Thread: Somali pirates hijack oil supertanker going to U.S.

Somali pirates hijack oil supertanker going to U.S.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somali pirates seized a tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States in the increasingly dangers waters off East Africa, an official said Monday, an attack that could pose a huge environmental or security threat to the region.

The Greek-owned Maran Centaurus was hijacked Sunday about 800 miles off the coast of Somalia, said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force. Harbour said there were 28 crew members on board the 300,000-ton ship.

Pirates have increased attacks on vessels off East Africa for the millions of dollars of ransom that can be had. Though pirates have successfully hijacked dozens of vessels the last several years, Sunday's attack appears to be only the second ever on an oil tanker.

In November 2008, pirates hijacked the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, which held 2 million barrels of oil valued at about $100 million. The tanker was released last January for a reported $3 million ransom after a two-month drama that helped galvanize international efforts to fight piracy off Africa's coast.

Somalia's lawless 1,880-mile coastline provides a perfect haven for pirates to prey on ships heading for the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The impoverished Horn of Africa nation has not had a functioning government for a generation and the weak U.N.-backed administration is too busy fighting an Islamist insurgency to arrest pirates.

Pirates now hold about a dozen vessels hostage and more than 200 crewmembers. The Maran Centaurus had 28 crew aboard — 16 Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians and one Romanian.

Piracy has increased despite an increased presence by international navies patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. The U.S. this fall began flying sophisticated drones over East African waters as part of the fight against piracy.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009 ... ates_N.htm

Someday in the future some amusement park will have a Pirates of Somalia ride.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Someday in the future some amusement park will have a Pirates of Somalia ride.

JohnDoe2 wrote,

Someday in the future some amusement park will have a Pirates of Somalia ride.

I would only enjoy it if I could enter the ride armed.

If countries are too stupid to carry weapons that can take out a 25 foot boat with 5 pirates,
then they deserve to lose their cargo!!!

The crew should all carry 20 foot capability wasp spray and get every pirate in his face.
Then throw them overboard for the swim home to Somalia!

Keep the weapon quiet as to how they "fell" overboard and carry on as usual.

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

[b]If countries are too stupid to carry weapons that can take out a 25 foot boat with 5 pirates,
then they deserve to lose their cargo!!! b]

The laws of many countries don't allow privately owned armed ships to enter their territorial waters. It would be a nightmare to check every ship for weapons at every port.

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

The crew should all carry 20 foot capability wasp spray and get every pirate in his face.

You want to approach 5 men armed with AK 47s with "wasp spray"?

Let us know how that works out for you.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

The crew should all carry 20 foot capability wasp spray and get every pirate in his face.

You want to approach 5 men armed with AK 47s with "wasp spray"?

Let us know how that works out for you.

No. I want everyone to have it and everyone covers the pirates faces with it, when they are distracted by me being naked!!!

I think you going on totally unarmed it STUPIDER!!!
I guess a women is more cunning than you are.

I don't know anyone dumb enough to try to use wasp spray against people armed with AK 47s.
All ships have high volume fire hoses to use to knock people off the side of the ship as they climb up. It's very dangerous to do this because when you point the hose at one of the guys 4 others are pointing their guns at you. One out of 4 of them only have to hit you once and you are dead.

Police officers only use Mace, rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, baton, etc. against UNARMED criminals for a reason. If the criminal has a gun they will only use a gun to stop them for the safety of the officers.

RELATED

To stop pirates, do ships need firepower?

Most merchant sailors are not trained to use weapons, but some maritime educators say that is changing.

By Mark Clayton and Bridget Huber |
The Christian Science Monitor 04.08.09

After pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama, the unarmed crew did the unthinkable: They fought back and, apparently, regained control of the huge and lumbering container ship.

It’s not yet clear how the American crew was able to do it. Neither international nor US maritime regulations require shipboard crews to be trained in the use of weapons. But at least some of those aboard are known to be among a relatively small number of US merchant sailors who’ve been trained in weapons and defensive tactics at maritime academies.

In the wake of Wednesday’s incident in waters of Somalia, all aspects of security training for merchant marines are likely to be reexamined and, probably, intensified, say educators at the nation’s maritime academies.

“I can almost guarantee there will be a major review of course curriculum after this incident,â€