Somali Hijackers

[Marshall_Stack]

This may not really be a "political" thread, but I know that there are many current and ex-servicemen on this website so I thought I would post it here.

Why can't the the navies patrolling the sea around Somalia put an end to ship hijackings? I know it is a vast expanse of water but with today's technology it seems like there should be better protection. I have not read any accounts of any navy proactively going after the pirates. I don't really even hear about any aid by a navy either except by an Indian warship.

thoughts..?

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

we are scared of lawsuits or the UN?

 

[RabidAlien]

Alot has to do with international politics and who's territorial waters the incident actually takes place in. That's my theory, anyway.

 

[GrauGeist]

The pirates have been counter-attacked by an international coalition of warships here recently.

Indian navy attacks and sinks pirate ship: India claims pirate ship sunk - CNN.com

Chinese and Dutch navies thwart pirates: BBC NEWS | Africa | Two navies 'thwart pirate raids'

German navy seizes pirate vessel: German navy deters pirate attack - International Herald Tribune

Royal Malaysian navy attacks pirates: Royal Malaysian Navy thwarts pirate attack

The list of navies involved so far is:
British Royal Navy
Canadian Forces Maritime Command
Chinese Navy
French Navy
German Navy
Greek Navy
Indian Navy
Italian Navy
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Republic of Korea Navy
Republic of Singapore Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Royal Danish Navy
Royal Malaysian Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Saudi Navy
Russian Navy
Spanish Navy
Swedish Navy
Turkish Navy
United States Navy
United States Coast Guard

Soon to join the coalition will be the navy of Pakistan.

 

[Freebird]

The list of navies involved so far is:
British Royal Navy
Canadian Forces Maritime Command
Chinese Navy
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Royal Saudi Navy
Russian Navy
Turkish Navy
United States Navy


Soon to join the coalition will be the navy of Pakistan.

With this list of navies lurking around, I'm suprised war hasn't broken out yet, never mind the pirates...

 

[GrauGeist]

LOL...I was looking at the list and thinking the same thing myself!

 

[ONE_HELLCAT]

Who knows, maybe the pirates will bring world peace by getting us to work together.

 

[GrauGeist]

Shhhhh Hellcat!

They haven't realized that they (the navies) are all working as a team yet...

Once they realize this, then the politics will start and they won't get along anymore!

 

[Marshall_Stack]

The pirates have been counter-attacked by an international coalition of warships here recently.

Indian navy attacks and sinks pirate ship: India claims pirate ship sunk - CNN.com

Chinese and Dutch navies thwart pirates: BBC NEWS | Africa | Two navies 'thwart pirate raids'

German navy seizes pirate vessel: German navy deters pirate attack - International Herald Tribune

Royal Malaysian navy attacks pirates: Royal Malaysian Navy thwarts pirate attack

The list of navies involved so far is:
British Royal Navy
Canadian Forces Maritime Command
Chinese Navy
French Navy
German Navy
Greek Navy
Indian Navy
Italian Navy
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Republic of Korea Navy
Republic of Singapore Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Royal Danish Navy
Royal Malaysian Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Saudi Navy
Russian Navy
Spanish Navy
Swedish Navy
Turkish Navy
United States Navy
United States Coast Guard

Soon to join the coalition will be the navy of Pakistan.

thanks for the info and links. With so many navies out there you would think that they would be running into each other....

Congrats on your 1,000th post. Do you get some kind of prize?

 

[GrauGeist]

thanks for the info and links. With so many navies out there you would think that they would be running into each other....

Congrats on your 1,000th post. Do you get some kind of prize?

I ran across an image somewhere of about 8 or 9 of the warships grouped. If I had been thinking, I would have grabbed it...it was pretty cool!

1,000 posts, dang...I hadn't noticed! Perhaps for a prize, we should get a night on the town with one of the girls from the "Breaking News!" thread!!

 

[pbfoot]

watched a little documentary on the subject the other day according to the doc it started out as a method to stop over fishing by some over zealous fisherman who felt that it was easy pickings because of no Somali presence, so after the fishing boats were held for ransom the light came on to these pirates and they started to go for the bigger fish. Another problem is a lot of unscrupulous folks are also dumping a lot of toxic waste in the area rather then process it.
Did anyone note the participation of the Iranian Navy

 

[ccheese]

The pirates are raking in money hand-over-fist. Only a very few hijackings
have been thwarted. They got three more ships this week !!! What we
need in the area is someone's carrier strike force....

Charles

 

[BombTaxi]

I noted the participation of the Iranians, and that of the Russians, in what is essentially a NATO and Commonwealth coalition 8) Wonder if these units are serving literally 'alongside' US/UK units though? The irony would be incredible, and the implications deeply interesting...

EDIT: As for the carrier strike force, it is my understanding that these pirates generally use small civilian vessels for their attacks. How would you identify this and ensure it was not a legitimate civilian vessel before blowing it out of the water? And isn't a CVBG an extremely expensive and wasteful way of doing a job that could be done by an FFG or even one of the new LCS?

 

[pbfoot]

The pirates are raking in money hand-over-fist. Only a very few hijackings
have been thwarted. They got three more ships this week !!! What we
need in the area is someone's carrier strike force....

Charles

Our guys stopped one this week

 

[Colin1]

...these pirates generally use small civilian vessels for their attacks. How would you identify this and ensure it was not a legitimate civilian vessel before blowing it out of the water?

I would do it by persuading the nations with interests ie anyone getting boarded by pirates to put a Marine or even SF cell on board their ships. It might not even need to be every ship, just enough to keep the pirates guessing.
In the event they do muster the courage (or stupidity) to board, ID as a civilian vessel isn't an issue any longer, nor, I believe, is the issue of sovereignty; isn't a sea-going vessel sovereign ground to whoever's flag its sailing under? (I'm just guessing there)
The Marine or SF crew would obviously be a professional outfit, well-armed and drilled and given the pretty damn substantial construction of ships, 'dug in' to a very safe degree.
At that point, the pirates can either get smart, realise they're in a meat-grinder and surrender or they can start shooting and get whacked.
A couple of captured crews (or a couple of whacked crews) later, the pirates realise it's no longer easy street and the problem could even go away.

 

[mkloby]

I noted the participation of the Iranians, and that of the Russians, in what is essentially a NATO and Commonwealth coalition 8) Wonder if these units are serving literally 'alongside' US/UK units though? The irony would be incredible, and the implications deeply interesting...

EDIT: As for the carrier strike force, it is my understanding that these pirates generally use small civilian vessels for their attacks. How would you identify this and ensure it was not a legitimate civilian vessel before blowing it out of the water? And isn't a CVBG an extremely expensive and wasteful way of doing a job that could be done by an FFG or even one of the new LCS?

Maybe have the next MEU be near that area...

 

[timshatz]

Heard they just grabbed a US Flagged ship with 20 American citizens onboard. Send in the SEALS.

1. Save the Crew
2. Save the Ship
3. Dump the pirate remains overboard.

That's pretty much the mission goals for those guys.

As for all those Navies working together, it doesn't strike me as odd. Though Govts come and go, Naval Personel tend to be pretty proffesional and long lasting. They usually try to stay out of politics and develop standard operating procedures to avoid running into each other in a bad way. Usually get along well.

As long as you keep the Pakistani and Indian Units seperated. Probably the same for the Iranians and everyone else but the Russians. Let the Ruskies bother with 'em.

 

[ccheese]

Since last Saturday the pirates have seized five ships, changing their strategy.
They have moved their operations further away from the navies
that are patrolling the Gulf of Aden. Since Saturday they have seized a
French tourist ship [which was warned to stay away from the area], a
German ship was taken on Saturday, also. On Sunday a Yemeni tug was
captured and a British ship and a Taiwanese vessel on Monday.

No mention, in today's paper of any American flagged vessels taken.

Charles

 

[RabidAlien]

It happened. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/world/africa/09pirates.html?ref=global-home

"Loaded with food and medical relief supplies"....if that's not a euphamism for something else, that sort of cargo is solid gold down in that area.

 

[fly boy]

With this list of navies lurking around, I'm suprised war hasn't broken out yet, never mind the pirates...

same here