Pirates seize Malaysian tanker off Somalia's coast

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Armed pirates have seized a Malaysian tanker carrying palm oil and more than 20 crew members in the Gulf of Eden off the coast of Somalia, the fourth such hijacking in a month, a global maritime watchdog said Wednesday.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, said the center picked up a distress signal late Tuesday and immediately notified Western naval ships patrolling the area.

A warship was sent to intercept the tanker, which was heading toward Somalia territorial waters, he said.

(snip)

"This is the fourth hijacking in a month. ... We call upon the U.N. and the international community to take immediate steps to stop the worsening situation," (Choong) said.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g19PCHKSShe7ljDYxNT5tj9__BdQD92LQGR00

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I'm not sure, from the context of the article, whose warship was sent to intercept.

[The Stranger]

1. The Neocons have scuttled the UN's mission and the U.S.'s role as the leading nation in the UN.

And now we see yet more consequences, theft, death and destruction they have brought.

[slackmaster]

2. The US is still a leading nation in pirate interdiction

My brother is a naval officer. He spent the whole summer doing just that last year, in conjunction with the French and British. It's a tricky business. International law and national sovreignty strictly limit what a legitimate navy can do. You can't simply kill people on the high seas because you suspect them of piracy, and many nations will not allow foreigners to pursue pirates into their territorial waters. My brother worked on the case in which a tanker full of naptha was captured by pirates off the horn of Africa. You can't shoot at it for obvious reasons, and there was no legal basis for boarding it. The pirates took refuge in the waters of Somalia IIRC, and got away.

The UN has nothing to do with it and never has. The real problem is that there are now more pirates in the world than at any time in history.

Commercial vessels should be arming themselves and destroying anyone who tries to board them.

[Mike Daniels]

5. The UN has given permission to pursue vehicles into Somalia's territorial waters

From the article: In June, the U.N. Security Council voted to allow international warships to enter Somali waters to combat the problem. But its 1,880-mile coastline — the longest in Africa — remains virtually unpoliced.

I'm presuming that "combat" in the above paragraph means the authority to attack and board pirate vehicles in Somalian waters.

Blockades are hardly foolproof even in the best of times and with 1,880 miles to cover you'd be dealing with several nation's naval units. In spite of that, it's probably what's required in order to combat the piracy in that area. I just don't see how it could be coordinated effectively.

[slackmaster]

6. A lot of coastline with a lot of very shallow water

I wouldn't want to be on a Zodiac chasing another Zodiac filled with armed crazies into hostile territory.

[WriteDown]

10. Exactly......

Exchanging machine gun fire in small watercraft is not fun.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. "the (US-led) coalition naval forces", according to AFP

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ib1TZok44PpZfOe469IPAwVkNl9g

[slackmaster]

4. They may rescue the ship, but it's unlikely they will capture any pirates

Too many places for them to run to, and too many restrictions on police action.

[XemaSab]

7. Why was the E/E thread locked?

:shrug:

[slackmaster]

8. I suspect it had something to do with being completely off topic for that forum

Other than that, it's a total mystery.

[mainer]

9. I always wondered how they do it.

If the prey ship never stops moving, how do the pirates on the predator ship manage to board? Isn't a tanker pretty high up off the water? How do pirates board if the tanker just keeps chugging forward?

I'm just having trouble envisioning it.

[WriteDown]

11. When they are pointing a grenade or rocket launcher at

your hull, I imagine that the prey ship just stops and allows it.