Pirates?!?!

[kramwest1]

The four American being held by Somali pirates have been killed, according to CBS News. Over a dozen pirates were onboard, with some reportedly killed and some captured.

NBC News has confirmed the deaths as well.

This is a developing story.

Somalia Pirates Kill Four Hostage Americans: Reports


I only can imagine this will get worse and worse. I don't know if or how many other Americans have been killed by the Indian Ocean pirates so far, but I know many other Europeans have been attacked and killed.

I've read the pirates are active around Somalia's coast and the Straits of Malacca by Indonesia, and to a lesser extent the south Caribbean and the Philippines.

 

[Jive Turkey]

 

[the iron horse]

Not a safe place to be boating.

Very sad about the four Americans killed and the past victims.

If I heard it right on the radio this afternoon, the pirates still hold thirty ships hostage.

 

[Dfit00]

Apart from the thirty ships, they still have about 600 individuals held as hostages.

I don't understand why they kill these people seeing that they won't collect any ransom once they're dead. Isn't the purpose of the ransom to receive x-amount and then release the hostages?

 

[the iron horse]

Apart from the thirty ships, they still have about 600 individuals held as hostages.

I don't understand why they kill these people seeing that they won't collect any ransom once they're dead. Isn't the purpose of the ransom to receive x-amount and then release the hostages?

I don't know.

We seem to be no longer shocked or repulsed by evil acts.





He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

[kramwest1]

Apart from the thirty ships, they still have about 600 individuals held as hostages.

I don't understand why they kill these people seeing that they won't collect any ransom once they're dead. Isn't the purpose of the ransom to receive x-amount and then release the hostages?

I'm curious about the report that 2 of the pirates were dead when the SEALs (or whoever) got on the boat and found the Americans. I'd guess there was some disagreement among the pirates.

 

[kramwest1]

BTW--

The U.S. Navy has taken pirates and coastal water action seriously to the point of getting a new class of ships built:

The Littoral Combat Ship | LCS

 

[kramwest1]

Danish Family's Sailboat Hijacked In Indian Ocean

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Pirates have hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard as they were crossing the Indian Ocean, Denmark's government said Monday.

Most hostages captured in the pirate-infested waters off East Africa are professional sailors, not families. Pirates are not known to have captured children before.

The Danish Foreign Ministry said the ship sent a distress signal on Thursday. On board was a Danish couple, their three children – aged 12-16 – and two adult crew members, also Danes.

NPR also said today that this is the first time that children have been taken as hostages by pirates. I don't know if that's true. And, I don't know if we are just getting more reporting about this temporarily since the 4 Americans were killed.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Oh, my god. How terrifying.

Most of the time children aren't making that sort of trip, so I can believe that this may be the first time. But I wouldn't be surprised if we found out otherwise, given how ruthless these pirates seem to be sometimes.

Really scary either way. I hope the hostages all manage to be rescued.

Angela

 

[Vincent Vega]

Danish Family's Sailboat Hijacked In Indian Ocean



NPR also said today that this is the first time that children have been taken as hostages by pirates. I don't know if that's true. And, I don't know if we are just getting more reporting about this temporarily since the 4 Americans were killed.

Over the last couple months reporting about the issue has gone down here as well. Only three kinds of cases get still reported: It's a German ship, or German crew, crew members or pirates have been killed during a rescue operation, or it's a yacht instead of a freight ship.

In the latter case, I really don't know what people are thinking who are still sailing these waters. Especially, if you are with your children. It's not really a new phenomenon that yachts have been taken capture, and it's also very well known, or should be at least if you plan such a trip, that the pirates have increased their territory.

 

[kramwest1]

In the latter case, I really don't know what people are thinking who are still sailing these waters. Especially, if you are with your children. It's not really a new phenomenon that yachts have been taken capture, and it's also very well known, or should be at least if you plan such a trip, that the pirates have increased their territory.

It's too bad that that is the case, but really, if you park in a shitty part of town would you be that surprised if your car was broken into or stolen? It is a common sense thing.

I don't know what the various navy ships are doing to prevent piracy other than by their presence and by escorting ships. I don't know if they are able to board suspected pirate boats and seize weapons and such.

 

[Vincent Vega]

That is an interesting question. In the beginning the problem was pretty much, that the pirates' boats were too small and too fast to really being caught randomly. The navy ships, even with all the equipment and satellites and whatnot, usually learned of their whereabouts when a vessel called mayday, so they could send helicopters. Then they started to systematically escort ships. But the pirates increased their territory, and coordination wasn't always perfect. Also, some vessels did not wait for another escort to be scheduled and still sailed on their own.
Now the pirates even use at least one captured tanker as a mother ship, thus greatly increasing their territory again. That's why some ships have been captured that are way further out. This mother ship should be easier to locate and navy vessels should be able to catch up with it. But I guess that the tankers' crew is still on board, so an attack would be dangerous.
Legal issues are a good question. I don't know the legal details of the operation. Also, it's Navies of several countries involved, I think it's a mixture of NATO and UN mandates, it's international waters etc.
The complicated legal issues that go along with it can currently be observed here in Germany. Last year a number of pirates have been captured by the Dutch Navy while attempting to kidnap a German vessel. This was the first time that pirates have actually been taken prisoner. The question then was, who has legal responsibility over them? It immediately became clear that it cannot be the Somalian state, as this does not exist. Also, a trial would be unrealistic, or, could result in death sentences. Neither Germany nor the Netherlands extradite prisoners when they possible face capital punishment.
So they had three options: Releasing them, bring them to court in the Netherlands, or bring them to court in Germany. In the end they decided for Germany, and the trial is now in Hamburg.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I don't understand why they kill these people seeing that they won't collect any ransom once they're dead. Isn't the purpose of the ransom to receive x-amount and then release the hostages?

Spite, perhaps. Also, if they kill them and get away, their demands will be taken more seriously next time. At the very least, killing them assures that other pirates demands will be taken more seriously, regardless of what happens to these pirates in particular; taking one for the team, so to speak.

I saw a great show on Discovery Channel a couple years ago about a pirate ship taking a small craft hostage. The Navy intercepted them, keeping them from returning to shore. When the effects of seasickness and hunger began taking their toll after many days, the pirates agreed to tether the boat to the Navy vessel to keep from drifting away. Little did they know that over the course of a few hours, the winch tethering the boats was slowly pulling the captive boat closer to the Navy vessel until it was within sniper range (200 yards or something like that). 3 sharp shooters were positioned at the back of the Navy ship, out of view of the pirates. Each sniper took one of the three pirates left as their target and waited hours until all three were in a position to fire. When all three pirates were visible to all three snipers, they fired simultaneously and killed them. Keep in mind, not only were the pirates moving about the boat, but the snipers had to contend with the waves moving the boat about at the same time and they all needed headshots for a sure kill. Really impressive

 

[kramwest1]

I saw a great show on Discovery Channel a couple years ago about a pirate ship taking a small craft hostage. The Navy intercepted them, keeping them from returning to shore. When the effects of seasickness and hunger began taking their toll after many days, the pirates agreed to tether the boat to the Navy vessel to keep from drifting away. Little did they know that over the course of a few hours, the winch tethering the boats was slowly pulling the captive boat closer to the Navy vessel until it was within sniper range (200 yards or something like that). 3 sharp shooters were positioned at the back of the Navy ship, out of view of the pirates. Each sniper took one of the three pirates left as their target and waited hours until all three were in a position to fire. When all three pirates were visible to all three snipers, they fired simultaneously and killed them. Keep in mind, not only were the pirates moving about the boat, but the snipers had to contend with the waves moving the boat about at the same time and they all needed headshots for a sure kill. Really impressive

I've seen that show, too. Very interesting.
The history of marines as accurate shooters is fascinating since it comes from them being on-deck or up in the yards/etc. of the tall ships and picking off the officers and cannon operators on enemy ships.

 

[Dalton]

Any news (or better yet, pictures) of the saucy wenches with whom these pirates no doubt consort?

 

[Jive Turkey]

I've seen that show, too. Very interesting.
The history of marines as accurate shooters is fascinating since it comes from them being on-deck or up in the yards/etc. of the tall ships and picking off the officers and cannon operators on enemy ships.

oh, very cool. I've always been fascinated with snipers and their accuracy at huge distances. The longest is something crazy like 2.5 km. It blows my mind how skilled they can be

 

[Dalton]

oh, very cool. I've always been fascinated with snipers and their accuracy at huge distances. It blows my mind how skilled they can be

Speaking of which: Ashley Cole shoots Chelsea intern - report - ESPN Soccernet

 

[Jive Turkey]

The longest range recorded for a sniper kill currently stands at 2,475 m (2,707 yd) and was achieved by CoH Craig Harrison, a sniper from the Household Cavalry of the British Army. It was accomplished in an engagement in November 2009 in which two stationary Taliban machine gunners were killed south of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in Afghanistan with two consecutive shots by CoH Harrison using an Accuracy International L115A3 Long Range Rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum.[24][25] [26][27]

The QTU Lapua external ballistics software,[28] using continuous doppler drag coefficient (Cd) data provided by Lapua,[29] predicts that such shots traveling 2,475 m (2,707 yd) would likely have struck their targets after nearly 6.0 seconds of flight time, having lost 93% of their kinetic energy, retaining 255 m/s (840 ft/s) of their original 936 m/s (3,070 ft/s) velocity, and having dropped 121.39 m (4,779 in) or 2.8° from the original bore line. Due to the extreme distances and travel time involved, even a light cross-breeze of 2.7 m/s (6.0 mph) would have diverted such shots 9.2 m (360 in) off target, which would have required compensation.

 

[kramwest1]

^Wow, that's more than 1.5 miles (for us Imperials). HTF do you compensate for for a shot like that?

 

[Jive Turkey]

No idea. assuming they were at the same elevation, he must've had his gun pointed way up in the air. And I assume the adjustments on the sight make it so he's still viewing the target through the cross-hairs, but still. And the fact that he did it twice in a row.... wow

 

[kramwest1]

Pirate Says Danish Hostages Will Be Killed if Rescue Attempted

A Danish family captured by pirates in the Indian Ocean will suffer the same fate as four American sailors slain last week, if any rescue is attempt is made, a Somali pirate said Tuesday.

Abdullahi Mohamed told The Associated Press that he has ties with the gang holding the family - a Danish couple with three children, aged 12 to 16.

The Danish family was captured along with two adult crew members, also Danes, when their sailboat was seized by pirates Thursday, the Danish government said.

Mohamed said that any attack against the pirates would result in the deaths of the hostages, and he referred to the killings last week of four American hostages captured by pirates on their yacht.

Mohamed has provided reliable information to AP in the past.

Just days before the hijacking, the family wrote on a travel blog that it was in daily contact with anti-piracy forces and had prepared a "piracy plan" in case of an attack.

^Ugh.


(BTW--I know this is a serious situation, but thinking of a "pirate spokesman" makes me giggle just a little.)

 

[Jive Turkey]

How would the ransom work, anyway? Where would the transaction take place? I think a good deterrent would be to give the pirates the ransom, then after they've given up the hostages, send in some planes to track them down and torpedo their boat. Let the money go down with the ship in a "We dont give a fuck about the money" show of aggression


edit: nevermind. They bring the hostages ashore

 

[yolland]

Associated Press (New Delhi), March 14

Five dozen pirates living on a hijacked ship serving as a roving pirate base jumped into the Arabian Sea on Monday after the Indian navy fired on the vessel in self-defense, the navy said Monday. The navy captured 61 pirates fleeing the battle and the fire that broke out aboard the hijacked vessel.

A pirate in Somalia threatened Indian sailors and the government with targeted attacks in retaliation for the arrests.

...The pirates had hijacked the Mozambique-flagged Vega 5 in December and had used it as a mothership. Indian sailors rescued 13 crew members from the Vega 5 Sunday night about 700 miles off Kochi in southern India, the statement said.

The pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 small arms or rifles and a few heavier weapons, likely rocket-propelled grenades, it said. The statement did not describe any casualties among the navy, the fishermen or the pirates in Sunday's clash. The pirates were being taken to Mumbai, India's financial capital, to be prosecuted for attacking the Indian ships.

Piracy has plagued the shipping industry off East Africa for years, but violence and ransom demands have escalated in recent months. Pirates held some 30 ships and more than 660 hostages as of February.

A self-described pirate in Somalia who gave his name as Bile Hussein said the arrests will lead to "trouble" for Indian sailors and ships. "They better release them, considering their people traveling in the waters, or we shall jail their people like that," he said. "We are first sending a message to the Indian government of releasing our friends in their hands or else they have to be ready for their citizens to be mistreated in the near future."

The Indian navy's third anti-piracy operation this year followed the capture of 28 Somali pirates last month and another 15 in January. Both groups are to be prosecuted in Mumbai. Indian warships have been escorting merchant ships as part of international anti-piracy surveillance in the area since 2008.

Several nations, including the United States, are prosecuting pirate suspects captured by their militaries. But other suspects have been released as countries weigh legal issues and other factors. The prosecutions, the growth of criminal gangs participating in piracy and the ever-increasing ransoms have heightened confrontations. Five Puntland security forces and two pirates were killed earlier this month during a failed attempt to rescue Danish captives taken from their hijacked yacht to a pirate stronghold in the semiautonomous northern region of Somalia.

 

[the iron horse]

Peace is not God's gift to his creatures. It is our gift to each other.

~Elie Wiesel