Royal Navy 2 - 0 Somali Pirates

mike65

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5141745.ece

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

By the time the Royal Marines boarded the pirates’ vessel, the enemy had lost the will to fight and surrendered quietly. The Royal Navy described the boarding as “compliant”.

A few more engagments like this wouldn't go amiss, they really have been taking the piss for so long now.

Mike

Tipsy Mac

Yes dodgy part of the world to be in a ship.

Did that Ukrainian Tank carrier ever get rescued or is the ranson still being demanded?

lostexpectation

whatever happned to the other lot

Thirdfox

Pirates 1 - Navy 2...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7733482.stm

They've managed to take 2 million barrels of oil by hijacking a super tanker... these people are getting really out of hand now. The UN should probably take a look at the situation.

stevedublin

Thirdfox wrote: »

The UN should probably take a look at the situation.

I agree. Maybe they should go even further and pass a resolution condemning the pirates.

Fratton Fred

Thirdfox wrote: »

Pirates 1 - Navy 2...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7733482.stm

They've managed to take 2 million barrels of oil by hijacking a super tanker... these people are getting really out of hand now. The UN should probably take a look at the situation.

318,000tonnes...**** my boots that is big!

too big for a few pirates, unless they are very good and better equiped than the usual lot, the SBS will board that and take it back no problem at all I reckon.

If/When they capture an LNG tanker though, that's when the ****e will hit the fan.

Thirdfox

stevedublin wrote: »

I agree. Maybe they should go even further and pass a resolution condemning the pirates.

Actually the UNSC has already passed a resolution allowing the use of force against the pirates in October:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/un-allows-use-of-force-against-pirates-off-somalia-coast_100104661.html

But I wouldn't mind seeing some kind of UN directed intervention or semi-permanent operation there to protect merchant ships. At least until the Somalian government restores order to the country and its borders...

And Fred - I'd assume that pirates as brazen as the ones that hijack a super oil tanker probably are more organised than the usual bunch...

Morpheus

how come the ships themselves are not armed?

And most importantly, what kind of IDIOTS would move a super tanker outside the designated safe corridoor?

There are 2 britons on boards, i think its time for the seals and the SBS to board her.

mike65

Thats what "annoys" me, if I owned shipping that had to use that route, I'd make damned sure it came with a pack of pop-up protectors - ie mercenaries if required.

Obviously a shooting match would be risky but if appropriatly armed and alert to incoming traffic the guys on a large vessel should have the upper hand.

Mike

seamus

I am kind of surprised that there's no protection on these ships. Even 3 or 4 trained mercenaries, perhaps with some sniper training, should be able to fend off a small speedboat of pirates.
Give the rest of the crew basic firearms training and the pirates would have to think four or five times before attacking the ship.

Fratton Fred

If a company armed its employees in order to protect themselves, their liability if that employee got killed would be a hell of a lot higher than a few million barrels of crude.

This attack was something like 450 miles off the coast, that's a long way for a bunch of pirates to travel to hijack a ship.

Chuck U Farley

Fratton Fred wrote: »

This attack was something like 450 miles off the coast, that's a long way for a bunch of pirates to travel to hijack a ship.

It just means their intel is getting better.

lostexpectation

i went looking for some recent news of the mv faina, nothing, seems to a news black out on it.

Tabnabs

Indian Navy 1 - Pirates 0

clicky

Manic Moran

Shooting up Royal Marines in RIBs I can kindof see, but who the hell picks a fight with a Talwar frigate?

NTM

purple'n'gold

The INS Tabar is a Talwar class guided missile frigate. A serious piece of kit indeed. The Pirates operating from a “mother ship”, some sort of modified tug, threatened to blow up the naval vessel. Now the Pirates are either Mad, extraordinarily brave or high on drugs (I suspect the latter). It just goes to show how dangerous these characters are if they would take on a guided missile frigate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Tabar_(F44

iceage

Seems they're gonna try and negotiate with these guys........First mistake.

Manic Moran

They negotiated with the Le Ponant hijackers as well...

Then after the hostages were freed, they went in, shot half the guys, captured most of the rest, and got most of the money back.

Of course, that was the French, not the Saudis.

NTM

iceage

I thought they chased them onland? might have that wrong, memory failing with olebastarditis:)

Slick, others would have fed them cold McDonalds and Pizza for six days, boring them into oblivion with details of how many seats would they require in the getaway chopper then slipped in before dawn and wiped them all out....... leaving maybe one or two lucky bast*rds alive due to the onset of stockholm.

Alaska Paul

Piracy in the area around the Gulf of Aden and around the Horn of Africa has increased in recent months. There are a number of good sources of news about this problem.

Weekly Piracy Report from the ICC

The best source in the last few months:
EagleSpeak
The main focus of this blog is maritime security.

A navy-centric blog that hits piracy from time to time is:
Information Dissemination

It seems to me that antiterror and intelligence organizations have been seriously impeding the flow of funding to terrorist organizations by a number of means. Also, the worldwide banking crisis has probably impeded easy transfers of funds for terrorists. Somalia, being a lawless non-state, is an ideal base for piracy. Crime or terror syndicates could provide the technology and intelligence for tracking and intercepting merchant shipping in the area, and the Somalis will provide the muscle and do the heavy lifting, so to speak. An unholy symbiosis.

Stopping these piracy operations is relatively easy. Putting quick and overwhelming hurt on pirates and their havens big time will stop piracy in its tracks. What is lacking is the will. So far only a few RN fellows and the Indian Navy did what needs to be done.

If nothing is done, piracy will raise shipping and insurance rates will go astronomical, and traffic through the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden may be severly curtailed or stopped until this problem is solved.

dogmatix

seamus wrote: »

I am kind of surprised that there's no protection on these ships. Even 3 or 4 trained mercenaries, perhaps with some sniper training, should be able to fend off a small speedboat of pirates.
Give the rest of the crew basic firearms training and the pirates would have to think four or five times before attacking the ship.

Good idea for your standard cargo ship but I don't think it's a good idea to be storing and using firearms on a giant oil tanker filled with millions of barrels of flammable crude oil and all the attended dangerous fumes that go with it. Maybe thats how the pirates where able to take it over - one pirate waving an AK47 and the captain starts to weigh near certain ignition of his cargo and everyone on board with taking his chances of being ransomed. I know which option i'd go for. Best option would be a fleet of cheap armed patroal ships to escort vessels in and out of the danger zone - a medium sized gun (100mm) and a few 20mm cannons on the patroal vessels would be sufficent deterrent i'd say.

Alaska Paul

On board protection for cargo ships is a two-edged sword. As it has been pointed out, armaments on a tanker can have catastrophic results for the tanker. You cannot have a bunch of ordinance and heavy weapons on a tanker, especially something like an LNG tanker. Now THAT would be a show seeing it light off---through heavy lenses at a distance.

Carrying armament like M-2 50 cal machine guns, or something like that may be good with trained crews, but remember that many port authorities DO NOT allow that kind of stuff into their ports. Could you get dependable crews to ride "shotgun" on your merchantmen on the crummy wages you pay them, or would you have to hire mercenaries?

It is better to go after the pirates and take them and their havens, like Eyl, out than it is to play the defensive. Leave the shipping to the merchantmen who are good at moving things, and leave the sinking to the military, who know how to break things and kill bad guys.

Manic Moran

I have one word.

Q-Ships.

NTM

Thirdfox

Not to be facetious about it (since people's lives are at stake here) but this would seem like a "good" opportunity for many navies around the world to test out their battle systems (I'm sure even the Americans could do with some naval hunting that's not a war game).

Alaska Paul

I would not be surprised if US assets (satellites) are tracking the pirates and intel is passed to our allies (such as India) to deal with this pirate plague on the sea.

Fratton Fred

Alaska Paul wrote: »

On board protection for cargo ships is a two-edged sword. As it has been pointed out, armaments on a tanker can have catastrophic results for the tanker. You cannot have a bunch of ordinance and heavy weapons on a tanker, especially something like an LNG tanker. Now THAT would be a show seeing it light off---through heavy lenses at a distance.

The biggest fear with LNG is when you open the tanks. LNG forms a dense cloud and when it ignites, it vapourises everything below it. An explosion from a purged LNG tanker is expected to be the largest non nuclear explosion you could have. Imagine if a terrorist managed to do that in Rotterdam or Vancouver, or even Suez.

dogmatix

Manic Moran wrote: »

I have one word.

Q-Ships.

NTM

Thats a good idea - a few mistaken attacks on a Q-ship and pretty soon they would be weary of attacking any merchant ship!

twinytwo

Morphéus wrote: »

how come the ships themselves are not armed?

And most importantly, what kind of IDIOTS would move a super tanker outside the designated safe corridoor?

There are 2 britons on boards, i think its time for the seals and the SBS to board her.

Here here ...sort them out once and for all

lostexpectation

well what the deal with somalia its western backed government is on the verge of collapse again.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g7OaI4_kjeHA-o4UhlmP7vlWmrrwD94FV4880

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN20422156.html

Tabnabs

lostexpectation wrote: »

i went looking for some recent news of the mv faina, nothing, seems to a news black out on it.

You're just looking in the wrong places
http://www.newsweek.com/id/169886

Carrigart Exile

Morphéus wrote: »

how come the ships themselves are not armed?

And most importantly, what kind of IDIOTS would move a super tanker outside the designated safe corridoor?

There are 2 britons on boards, i think its time for the seals and the SBS to board her.

The ship was flying under the Liberian flag, why is that country of convenience not doing anything

Thirdfox

Looks like the ship the Indian Navy sank was actually a fishing trawler which was in the process of being boarded by pirates...
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/pirate-mother-ship-or-thai-trawler/?hp

concussion

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

Yes dodgy part of the world to be in a ship.

Did that Ukrainian Tank carrier ever get rescued or is the ranson still being demanded?

Deal reached over captured Ukraine ship Sunday, 30 November 2008 20:16

Somali pirates and owners of a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks and other military hardware have reached a deal to release the vessel, a Kenyan maritime official said
Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said a deal had been reached but there were ongoing discussions in relation to the release of the ship, crew and cargo.
He said he did not know whether any ransom had been paid.

Gunmen captured the MV Faina on 24 September and demanded $20m (€15.52m) in ransom.
The ship was carrying 33 T-72 tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition destined for Kenya's Mombasa port.
A piracy wave in the Gulf of Aden has increased shipping insurance costs, sent foreign warships rushing to the area, and left about a dozen vessels with more than 200 hostages still in hijackers' hands.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1130/piracy.html