The Threat of Modern Piracy- A Merged Thread

[Fishbone Jones]

Sorry. Forgot about this thread.

Saw the title and thought it was another thread about that Paul Watson guy of Shepard Pie fame.

Or something like that. :dunno:

 

[jollyjacktar]

I, and several of my peers have been giving this sort of employment some serious consideration.  There seems to be no downward trend in Piracy and there is an upwards trend of counter pirate ops out there.  Not too sure what sort of ripple effect there is from all the Brit FRP's as of late though on the business.

 

[GAP]

We're coming to get you!

Somali pirate boat blown up by chopper as Navy frigate crew arrest 12
By Ian Drury 15 May 2012
Article Link

Flames erupt into the sky from a skiff floating adrift in the Indian Ocean, a powerful demonstration of the Royal Navy’s might as it fights the scourge of Somali piracy.

The boat was blown out of the water by a Merlin helicopter, flown from HMS Westminster, which strafed the vessel, setting fire to fuel tanks.

The pirate crew fled to another vessel before the attack, but were among 12 arrested without a fight by boarding teams from the frigate shortly after.

HMS Westminster is boosting security off the East African coast as part of Combined Task Force 150, one of three international naval groups set up to defeat terrorism, tackle piracy and stop the trafficking of people and drugs.

It has carried out three counter-piracy missions in a seven-month tour of duty in the Indian Ocean.

The 4,900-ton vessel, with 185 crew, has played a key role in deterring bandits who prey on merchant ships off the volatile Horn of Africa, seizing hostages and demanding huge ransoms.

A Navy spokesman said: ‘Using the Merlin’s powerful sensors, we found the suspected pirates and identified weapons, excessive fuel, ladders and more people than you would expect to find for any other purpose in small boats, hundreds of miles from land in the Indian Ocean.

‘Faced with an overwhelming display of force, the suspected pirates immediately surrendered.’

Photographs of last month’s successful operation were released yesterday by the Ministry of Defence.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Nigeria navy retakes hijacked oil tanker off coast
Article Link
Published September 05, 2012 Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria –  Nigeria's navy on Wednesday retook an oil tanker hijacked off the country's largest city, freeing 23 Indian sailors held hostage by pirates who fled as the navy arrived, a spokesman said.

None of the sailors was hurt in the hijacking of the MT Abu Dhabi Star, which happened off the coast of Lagos, said Pat Adamson, a spokesman for Dubai-based Pioneer Ship Management Services LLC. The Nigerian navy was providing an escort for the vessel Wednesday afternoon to make sure it arrived safely at Lagos' busy port, Commodore Kabir Aliyu said.

The pirates who took over the vessel fled when they saw the Nigerian naval ship on the horizon, Adamson said. It was unclear whether they stole any of the ship's cargo, though the crew had begun an inspection of the ship, the spokesman said.

The pirates targeted the ship as it was anchored off the coast Tuesday night, Aliyu said. The sailors onboard sent distress signals as the pirates boarded the Singapore-flagged ship, with their last message indicating they had locked themselves inside a panic room on the vessel, Aliyu said.

During the short hijacking, the ship's management received no ransom demands for the crew, Pioneer Ship Management Services said. That's not unusual, as pirates in the region increasingly target oil tankers for their cargos, holding control of the vessels only long enough to offload the fuel before escaping. That's in contrast to pirates off the Somali coast, who typically hold sailors for months for ransom.

Pirate attacks are on the rise in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, which follows the continent's southward curve from Liberia to Gabon. Over the last year and a half, piracy there has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts. Last year, London-based Lloyd's Market Association -- an umbrella group of insurers -- listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia, where two decades of war and anarchy have allowed piracy to flourish.

Pirates in West Africa have been more willing to use violence in their robberies, as they target the cargo, not the crew for ransom as is the case off Somalia. Experts say many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive.

Analysts believe the recent hijackings of tanker ships may well be the work of a single, sophisticated criminal gang with knowledge of the oil industry and oil tankers. Those involved in the hijackings may have gotten that experience in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta, where thieves tap pipelines running through the swamps to steal hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day.
end

 

[GAP]

Party appears to be ending for Somali pirates
September 25, 2012 Associated Press
Article Link

HOBYO, Somalia –  The empty whiskey bottles and overturned, sand-filled skiffs littering this once-bustling shoreline are signs the heyday of Somali piracy may be over. Most of the prostitutes are gone and the luxury cars repossessed. Pirates while away their hours playing cards or catching lobsters.

"There's nothing to do here these days," said Hassan Abdi, a high school graduate who taught English in a private school before turning to piracy in 2009. "The hopes for a revitalized market are not high."

Armed guards aboard cargo ships and an international naval armada that carries out onshore raids have put a huge dent in piracy and might even be ending the scourge.

While experts say it's too early to declare victory, the numbers are startling: In 2010, pirates seized 47 vessels. This year they've taken five.

For a look at the reality behind those numbers, an Associated Press team from the capital, Mogadishu, traveled to the pirate havens of Galkayo and Hobyo, a coastal town considered too dangerous for Western reporters since the kidnappers have turned to land-based abductions over the last year.

There they found pirates who once owned vast villas living in darkened, unfurnished rooms, hiding from their creditors.

Prostitute Faduma Ali longs for the days when her pirate customers had money. As she smoked a hookah in a hot, airless room in Galkayo last week, she sneered as she answered a phone call from a former customer seeking some action on credit.

"Those days are over. Can you pay me $1,000?" she asked. That's what she once got for a night's work. "If not, goodbye and leave me alone."

"Money," she groaned as she hung up.

The caller, Abdirizaq Saleh, once had bodyguards and maids and the attention of beautiful women. When ransoms came in, a party was thrown, with blaring music, bottles of wine, the stimulant khat and a woman for every man.

Now Saleh is hiding from creditors in a dirty room filled with dust-covered TVs and high-end clothes he acquired when flush.

"Ships are being held longer, ransoms are getting smaller and attacks are less likely to succeed," said Saleh, sitting on a threadbare mattress covered by a mosquito net. A plastic rain jacket he used at sea dangled from the door.

Somali pirates hijacked 46 ships in 2009 and 47 in 2010, the European Union Naval Force says. In 2011, pirates launched a record number of attacks -- 176 -- but commandeered only 25 ships, an indication that new on-board defenses were working.

The last of the five hijacked this year was the Liberian-flagged MV Smyrni, taken with its crew of 26 on May 10. They are still being held.

"We have witnessed a significant drop in attacks in recent months. The stats speak for themselves," said Lt. Cmdr. Jacqueline Sherriff, a spokeswoman for the European Union Naval Force.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Hired Guns Tame The Somali Coast
  Article Link
October 6, 2012

At the moment there's a booming market in security guards for merchant ships plying the waters off Somalia and adjacent areas (Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, western Indian Ocean, Straits of Hormuz). While many ships get by on-the-cheap by forming convoys that are guarded by warships of the international anti-piracy patrol, others have schedules that preclude waiting for a convoy to form. Most of these ships are now using a detachment of 4-5 armed guards, which cost them about $40,000 for the short trip through pirate infested waters.

It's not just the armed former soldiers and marines now riding on the most choice targets that scare off the pirates but also all the dozens of boats (the size of seagoing fishing boats) that ferry the armed guards between African and Arabian ports to the ships that are to be guarded. The pirates have learned to keep clear of these boats as well, as they are full of heavily armed men willing to undertake some target practice before reaching their merchant ship and going on duty.

The rapid growth in the use of armed guards (who were on ten percent of large ships a year ago and some 70 percent now) and more aggressive operations by the international anti-pirate patrol have caused ship captures by pirates to decline by two-thirds this year. The reduction in ransom money has led to a collapse of the economic boom in and around the northern Somalia port towns where the pirates were based. There are now a lot of unemployed pirates and those still at sea have to proceed much more cautiously.
end

 

[GAP]

Kenya can try Somali pirates, appeal court says
Article Link
The Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya's Court of Appeal says the country's courts have jurisdiction to try Somali pirates caught on international waters.

In 2010, the High Court ruled that Kenyan courts can only deal with offenses that take place within the territorial jurisdiction of the country.

On Thursday The Court of Appeal said universal jurisdiction allowed all states to prosecute pirates despite location of the offense and nationality of perpetrators. The judges say piracy off the coast of Somalia has affected economies of many nations, including Kenya, and they must ensure criminals have no safe haven.

The international community has depended on countries like Kenya and the Seychelles to prosecute pirates who attack off East Africa. Somalia has been in conflict for two decades, and piracy is one of few opportunities to make money.
end

 

[GAP]

Somali troops 'free' 22 hostages held by pirates
Article Link
23 December 2012

Twenty-two hostages seized by pirates nearly three years ago have been freed, the authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland say.

They said their maritime force began the operation to free the hostages - and their ship - nearly two weeks ago.

The hostages are showing signs of having suffered physical torture and illness, their statement said.

Successful pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have decreased in the last two years.

This is due to the increased use of private security guards on ships and better co-ordination between naval patrols in the area, the BBC's Mary Harper says.

It is rare for Somali forces to move on pirates in this way, our correspondent says.

The Panama-flagged MV Iceberg One was seized off the Yemeni coast in 2009, and was being held near Gara'ad village on the coast in Mudug region when Puntland's maritime troops surrounded it on 10 December.

In their statement, the Puntland authorities said their troops fought the pirates for two weeks before safely rescuing all 22 hostages on board the ship.

They also killed a number of pirates after intercepting one of their small boats delivering weapons and other supplies to the captured ship.

"After two years and 9 months in captivity, the hostages have suffered signs of physical torture and illness," the statement said. "[They] are now receiving nutrition and medical care."
end

 

[GAP]

Somali pirates release sailors as piracy reports reach five-year low
March 12, 2013 FoxNews.com
Article Link

Somali pirates released a Greek-owned oil tanker and its 26 sailors after seizing the vessel in the Arabian Sea last year in an increasingly rare hijacking on the high seas.

Pirates released the sailors, including 14 Filipinos, from the Liberian-flagged MT Smyrni on Saturday, the Philippine government said Tuesday. The ship and its crew were headed to Oman, according to a statement by Philippine’s foreign affairs department. Piracy reached a five-year low last year, with intervention by various navies and aggressive interdiction off the coast of Somalia, according to experts.

“All of the crew members are in good physical condition,” the statement continued.

The ship was carrying 135,000 tons of crude oil when it was hijacked on May 10, roughly 300 nautical miles east of Oman as it sailed from Turkey toward Somalia. The hijacking, according to the International Maritime Organization, involved 10 pirates in two skiffs armed with automatic weapons whose initial attempt to board the tanker was unsuccessful due to increased speed and evasive maneuvers by the MT Smyrni.

Exactly why the pirates released the vessel 10 months after hijacking it was unclear, but the owners of the vessel, Athens-based Dynacom Tanker Management, confirmed the development and thanked crew members and their relatives for support throughout the “long ordeal,” according to a statement obtained by AFP.

Globally, 297 ships were attacked in 2012 compared to 439 in 2011, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Those figures were largely driven by a huge reduction in Somali piracy, although East and West Africa remain the worst hit areas with 150 attacks last year.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Pirates reportedly hijack fuel tanker, kidnap crew off Nigeria's coast
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/05/28/fuel-tanker-reportedly-hijacked-off-nigeria-coast/?intcmp=obnetwork
Published May 28, 2013 FoxNews.com

Private security officials say pirates have hijacked a fuel tanker and kidnapped foreign sailors in a West Africa region that is experiencing increasing pirate activity.

Security officials said Tuesday that the hijacking of the MT Matrix I happened Saturday off the coast of Bayelsa state in Nigeria. The officials said the pirates kidnapped both Nigerian and Pakistani sailors in the attack.

A military spokesman in the delta referred calls for comment Tuesday to Nigeria's navy, the Associated Press reports. Commodore Kabir Aliyu, a navy spokesman, said there had been no report of a hijacking made to officials.

Some shippers in the region don't report hijackings publicly, out of fears of having their insurance premiums rise.

Telephone numbers for Pakistan's High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, could not be immediately connected Tuesday.

Nigerian naval authorities listed the ship as one of several allowed to bring subsidized gasoline into the country in May as part of a program costing the nation billions of dollars a year.

Naval officials listed the ship as being operated by a company called Integrated Shipping Services Nigeria Ltd. Other registries listed the ship as being operated by Val Oil Trading SA of Athens, Greece. Phone numbers for both companies could not be found. Officials at Matrix Energy Ltd., a Nigerian company listed as doing business with Val Oil Trading, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Oil tanker hijackings have happened more and more in recent months, with pirates stealing the fuel onboard, as opposed to kidnapping sailors for ransom. Estimates suggest pirates likely are able to make as much as a $2 million profit for off-loading 3,000 tons of fuel. Foreign hostages still draw tens of thousands of dollars in ransoms, with nearly all released unharmed after their companies pay for their freedom.

Insurers have listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category for hijackings as Somalia.

Security experts told The Economist that 2013 could be the worst year ever for pirate incidents off West Africa.

There have been 28 reported incidents this year so far, while 2012 had 62 and 2011 had 44.

Meanwhile, in Somalia, pirate activity has been sharply reduced because of foreign intervention, The Economist reports.
end

 

[Jacky Tar]

COs of ships need to regain the authority to try pirates when and as captured, and if found guilty, execute them.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Personally, I favour a "special forces" approach like the one used in Europe against terrorist hostage takings in the 60's and early 70's:

Go in and make sure none of the terrorist comes out alive - Regardless of what the hostages may say, stick to your PR line that the terrorist resisted to one man t'ill the end.

When the message sank in that there would be no negotiations and your casualty rate for hostage taking is 100%, the hostage takings stopped quickly.

When shipowners stop paying the ransom and call in, instead, special military forces that take out all the pirates, the rate of piracy acts will sharply decline very quickly.

 

[Canadian.Trucker]

COs of ships need to regain the authority to try pirates when and as captured, and if found guilty, execute them.

+1 to include keelhauling as a punishment >

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Unfortunately, nowadays, our hulls are smooth and kept free of barnacles for hydrodynamic purposes: It would only be a matter of how long the pirate can hold his breath.

Perhaps flogging round the fleet instead?

 

[Canadian.Trucker]

Personally, I favour a "special forces" approach like the one used in Europe against terrorist hostage takings in the 60's and early 70's:

Go in and make sure none of the terrorist comes out alive - Regardless of what the hostages may say, stick to your PR line that the terrorist resisted to one man t'ill the end.

When the message sank in that there would be no negotiations and your casualty rate for hostage taking is 100%, the hostage takings stopped quickly.

When shipowners stop paying the ransom and call in, instead, special military forces that take out all the pirates, the rate of piracy acts will sharply decline very quickly.

While I truly do agree with your statements, the problem becomes that even though the rate of piracy would decline, the incidents that turn violent for hostages would increase due to the pirates/hostage takers/terrorists knowing they have nothing to lose.  Double edged sword type of situation.

Unfortunately, nowadays, our hulls are smooth and kept free of barnacles for hydrodynamic purposes: It would only be a matter of how long the pirate can hold his breath.

Perhaps flogging round the fleet instead?

I could get on board with that.

 

[GAP]

While I truly do agree with your statements, the problem becomes that even though the rate of piracy would decline, the incidents that turn violent for hostages would increase due to the pirates/hostage takers/terrorists knowing they have nothing to lose.  Double edged sword type of situation.

And thats exactly the sentiments the pirates are counting on.....we are too afraid to live with the consequences.....

 

[Halifax Tar]

Why shipping companies haven't begun to arm themselves again is beyond me.

http://www.dillonaero.com/home.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_merchantman#21st_century
- See heading 21st Century

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

Contract to a security company, mount a couple of .50s or even Dillon guns and you should be able to reach out and poke "Jack Sparrow" long before he and his mates get close to you.

Cheap and easy solution that I would suspect would get the point across very quickly.

 

[jollyjacktar]

As I've said before.  Bring back "Q" ships.  And sink the Pirate vessels with all hands when they engage.  If the Pirate crews stop returning from sea and mysteriously disappear at a steady rate, the remainder will find safer employment ashore as before.

 

[Jacky Tar]

As I've said before.  Bring back "Q" ships.  And sink the Pirate vessels with all hands when they engage.  If the Pirate crews stop returning from sea and mysteriously disappear at a steady rate, the remainder will find safer employment ashore as before.

:goodpost: Have some milpoints

 

[GAP]

Pirate attack off Somalia thwarted by EU Naval Force

Pirate attack: The EU Naval Force says 14 Indian sailors aboard a dhow alerted officials Wednesday that their craft was under attack from 12 armed pirates.

By Abdi Guled, Associated Press / June 7, 2013
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0607/Pirate-attack-off-Somalia-thwarted-by-EU-Naval-Force

MOGADISHU, Somalia

The European Union Naval Force says Somali pirates who took control of a cargo vessel with 14 Indian sailors on board fled after counter piracy ships from the EU and NATO responded.

The EU Naval Force says 14 Indian sailors aboard a dhow alerted officials Wednesday that their craft was under attack from 12 armed pirates. Swedish and Dutch warships responded. The pirates then steered the hijacked vessel toward the coast and abandoned it.

Somali pirates once held dozens of ships and hundreds of hostages. But the number of attacks has dropped considerably due to anti-piracy patrols and armed guards on ships.

The EU Naval Force says Somali pirates haven't hijacked a ship since May 2012. The force says pirates have attacked four ships this year, none successfully.