Pirates
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StevoJH
The Bunker Group
Sorry about going off topic.Those are tank regiments?Wow. Just a few questions, does Britain use a division or brigade structure? And and how many of those regiments are in an average division/brigade?
A British or Australian Tank regiment is one battalion.
In the British army, as i under stand it it goes Battalion -> Brigade -> Division.
With a Brigade being made up for 3 battalions and a division of 2-3 Brigades. I could be wrong, but i believe the battalions operate as battlegroups operationally rather then as a straight Infantry Battalion or Armoured Regiment.
Stryker001
Banned Member
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4831652.ece
The Somali's want $35 million US for the tank ship and its crew.There is some other equipment on board Zu-23 anti-aircraft guns sure to find there way onto a technical, RPG's etc.
Interesting energy report on Somalia.
The Somali's want $35 million US for the tank ship and its crew.There is some other equipment on board Zu-23 anti-aircraft guns sure to find there way onto a technical, RPG's etc.
Interesting energy report on Somalia.
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Polar Bear
New Member
Ouuuppsss… surely a nice coup for the local economy. Maybe not so much for the T72’s but all the other goodies are like a gift from heaven.
Even if a ransom is paid for the cargo it is guaranteed that only the tanks will come back.
On the other hand; one can wonder who was the prime idiot that send such a cargo thru this already famous area without any whatsoever means of protection. At least they could have made a different route.
However it is obvious that something must be done urgently to stop this nonsense.
UN can do little (we have already tied that way), PMC’s are obviously out of question (apart from some kind of close protection of ships) so at the end of the day it will be up to each shipping company to request help from their armed forces (the Panama navy will be busy) in order to recuperate their goods and staff.
It is not going to be easy and it looks like piracy is going to be a booming business in the years to come.
Even if a ransom is paid for the cargo it is guaranteed that only the tanks will come back.
On the other hand; one can wonder who was the prime idiot that send such a cargo thru this already famous area without any whatsoever means of protection. At least they could have made a different route.
However it is obvious that something must be done urgently to stop this nonsense.
UN can do little (we have already tied that way), PMC’s are obviously out of question (apart from some kind of close protection of ships) so at the end of the day it will be up to each shipping company to request help from their armed forces (the Panama navy will be busy) in order to recuperate their goods and staff.
It is not going to be easy and it looks like piracy is going to be a booming business in the years to come.
Lets update the lazy members who are reading old articles.
1. Ransom demand has fallen to 5 million dollars.
2. US navy ship (miles away) is observing ship that has not docked but is achored of the coast.
3. Ship was hijacked in international waters over 200 miles from coast.
Unless ship has already been unloaded of small arms and shells before ship appeared, I doubt it. US military will prevent large scale theft.
1. Ransom demand has fallen to 5 million dollars.
2. US navy ship (miles away) is observing ship that has not docked but is achored of the coast.
3. Ship was hijacked in international waters over 200 miles from coast.
Unless ship has already been unloaded of small arms and shells before ship appeared, I doubt it. US military will prevent large scale theft.
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Thanks.
Back to the piracy issue, does anyone know how many ships are deployed into the area by various countries? We have on Canadian ship, I recall reading about a German vessel in the area also. Now a Russian frigate is heading over there.
Polar Bear
New Member
Thanks from the update from the less lazy members.
However the amount of ransom doesn’t make any difference in the problem.
We could have the whole US fleet observing but it would not make much difference since they cant (wont, will not) do anything else than observing.
Obviously ship has not docked (no port facilities) and everything that can be transferred to shore (especially small arms) is being transferred full speed.
If ship was hijacked 200mn from coast, 200nm is obviously not far enough.
US military can do absolutely nothing to prevent the eventual unloading of the ship.
Especially since in case of a f**k-up they do not want to have the lives of the Ukrainian crew on their conscience.
John Sansom
New Member
My latest piracy update involves a Canadian warship, HMCS Calgary. A reporter on board says she responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel off Somalia whose skipper claimed he was under attack by pirates. The Calgary eventually discovered that the merchantman had cranked up enough steam to outrun the pirates, who then broke off the attack and headed for shore.
Now, here's the important part.
Although, apparently, in visual contact with the pirates, HMCS Calgary chose not to pursue because, when spotted, the miscreants were not actually engaged in an act of piracy. In fact, they were on the run.
Gee.
What does this say for stick-up artists and muggers? Does this mean that once on the run, police are legally obliged not--I say again, NOT--to pursue them?
This kind of answers my original question about rules of engagement for HMCS Ville de Quebec. Maybe somebody ought to pass this along to the Russians.
Now, here's the important part.
Although, apparently, in visual contact with the pirates, HMCS Calgary chose not to pursue because, when spotted, the miscreants were not actually engaged in an act of piracy. In fact, they were on the run.
Gee.
What does this say for stick-up artists and muggers? Does this mean that once on the run, police are legally obliged not--I say again, NOT--to pursue them?
This kind of answers my original question about rules of engagement for HMCS Ville de Quebec. Maybe somebody ought to pass this along to the Russians.
... you're confusing police and military there. Most western nations (except for, well, France, Italy and a number of others) have a clear distinction between those.
Somali pirates hijacked an*Iranian vessel with enriched*uranium from China! See here: http://samsonblinded.org/news/somal...ship-with-chemical-or-radiological-cargo-3525
John Sansom
New Member
No confusion there, Kato. I was simply exercising the joys of sarcasm and wondering why on earth these guys (the pirates) are treated with such condescension. My understanding is that the Calgary also had a chopper up (probably an unarmed Sea King) so it's not as though anybody wasn't too sure about what was going on.
The implications are that at least two Canadian vessels--the Ville de Quebec and the Calgary--are under orders not to do anything unless an armed attack is either (a) underway, or (b) the pirates have boarded the target vessel and have assumed command.
A little on the late side, eh?
Has anybody got a definitive handle on this....and when are the Russians expected to arrive on station?
The implications are that at least two Canadian vessels--the Ville de Quebec and the Calgary--are under orders not to do anything unless an armed attack is either (a) underway, or (b) the pirates have boarded the target vessel and have assumed command.
A little on the late side, eh?
Has anybody got a definitive handle on this....and when are the Russians expected to arrive on station?
Polar Bear
New Member
Ohhh… I really think that if there was an Iranian ship with radiation problems (glowing in the dark), we would already have half of the US Navy lined up to intercept it once “liberated”.
John Sansom
New Member
Hi, Kato. I certainly get the bit about the CTF150 RoE....but the question is why? How did somebody arrive at these RoE, and was it really a wholly Canadian "creature", or is something else going on?
Yes, I know the Canadian vessels have been tasked to escort vessels carrying emergency food supplies to safe Somalian destinations, but what happens if and when that escort responsibility is challenged? What do the RoE say about that?
I have a sneaking suspicion that a fair modicum of international shame may be in the offing...along with a whole bunch of teed-off Canadian matelots.
Yes, I know the Canadian vessels have been tasked to escort vessels carrying emergency food supplies to safe Somalian destinations, but what happens if and when that escort responsibility is challenged? What do the RoE say about that?
I have a sneaking suspicion that a fair modicum of international shame may be in the offing...along with a whole bunch of teed-off Canadian matelots.
I don't know if it's uranium is from China or not, but it has been confirmed that an Iranian cargo ship with "industrial merchandise" was captured, and that as a result some of the pirates died of chemical burns. I posted a link to an article earlier.
Yeah, i know. It sounds like typical Debka stuff to make a uranium story out of that though.
There's tons of very common stuff you can get chemical burns from. There's about 25,000 different industrial chemical agents capable of that. Could be anything, even simply cyanides used in fumigating the ship that were collecting in that particular cargo hold.
Uranium? Seriously, U-233/-235/-238 is not active enough to kill you within days. Pu-239 maybe - if you eat it, that is.
The ship was officially enroute from Nanjing to Rotterdam on behalf of a German client btw, and "only" owned by a Iranian military-owned Shipping Company. Half the crew isn't even Iranian.
There's tons of very common stuff you can get chemical burns from. There's about 25,000 different industrial chemical agents capable of that. Could be anything, even simply cyanides used in fumigating the ship that were collecting in that particular cargo hold.
Uranium? Seriously, U-233/-235/-238 is not active enough to kill you within days. Pu-239 maybe - if you eat it, that is.
The ship was officially enroute from Nanjing to Rotterdam on behalf of a German client btw, and "only" owned by a Iranian military-owned Shipping Company. Half the crew isn't even Iranian.
And in an interesting development, Somalia has given Russia exclusive right to pursue, and engage pirates in Somalia on sea and on land. This comes at the same time as they declare that they intend to recognize Southern Ossetia and Abkhazia. This also comes a short while after a major arms exposition in Africa, during which the Russian delegation mentioned Russia being in a position to help African countries secure their maritime borders.
I wonder if eventually a larger deployment will be undertaken by the VMF.
I wonder if eventually a larger deployment will be undertaken by the VMF.
It's a Russian link, but here it is. It's inside the article, it first talks about Somalian recognition of Abkahzia and S. Ossetia.
http://www.newsru.com/world/01oct2008/prisnali.html
http://www.newsru.com/world/01oct2008/prisnali.html
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