Webloggin » Pirates: Terrorists at Sea

SomaliPirate Pirates are terrorists, no other way to describe them. Their general operating procedure is to seize a ship, hold the crew as hostages, and demand large sums of money for the crew’s safety.

Today the pirates/hijackers/terrorists demand $10 million for the Saudi super tanker (See Daily Mail.online article, amazing images)

Two months ago Somalia pirates commandeered a Ukrainian freighter off the Horn of Africa that contained 33 Russian T-72 main battle tanks and ammunition in its holds.

Now, just this week, Somalia pirates lurking off the east coast of Africa seized a Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with 2 million barrels of crude oil worth an estimated value of $100 million. Also this week, just north of the supertanker attack, pirates hijacked a Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with 36,000 tonnes of wheat bound for Iran.

The latest news reports today have further reports of high-seas buccaneering exploits — this time off the West Coast of Africa, as a Danish freighter with oil exploration equipment aboard was held for 30 hours by pirates near Nigeria.

It’s as though we’re entering a new golden age of piracy — except this time the hunting grounds are primarily the seas off eastern Africa, not the Caribbean; … (The Mil and Aero Blog)

Many of the countries whose ships are seized do not have military means of recovery. An Indian warship has exchanged fire with a pirate “mother vessel” off the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, leaving the ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden …

The skirmish took place Tuesday evening about 525 kilometers southwest of Oman’s Salalah port when the frigate INS Tabar spotted a suspected pirate ship with two speedboats in tow, India’s Defense Ministry reported.

“This vessel was similar in description to the ‘Mother Vessel’ mentioned in various piracy bulletins,” the ministry said in a written statement. [snip]

When the Tabar’s crew hailed the ship and demanded it stop for inspection, the pirates threatened to destroy the Indian ship, the ministry reported.

“Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar,” the ministry said.

The Indian frigate returned fire, setting the pirate ship ablaze and setting off explosions on board, the statement said. Two speedboats in tow behind the ship fled; one was found abandoned after a pursuit by the Tabar. (BBC)

US Admiral ’stunned’ by pirate’s reach:

The top US military officer said Monday he was “stunned” by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world’s navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.

“I’m stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size,” Mullen said of the seizure of the Sirius Star Sunday by armed men.

The huge, oil laden prize, which is three times the size of a US aircraft carrier, was some 450 miles east of Kenya when it was boarded, he said.

That is the farthest out at sea that a ship has been seized in the latest surge of piracies, according to Mullen.

The pirates, he said, are “very good at what they do. They’re very well armed. Tactically, they are very good.”

Newsis, via Associated Press
The Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star in an undated photo taken during a trial run in the waters off South Korea.

From The Pantheon Journal, hat tip Michael:

… here is a snapshot of a live piracy map. No kidding. From these guys:

On a side note, thousands of Somalis are here in the United States illegally:

The US State Department has come out and admitted that thousands of Somalians have entered our country illegally. They came in under the pretext that they were being reunited with family members. The immigrants were tested by DNA to prove that they were actually related to people already in the USA. Less than 20% were confirmed, yet they were allowed to stay. Not only are they coming here illegally to take our jobs or live on welfare, they try and dictate terms to us in regards to their religion. Examples of this are the incidents at Swift Plant where they complained for extra breaks to pray for the month of Ramadan and the Minneapolis Airport cabbies who would not take passengers into their cabs who had alcohol in their possession. They obviously have no respect for us or our way of life. Thankfully the program has been put on hold. (via Islam in Action)