Pirates

[OPSSG]

Pirates must be "destroyed" period. However, we now have the rather peculiar case of the Alabama, a US (apparently) container vessel boarded some 300 miles offshore in the Gulf of Aden, and then having its 20-member American crew retake their own vessel, while losing their skipper to the pirates.

To date, the best info I have is that there were four--uh huh, four--pirates involved. One pirate was captured by the Alabama's crew who offered him up in exchange for the US skipper, taken in turn by the pirates and being held in one of the Alabama's lifeboats away from the larger vessel. The pirates allegedly agreed to the swap, then reneged, keeping the skipper and their own returned scumbag (oops...sorry).

Question: Isn't it a little unusual to see an American crew on a Maersk-owned ship of this calibre.....

If the pirates can get on the Alabama, which has highly trained crew with good equipment, no merchant ship is safe from the pirates. In fact, the pirate action against a vessel of this class demonstrates that current anti-piracy solutions on commercial ships are not sufficient.

Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, said his son, Shane Murphy, a member of the Alabama crew, told him that Phillips frequently conducted emergency drills, including what to do in case of a pirate attack.

A US destroyer is steaming to the....rescue?

Oh, yeah. Way to go Yanks!

Currently, the USN is getting some online criticism for failing to protect their own merchant men. By all accounts, the Captain of the Alabama, Richard Phillips is a brave man currently stuck on a lifeboat with the pirates. My thoughts are with him and his family.

We have to stop codling these pirates. They will continue to attack our shipping vessels until it becomes too dangerous for them to do otherwise.

I'm not sure what the required corrective actions are for our current set up, but I know that rescue attempts are fought with danger. Recently, a hostage was killed as French forces storm yacht captured by Somali pirates.

...Even the Singapore navy (RSN) has finally got in with the act and on 9 April 2009 dispatched RSS Persistence (an Endurance Class vessel) in support of the multinational Combined Task Force 151. This RSN vessel carries 240 personnel (army, navy and air force), 2 RSAF Super Puma helicopters and the usual boarding teams. This class of vessel often carries UAVs and USVs. I note that the ScanEagle had just completed its trials on an Endurance Class vessel.

Guys, I'm not sure about what you think, but the Singapore navy's Endurance Class vessels (at 8,500 tons fully loaded) are really mini-LPDs. They have a well dock (that can hold 4 smaller craft) and a heli-deck (for 2 helicopters), so in a way, this vessel class is a mid-sized anti-piracy mother-ship that will deploy other small craft (including boarding teams & USVs), helicopters and UAVs to gather intelligence on pirate operations. The RSS Persistence deployment will also have direct action teams (special forces) on board to respond.

Fyi, the Endurance class vessels were:
(i) deployed in Indonesia during the Dec 2004 Tsunami; and
(ii) multiple deployments to protect oil installations in support of the reconstruction of Iraq (as part of the multi-national task force and to help sustain Iraqi naval craft in their sector patrols) until the end of the UN mandate in Dec 2008.

 

[OPSSG]

Kindly find for your reading pleasure an interesting article on the WSJ on "Obama's Next Hostage Crisis: Pirates are flourishing because the world is letting them".

 

[gf0012-aust]

Pirates' relatives plan mediation for US hostage

Posted 57 minutes ago

Somali elders and relatives of pirates holding a US hostage on the high seas are planning a mediation mission to secure his release and safe passage home.

Captain Richard Phillips is being held on a lifeboat about 300 miles off the Somali coast.

A spokesman for a regional maritime group called the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme says the relatives of the pirates want to resolve the issue in a traditional Somali way of negoatiations.

He says they do not want a ransom to be paid.

Pirates on a German ship with 24 foreign hostages say they have returned to the Somali coast after failing to locate the scene of the standoff involving Captain Phillips.

Pirates had hoped to use the hijacked 20,000-tonne container vessel, Hansa Stavanger, as a "shield" to reach pirates on the lifeboat.

"We almost got lost because we could not find the bearing of the lifeboat," one pirate on the German ship, who identified himself as Suleiman, told Reuters.

Five Germans are believed among those on the Stavanger.

The ship's return to the coast lowers the stakes somewhat in a high seas standoff since Wednesday, between the four-man gang holding Captain Phillips and the US Navy which has several warships in the area of the lifeboat.

French hostage death
Meanwhile, the French government has released more details about how one French hostage died on a yacht off Somalia when French troops tried to rescue him.

Despite the rescue of his four fellow hostages, including his three-year-old son, the man was shot dead when elite French forces stormed his boat.

Two pirates also died, and three others were taken prisoner.

France's defence minister, Herve Morin, says the rescue was launched when talks with the pirates broke down and threats became more specific.

"We suggested what we could suggest, that is, to allow them to reach the shore with a boat, we even suggested paying a ransom, but everything was being constantly refused," he said.

"The negotiations weren't going anywhere."

- ABC/Reuters

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/11/2540939.htm?section=justin

 

[LazerLordz]

The RSS Persistence deployment will also have direct action teams (special forces) on board to respond.

Never confirmed. ASSET teams are on board though. I wouldn't characterise them as special forces, but something of a Coast Guard SWAT/force protection mix..

 

[OPSSG]

Never confirmed.

Thanks for the technically accurate response. While I agree that the announcement of the RSS Persistence deployment did not specifically mention the presence of Direction Action teams, it would be very poor planning by the SAF, if they did not have some capability to respond if a Singapore flagged ship was hijacked and hostages are taken (with Singapore being the 5th or 6th largest flag nation for commercial ships) while the RSS Persistence is on patrol to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden as part of CTF 151.

What I say is speculative, but I note that there are 'army personnel' are participating in this RSS Persistence deployment. Further, if there are any NDU personnel (which is very likely) on board, they could also be classified as special forces personnel. Instead of having 160 to 180 personnel (like in the past deployments for Iraq, which also had boarding teams), this deployment has 240 army, navy and air force personnel. The presence of the helicopter and UAV detachments will not account for the significant personnel increase in this deployment.

I follow JP 3-50 (2003) which describes Direction Action operations as follows:

"Direct Action operations are short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions by SOF or [special operations]-capable units to seize, destroy, capture, recover, or inflict damage on designated personnel or materiel..."​

And action to rescue hostages or the capture of pirates in certain circumstances, if any, can be considered Direct Action. OTOH, there is no official confirmation on the presence of Direct Action teams in the current informational releases!

 

[swerve]

200 meters may be short.. I was just giving an example. You can make it 2km if you want.

The equipment itself can be in a self contained, water proof container that attaches to the flat deck via magnetic clamps. Very easy to setup.

There is no viable reason that a small boat approaches a container ship on the high-seas and chases you down. At that point they only have one purpose in mind.

We have to stop codling these pirates. They will continue to attack our shipping vessels until it becomes too dangerous for them to do otherwise.

You still haven't satisfactorily addressed the numbers, or the other issues mentioned here. But for this lot -
Small boats do not have to approach large ships. They can just loiter in the large ships path. You start shooting up every small boat dead in the water in your path, you will (quite rightly) be charged with murder. Could be an innocent fisherman. Could have broken down.

"attaches to the flat deck via magnetic clamps" - you're sure that there are going to be enough suitable accessible flat bits of deck with unobstructed views?

 

[gf0012-aust]

At last count there were over 68 navy ships in the areas of contention - and they are only able to cover approx 10% of the "threat space"

At some point persistence of monitoring of space needs to be done by UAV's (cheaper than a rotor "CAP")

At some point nations will need to consider ground based hot pursuit

Ar some point it will have to be a forceful military response.

 

[Waylander]

The problem with a forcefull military response is that one would need to go into cities of 10k-30k and then try to discover who is the pirate and who is just a normal civilian with the usual AK under every bed and a RPG in the garage.

How is this going to work? Rounding up every male adult and put them into camps for a long "talk" about their hobbys?

And remember this is Somalia. The moment the troops are out live goes on...

 

[kato]

At last count there were over 68 navy ships in the areas of contention

Err, only if we count all those within say 100 hours response time.

Engaged along the coast with clear sorting are:

EU NAVFOR Atalanta - 1 CGH, 1 DDG, 5 FFG, 1 OPV, 1 auxiliary
NATO CTF 151 - 1 LHD, 2 CG, 2 FFG, 1 auxiliary
NATO CTF 150 - 1 DDG, 4 FFG, 1 auxiliary
NATO SNMG1 - 5 FFG
PLAN NAVFOR - 2 DDG, 1 auxiliary
JMSDF NAVFOR - 3 DDG, 1 auxiliary

Forces not belonging to the above, but active in the area, roughly: 1 DDG, 6 FFG, 2 auxiliaries.

That only makes a count of 42 ships. The remainder of the 68 - presumably we're using the same source - is all stationed in the Persian Gulf (certain US and British units), or part of ALINDIEN (and stationed several thousand miles south).

In addition to that there are two or three P-3 aircraft stationed in Djibouti specifically for the area, with one usually in the air at all times. The US Predators also stationed there afaik do not take part in anti-piracy operations, but instead overwatch Yemen and the Yemen/Saudi border area. The 10 fighter jets there also do not take part in anti-piracy ops for more or less obvious reasons.

 

[swerve]

At some point nations will need to consider ground based hot pursuit

Ar some point it will have to be a forceful military response.

Neither of these worked with the Barbary pirates. As soon as the "ground based hot pursuit" boarded its ships & sailed away, they went back into business. Ditto the "forceful military response".

Both of these have the same deficiencies. Firstly, targeting. Who do you pursue? Against who do you respond? Without good intelligence, you're shooting more or less at random. Secondly, cost, both human & monetary. The Somali pirates are being careful not to escalate the level of violence. Very few deaths, & mostly pirates, so far. The financial cost, while considerable, is a small fraction of the cost of an invasion. Thirdly, they do nothing to address the root causes, which are the combination of poverty & chaos (no effective government) in Somalia.

What's needed is effective patrolling, targeted action against positively identified (please, no more killing of Thai fishermen) pirate vessels, rescues when practical (the French seem very keen on this), & pursuit of the money & the networks it pays for - and that is police work. None of this will completely stop Somali piracy, but until there is some sort of law & order along that coast (& unfortunately, establishing that is a very big problem), I doubt anything will. The target should be to reduce it, by making it more difficult, more expensive, more dangerous & less rewarding.

There's a tendency on any military-oriented forum to see the answer to problems as to go in, guns blazing. Hammers see every problem as a nail, but sometimes a screwdriver is better.

 

[OPSSG]

Good news guys, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, has been rescued.

Captain freed from Somali pirates

A US merchant vessel captain has been freed from captivity and three Somali pirates reportedly shot dead in an operation in the Indian Ocean.

Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, was left unharmed after an operation against the pirates on Sunday, Laura Tischler, a spokeswoman for the US state department, said. "I can confirm that Captain Phillips has been safely recovered," she said.

Three of the four pirates holding Phillips were killed in the operation while the fourth was taken into custody, US officials said. Al Jazeera's correspondent Mohammed Adow said: "US forces are reported to have attacked the lifeboat when the pirates were expecting a diplomatic exchange ... [and] have taken the remaining pirate to one of their ships in these waters."....

Maersk Line said in a news release that the U.S. government informed the company around 1:30 p.m. EDT Sunday that Phillips had been rescued.

...This only shows that even the most advanced naval ships have their weaknesses.
They just cannot " see at night " in a vast sea.

Exceptional ability to post incoherent rubbish that is a pain to read. :lul

 

[gf0012-aust]

Neither of these worked with the Barbary pirates. As soon as the "ground based hot pursuit" boarded its ships & sailed away, they went back into business. Ditto the "forceful military response".

Both of these have the same deficiencies. Firstly, targeting. Who do you pursue? Against who do you respond? Without good intelligence, you're shooting more or less at random. Secondly, cost, both human & monetary. The Somali pirates are being careful not to escalate the level of violence. Very few deaths, & mostly pirates, so far. The financial cost, while considerable, is a small fraction of the cost of an invasion. Thirdly, they do nothing to address the root causes, which are the combination of poverty & chaos (no effective government) in Somalia.

What's needed is effective patrolling, targeted action against positively identified (please, no more killing of Thai fishermen) pirate vessels, rescues when practical (the French seem very keen on this), & pursuit of the money & the networks it pays for - and that is police work. None of this will completely stop Somali piracy, but until there is some sort of law & order along that coast (& unfortunately, establishing that is a very big problem), I doubt anything will. The target should be to reduce it, by making it more difficult, more expensive, more dangerous & less rewarding.

There's a tendency on any military-oriented forum to see the answer to problems as to go in, guns blazing. Hammers see every problem as a nail, but sometimes a screwdriver is better.

Actually, if you've traversed other forums where I've made commentary, you'll have seen that I have purposfully stated that the primary goal is to NOT take a military position as the single vehicle of action.

My response has been that they need to deal with the source as these are bankrolled operations that are very sophisticated in structure. There is significant forensics that are happening now, outside of the equiv of 3 task forces of vessels in the north east and north west, west of africa.

Destroying infrastrucure (corporate as well as basing) is a sympathetic operation.

So I take a little umbrage that I'm just taking a "kill em all" greenjacket approach to this.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Navy frees US skipper held by pirates

By Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan, agencies

Posted 1 hour 58 minutes ago
Updated 56 minutes ago

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/13/2541276.htm?section=justin

An American cargo ship captain has been freed by US Navy commandos after being held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia for four days.

Captain Richard Phillips is believed to have jumped out of the lifeboat where he was being held by the pirates when the Navy Seals opened fire.

Captain Phillips escaped unhurt while three of the pirates were shot dead. A fourth pirate is believed to have been involved in negotiations onboard the US warship that was shadowing the lifeboat. He has since been taken into custody.

Fifty-three-year-old Captain Phillips is now onboard a US Navy ship, although it is unclear where he will be taken to.

He has been hailed as a hero by his crew who avoided capture by the pirates after Captain Phillips offered himself as a hostage.

The pirates had been demanding more than $2 million in ransom for their American hostage, who is captain of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship.

"I can tell you that he is free and that he is safe," Navy Lieutenant Commander John Daniels said.

Shipping line Maersk said it had informed the crew of the Maersk Alabama.

"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family," Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said in a statement.

Captain Phillips was the first American taken captive by Somali pirate gangs who have marauded in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes for years.

Three US warships had been watching the situation.

US Navy spotters saw Captain Phillips on Sunday morning, ship owner Maersk Line said in a statement.

The Maersk Alabama, a container carrying food aid for Somalians, was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the pirates and regained control.

Relatives said Captain Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a Maersk Alabama lifeboat in exchange for the crew.

Joseph Murphy, whose son, Shane, was Captain Phillips' second in command and took over the Alabama after pirates left with Captain Phillips, said in a statement read by CNN, "our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday".

"My son and our family will forever be indebted to Captain Phillips for his bravery. If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping - an act of terror - could have turned out much worse," said Mr Murphy.

"The captain is a hero," one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton ship as it docked in Kenya's Mombasa port under darkness on Saturday.

"He saved our lives by giving himself up."

- ABC/Reuters

 

[swerve]

Actually, if you've traversed other forums where I've made commentary,...
So I take a little umbrage that I'm just taking a "kill em all" greenjacket approach to this.

I've not, so I can only go on what you've said here. I agree with your most recent post, apart from some reservations based on uncertainty about what infrastructure you consider appropriate to destroy, but my previous reply was to a post in which you had mentioned only forceful military options. Such operations, in my view, should be limited, & precise.

I am disturbed by the number of people (among who I am glad not to have to include you) who appear to believe that wreaking fairly indiscriminate destruction on the coast of Somalia is an appropriate response to piracy which, so far, has not been thought a sufficient danger by most shippers for them to be willing to incur the costs of joining convoys. That factor - that having calculated the costs & risks, shippers are willing to risk piracy, & pay the higher insurance premiums for not being convoyed, is ignored by the "shoot 'em up" crowd. Sad.

BTW, I'd like to congratulate the rescuers of Captain Phillips. I think that was an excellent use of military force, & I wish there had been more like it.

 

[Waylander]

I also think that the french take the right approach.
Sadly one hostage dies during their recent rescue operation but the other one some month ago was well done.

On the other hand the focus (A german magazine) reported that our own resuce mission to get the crew of the "Hansa Stavanger" out of pirates hands failed before it began.

They flew in a GSG9 team as well as a pair of cougars (All of which are under the control of the ministry of interior) and decided to let them go.
The navy FFG "Rheinland-Pfalz" should stop the ship to give the cougars the chance to start the boarding operation.
24 hours after this decision was made the navy stated that it wanted control over this mission. The ministry of interior insisted that it is part of their responsibility.
They couldn't find a solution so the mission was cancelled...

I mean in what kind of country do I live?
This is so sureal that one can't believ it actually happened.
And is our chancellor going to let some heads role for this? I hope so but I also have the feeling that actually nothing is going to happen...

 

[gf0012-aust]

I've not, so I can only go on what you've said here. I agree with your most recent post, apart from some reservations based on uncertainty about what infrastructure you consider appropriate to destroy, but my previous reply was to a post in which you had mentioned only forceful military options. Such operations, in my view, should be limited, & precise.

Just to reinforce that I don't believe in the john rambo solution I'll recap what I've said on other forums.

These are sophisticated operations, they have business models, they have tame operators in place at a number of ports (which is why the "business pirates" target specific vessels), they have solid banking and support. The random jolly roger attacks are a different level of involvement.

If they want to do deal with it, then the lessons are the same as the "robin hood" problems that afflicted ghetto communities in the US in the 70's, they had community support because the gangs provided support at different levels within their communities - the communities protected them as they received minimal if not zero support from their Govt.

So to deal with this issue, there needs to be concurrent approaches, strong solid governance, forensics into their financial infrastructure and its rapid dismantling, involvement of the communities, a capacity to develop work for those communities and a willingness to behave robustly and consistently. eg, Gaol for "nn" number of years should be universal - not a situation where incarceration in various countries means a short holiday etc....

It requires pressure and influence by other regional players and it also means involving insurance companies and visiting the rules of law that govern the right to bear defensible arms in locations of free passage.

A few years back I was involved with recruiting people for a company that had considerable volumes of goods shipped between the straits. They wanted on board self protection and were prepared to pay for it. The usualy flurry involved the shipping company, the insurance agents, the other carriers, and local authorities. Nobody could come to an agreement because no-one also wanted to share and distribute responsibility. If they had, then PMPC's would be flourishing. As it is there are less than a handful involved, and the less wealthy shippers don't want to be involved. ditto the insurers are worried about liability and pursuit if things go bad.

I am disturbed by the number of people (among who I am glad not to have to include you) who appear to believe that wreaking fairly indiscriminate destruction on the coast of Somalia is an appropriate response to piracy which, so far, has not been thought a sufficient danger by most shippers for them to be willing to incur the costs of joining convoys. That factor - that having calculated the costs & risks, shippers are willing to risk piracy, & pay the higher insurance premiums for not being convoyed, is ignored by the "shoot 'em up" crowd. Sad.

see above

BTW, I'd like to congratulate the rescuers of Captain Phillips. I think that was an excellent use of military force, & I wish there had been more like it.

indeed, a job well done

 

[mickk]

Captain tied up in the bottom of the lifeboat.

Navy SEALs eventually finish fighting over who gets the mission.

Swim swim in water, tap tap on side of boat, idiots get up BOOM BOOM BOOM all over.

Bread and butter for those guys.

OK, heres what really happened.

I just finished listening to the press conference w/ ADM Gortney about the rescue of Captain Phillips. At the time it happened the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters as the sea state was deteriorating. One of the pirates was on board the Bainbridge as the talks about obtaining Phillip's release continued. The lifeboat was approx. 25 m behind the Bainbridge when snipers on the fantail observed one of the pirates in the pilot house of the lifeboat pointing an AK-47 at the back of a tied up Phillips and the other two pirates on board were visible (at least shoulders and heads). The standing authority gave them clearance to engage the pirates if the life of the captain was in imminent danger. The on scene commander deemed this to be true and gave the order to fire. All three bad guys were taken out and then a rigid inflatable boat went to the lifeboat to retrieve Phillips. It is unknown at this point whether the shooters were SEALs or Marine Scout Snipers as both would have been available. This was not a rescue attempt ordered by National Command Authority i.e. the President. It was a reaction by the on scene commander under standard authority to safeguard the life of a hostage. Blackfive.

 

[Sea Toby]

I see the SEALS and sailors of the good destroyer Bainbridge lived up to the namesake of their ship. Jolly good show Billy B. US Navy 1, Pirates 0......

 

[OPSSG]

Just to reinforce that I don't believe in the john rambo solution I'll recap what I've said on other forums.

These are sophisticated operations, they have business models, they have tame operators in place at a number of ports (which is why the "business pirates" target specific vessels), they have solid banking and support. The random jolly roger attacks are a different level of involvement...

gf0012-aust, I see piracy as an organised crime and if we do not have the correct intelligence on their networks and the ability to threaten their support networks and sanctuary on land, these pirates/criminals will be tempted to escalate the level of violence, as a deterrence to further enforcement actions by the navies deployed.

Therefore, I agree that part of the solution does lie on land but it is not the quick fix john rambo type of solution.

Pirates Vow Revenge

...But fears that the escalation of the conflict would worsen the situation off the Horn of Africa were backed up this morning when a pirate spokesman gave a statement to the Reuters news agency.

Referring to this morning's incident and the freeing of several French hostages in another raid which left two pirates dead, the statement said; "The French and Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone. "We cannot know how or whether our friends on the lifeboat died, but this will not stop us from hijacking," he added.

A US Navy commander made a split-second decision to fire on the pirates because he believed that Captain Phillips, who tried to escape on Friday, faced imminent danger amid tense hostage talks with his captors and deteriorating sea conditions. "They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice-Admiral William Gortney, head of the US Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain. "The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision (to kill the pirates) and he had the authorities to make that decision and he had seconds to make that decision."

No deterrent

Analysts say the violent end to the kidnap drama is unlikely to stem piracy in the region. Admiral Rick Gurnon is the president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy where Captain Phillips trained. "I don't think that this will have any deterrent value at all to the Somalis," he said. "They're desperate people who have a business model that works for them. You buy lottery tickets and you lose most of the time, but you still buy them. You still might have a million-dollar winner - that's the way they're going to look at it. We've got to figure out a way, in an international community, to, in my opinion, arm the crews, increase the number of warships that are there on scene, reduce the ability of the Somalis to have ships anchored off the coast in a safe haven and be unable to get at them.

"Those are the areas that perpetuate this pirate menace." Vice-Admiral Gortney agrees that the killings of the three pirates could escalate tensions. "There's second and third-order effects to every action, and this could escalate violence in this part of the world," he said. "No question about it."...

Some what is said in the above post supports your point on the right to bear defensible arms. Business as usual for these pirates cannot be allowed to go on infinitely.

 

[dragonfire]

Could something similar to the Air Marshal concept be effective in such situations ? basicaly i feel the objective is the same i.e. to prevent the hijack of a vessel

- comments any one

p.s - i dont know if this has been discussed previously, if so...