imagen getting the Emma Maersk, that would be the jackpot..

But I agree Fred..

[vin_sun]

Poverty can many a time justify the need for violence and threat and it seems to be rampant in many parts of the Third World. But it is more so in the maritime environment simply because merchant ships are nothing but "sitting ducks" for the pirates. Thankfully, the Somalis have not as yet started "nicking off" their hostages due to a delayed payment of the ransom or for any kind of frustration. God forbid, that should not happen, but if it does it will be only then the world will wake up and take note!

As a seafarer, I have my own reservations (and fears) of being in a hostage situation, let alone what my family will have to go through. I have done transits of the Gulf of Aden, but with a team of ex-British Marines. Even then there is a feeling of discomfort as they were not armed. Many shipowners are resorting to this but when the ships are light and the freeboard is high, nevertheless the tension during the transit is always there.

On the lighter side, I read an article where after being taken hostage, one of the pirates, politely asked for an expensive wrist watch of one of the officers but was thoughtful enough to give his resin cased digital watch in "exchange" !!!! The article also mentioned as to how one of the pirates accidentally shot himself but was left uncared for by the other Somalis and it was the ship's staff who administered all the medical attention he needed. But the food was "very fresh" ......... since they slaughtered a goat almost everyday on board !!!! And a time came when the hostages were even allowed to continue routine maintenance jobs with gun totting mercenaries walking about. But think of the tension on the bridge when the hijacked vessel was being taken into Somalian waters and a flashing light from the sea was considered as a Naval vessel by the pirates who then threatened to start killing and the Master trying to convince them it was only a lighthouse !!!!!

On ships we do talk of a situation where after being boarded by pirates, there is every possibility of the bridge being left unattended. Think of the impact if this took place on a loaded VLCC in the Malacca Straits and it resulted in a collision and a pollution incident. The pirates would have scooted with the booty but the Master would still have been arrested. Mariners are nothing but scapegoats in such situations.

Fred ...... maybe you should consider the Gulf of Aden as one of the environments for the next edition of SS !!!! But, please do replace the water canons with bazookas !!!!!!!

[cptnchris]

I agree with all of your thoughts. A gulf of Aden environment would be very cool. Somehow make a mission with pirate threats and such.

P.S. Sorry for the short post, I'm at school seeing how SS forums are on my phone


EDIT: I also found my blog from way past, which I posted my own artical on  http://captainchrissblog.blogspot.com/

[Trampship Man]

   but robbing companies that ruined your only source of income by polluting the sea your family fished in for generations.. I can see how that is not a big problem to someone that has no other options left.


I'm not saying I agree with them.., but I do understand some of them.

Fred
[unquote]


Fred,  I can certainly see the logic and possible validity in most of your `post`.  However, where does a small private yacht crewed by a fairly elderly private couple `fit in` with your comment above ?

[Mad_Fred]

I know, they don't.

That's why I said 'some of them' instead of 'them' on the whole.




Fred.

[Vige]

I hear more and more LRAD's (Long range accoustic devices) are being fitted by merchant and ocean liner companies to avert pirate threats...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_range_acoustic_device

155dB is like standing next to a jumbo jet engine so I can imagine these would be a great deterrent to pirates, even at the minimum range of 300 yards (< 100 yards is the 'pain' range). US military have used a land version of the LRAD since 2004....

When you think about it, it's an ideal weapon because it doesn't have to kill someone to be effective...

Here's a Youtube vid of a Japanese whaling ship using LRAD aginst the Sea Shepherd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFzPkxIwVXI&feature=related

[Mad_Fred]

Speaking as someone who's been suffering from severe tinnitus for the last 8 or so years, I can tell you that hearing damage from excessive noise isn't really something you'd necessarily want to mess with. 

[Minime]

well it's really a self invite for the pirates, they made the choice to sail against this sound.

[Trampship Man]

I know, they don't.

That's why I said 'some of them' instead of 'them' on the whole.




Fred.

[unquote]


Fred, I should have allowed for that.   Point taken !

[cptnchris]

   Indeed they did Minime: I thing the LRAD'S are a great "weapon" to fend off Pirates. Looks like there has been another attack -
   "On the morning of 30 October 2010, the MV Polar, a Panama-flagged tanker, was pirated in the Somali Basin. The Liberian-owned MV Polar was attacked during the night, approximately 580 nautical miles (almost 1,100 km) East from Socotra island. The owner confirmed this morning that his vessel was under pirate control. The MV Polar, deadweight 72,825 tons, has a crew of 24, of which one is Romanian, three are Greek, four Montenegrin and 16 Filipino." 
   Sad deal   

I think at this time, Guns and LRADS, and water cannons are really the only defence for ships.

[Capt.Pat]

Man, that stinks

[cptnchris]

Indeed it does  
 There is a good article about anit-piracy weapons Here (http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/10-more-anti-piracy-weapons-for-use-in-somalia?5715) also.  

[thom301]

i believe there was a ship that put a high electrical voltage on their railings to fend off pirates, i will see if i can find the articele, either way the strange thing was that the captain of the ship got a very high fine.

regards Thom

[Mad_Fred]

Well..unauthorized use of deadly force is not permitted to protect one's assets, so that's not really strange.

If you find a burglar in your home and you kill him, you'll be in big trouble too. Two wrongs do not make a right.



Fred

[Matthew Brown]

I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that ships passing that part of the world have a choice to be escorted by a military vessel!
It sure does cost a lot though!    And since there isn't as much money around for the owners of ships they just can't afford it.
Especially if your planning on going through the Suez Canal which most ships do in that area.

[vin_sun]

Being escorted by warships may be a service being offered by the coalition forces but you have to arrive at the rendezvous position at the scheduled time.

I was on a tanker once and the owner had opted for taking on security personnel on board. They embarked at a position off Djibouti and got off at Salalah in Oman. We learned that it was a bit expensive as the entire onus was on the owner since the ship had no cargo on board an not on any charter.

On another voyage, the ship was almost fully loaded and the freeboard was about 8 metres. We were on charter and were bound for Europe from Japan. The owner instructed us to proceed via the Cape of Good Hope and we avoided the Gulf of Aden completely. Though it meant sailing for a good 10 days more, we were all at peace on board considering the fact that we did not have to transit the "pirates' playground" !! I think at such times the cost of the additional bunkers consumed is shared by the charterer and the owner.

[freeciv]

If you find a burglar in your home and you kill him, you'll be in big trouble too. Two wrongs do not make a right.

   Maybe thats true were you live. But here, in New Hampshire if someone is committing a felony on your property... Fire at Will! 

[cptnchris]

Yes, same here.
  I think that to protect a ship, and it's crew/passengers, using guard rails should be allowed.

[Vige]

This documentary on the RDMS Asbalon (Danish Navy) on Mighty Ships filmed in '08 is a great insight to what is going on in the Gulf of Aden at the moment. They don't use LRAD's but their RADAR is state of the art for detecting pirates.

It's available for anyone to watch on Yahoo7 until the 20 November. Great Episode. Awesome ship 

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/mighty-ships/-/watch/8266254/sat-6-nov-hdms-absalon/?play=1 

Enjoy 

[Mad_Fred]

  Maybe thats true were you live. But here, in New Hampshire if someone is committing a felony on your property... Fire at Will!  

Yeah, and we all know about death toll by fire arm related incidents in your country, I reckon.. most of which unnecessary and avoidable, and the vast majority accidental even. I'm glad, and I don't mean any disrespect, that we here in Holland don't allow everyone to arm themselves like they do over there.

Seems to work pretty well in keeping people alive that didnt deserve to die from a trigger happy person thinking a stereosystem is worth a life, or some such..  

Your reaction speaks for itself, I would say..  I guess you think breaking and entering is worth the death penalty then.. Bit harsh, don't you think.. 

Oh well.. let's not get political. Glad I'm not there though, but safe in our own little greatest country in the world here.  

Which is what I was refering too when speaking to my fellow countryman back up there. 


Regards,
Fred

[cptnchris]

Thanks for the video Vige  

And Fred, I agree with you. Here it is crazy with crime, but what else would we do if some thug broke into our houses  
Your lucky over there in Holland, not much crime  

P.S. I just noticed that in my first post in this topic I said "The increase in modern piracy is great" - I didn't mean it is a good thing, I meant there is many piracy activities going on, which is a bad thing

[Mad_Fred]

Well, there's a load of things you can do ofcourse, before shooting someone. There's thugs here too that rob people and break into houses. We have crime too, it's not a complete paradise here. (close though haha)

But shooting and potentially killing someone just cause they robbed you, isn't an answer.. and time and time again I see in the news how innocent people accidentally die from having these weapons in the house, or how for example someone kills an unarmed robber...

Well, sure, they shouldn't do the crime, but to get killed over stealing, say, a laptop and a flatscreen TV..  just doesn't sit right with me.. I can understand protection, for you and your loved ones. And not every police department is as good or as quick in responding to come save you from someone breaking into your house. Some people that live far away from the nearest precinct might need some extra security.. but there's so much more people can do before pulling that trigger.

And the odds of someone actually killing you in your own house during a burglary, are very slim compared to the odds of one of your loved ones dying from misuse, abuse or accidental use of the weapon you might have. The statistics about that paint a clear picture indeed. Most people just can't be trusted with that kinda 'power' at their disposal. 

Of course, it all depends on where exactly you live, how safe it is there, and how well your local law enforcement is, etc..  so can't really judge, just say what I think is a bit of a problem on the whole. 

Anyway... let's  switch back to happier thoughts... hehe..

 


Fred

[freeciv]

Your reaction speaks for itself, I would say..  I guess you think breaking and entering is worth the death penalty then.. Bit harsh, don't you think..  

 If the police catch the perpetrator in your house they don't kill the they just go to prison.
You shot at them because your life/property is in danger.

Now on to happier (not really because this is about piracy...) topics!


P.S. New Hampshire is the safest state in the USA!