The Great Pirates off the Somali Coast thread

[Fly Navy]

It's be great to have a Ma Deuce to keep the pirates at bay. Just watching their faces as their little boat is splintered around them...

Mmmmm :tongue2_1

 

[H20man]

On USNS AFS, AE's and RO-Ro's the ship has a discrete but formidable arsenal. MP-5's, shotguns, and rifles.

yeah i forgot to mention MSC ships, my friends were also on a few of those that were in the med, and had guards (cant remember title) that were in charge of the armory.

The oilers take their security pretty seriously from what i saw while we were in port at guam, the fuel dock was right across from us and they had a pretty serious security setup.

Hopefully this march ill be joining one.

as you can see from the pic, but they had a few other things going on that i didnt take pics of.

 

[FlyingBeagle]

Check this out,

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=22784

They even have a cool picture on the site of the pirate ship going up in flames. WTF were those guys thinking?

 

[DanMa1156]

Thoughts on the Somali pirates? I mean, do they pose any sort of realistic threat, or something that would cause a Naval buildup to further bring down the problem?

 

[pennst8]

Thoughts on the Somali pirates? I mean, do they pose any sort of realistic threat, or something that would cause a Naval buildup to further bring down the problem?

(Warning: non-expert opinion and wild speculation follows...)

The problem isn't the pirates - its the sh!thole place on shore they're coming from. Somalia has no permanent government, its the wild west, run by the warlord of the month.

We can't go in there half-a$$ed (1993) and no one really cares enough to do anything right now. We have bigger fish to fry. Beyond sending a couple of ships to shoot up pirates and running occasional operations against Al Qaeda in the region, its not a big concern.

Bottom line: These clowns tried to take on two warships with small arms and RPGs. All balls, no brains. I'm pretty sure that CAP/JROTC/Sea Cadets could take them on. (<--- sarcasm... this arrow was inserted after some comments to make it clear that i'm being very sarcastic)

 

[gaijin6423]

One of my teachers at USNA was a Navy LT who had done a MPPS tour out of Diego Garcia. He claimed to have been boarded once, but the crew just locked themselves in their staterooms. Having no metal cutting torches to cut open the armored holds, the pirates eventually gave up, while the crew montitored on closed-circuit cameras, called for backup, and drank coffee.

The Japanese have been dealing with North Korean pirates for a few years now, but they're not so much after shipping as they're conducting sex slave raiding parties. They had one such boat (an ocean-going freighter, rigged with a bow that clamshelled open to release a fast speedboat) on display in Tokyo a few years ago. It was riddled with holes from 7.62mm, 20mm, and even a 5in round or two. All hands on board the boat were killed, and the Japanese version of the Coast Guard raised it from the bottom.

Good points, whoever mentioned the transponders and selling the captured vessels to Kim Jong Il, by the way.

 

[Gatordev]

I'm pretty sure that CAP/JROTC/Sea Cadets could take them on.

And you'd be mistaken (disclaimer notwithstanding). While they aren't any serious naval force, they are successful at taking down merchant vessels and the occasional yachtsman. It's a huge concern for vessels in the area, so much so that they track this on the web for all to see. Hence why (or one reason why) the coalition is down there.

Also, these incidents aren't limited to the Horn, but occur all over the place. Another hotbed is the Straits of Sumatra around Indonesia. And who else hangs out around there? AQ (although they may or may not be affiliated). Kind of interesting. Anywho, there's another thread going on about this incident here:

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15536&highlight=school

 

[DanMa1156]

(Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about Somalia, only from what I know about the "Black Hawk Down" campaigns we had there/ what was going on at the time, etc etc...)

I've read that these Somali pirates have in the past taken over UN ships? Why won't the UN ask for help either through NATO or some other force, to fix Somalia up, I mean, what Pennst8 said about the warlord of the month is right, there really is no government there, what can be done? Why is it that no effective government can get set up there? I mean, I'm sure the basic situations of poverty/famine/drought exist, but something must be able to be done, or am I just being naive and idealistic?

 

[raptor10]

Hijacked Iranian ship -- Tanks a lot ???

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/09/mystery_surrounds_hi.php

You can't make this stuff up.

 

[mtsupilot09]

Interesting article. So the pirates boarded the ship and their hair fell out, some got sick and some even died? Might want to get some Geiger counters on that ship...

 

[Single Seat]

Going to Eritria by way of the Suez? That doesn't add up.

 

[Flash]

I wouldn't depend too much on the word of a few Somali hijackers. Especially since they were probably high on khat when they took the ship.

 

[JIMC5499]

Maybe that ship is a scaled up roach motel. Pirates check in, but they don't check out.

 

[Lobster]

Maybe that ship is a scaled up roach motel. Pirates check in, but they don't check out.

hahaha +1

 

[Layzee101]

Rogaine and Motrin and the pirates will be good as new.