Piracy Somalia
- Thread starter Blas de Lezo
- Start date
John Sansom
New Member
Given that your comments on the Somsali government are corrrect (under past and possibly present review), the question may well be does this new guy on the block mean anyhing useful by his recent statement, and, if so, will he be able to deliver co-operation and the kind of muscle that such co-operation will demand?
To say that Somalia is a failed state is about as close as one can get to a perfect understatement. However, it has to become "unfailed" ("successful" would be an overstatement) if only to allow for the rigorous correction of the piracy situation.
Quite apart from the piracy matter and other festering corruption issues--and Qaeda's "interests"--a number of feet have to come down hard and soon. Can that happen in co-operation with the new guy at the helm?
The insurer is basically a bookie you place a bet with about future events. They calculate the money that they will have to pay out if they have to pay off and the probability that the event will take place to generate a price you will have to pay to place that bet. That is what insurance is.
The ship owner buys insurance and then passes the cost on the shipper, who passes it on the sender (who will in turn pass it on the receiver) or receiver. In the end the receiver is always the one who pays, even when it does not appear as a line item on the bill. Most receivers insist on insurance coverage to guarantee delivery.
The presence or absences of security forces will be dictated by the split between the insurance cost with and without them present. If the presence of a security detail causes the insurance to cost less than the cost of providing the security detail, then all vessels will have security details. If you want to increase the use of security details the best way is to either allow insurance costs to rise, or prohibit the insurance companies from selling policies to vessels without security teams.
On 20 January 2011, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) foiled a pirate attack on MT Bunga Laurel, a chemical tanker laden with ethylene dichloride and lubricating oil. The chemical tanker, was transiting about 300 nautical miles east of Oman in a journey from the Middle East to Singapore, when men armed with AK-47 rifles on 'skiffs' boarded. The crew of MT Bunga Laurel activated the Ship Security Alert System prior to taking shelter in a 'safe' room. A special forces VBSS team launched from Bunga Mas 5 (a Malaysian auxiliary naval vessel), that was supported by a Fennec helicopter recaptured the chemical tanker and apprehended 7 alleged pirates (3 of the alleged pirates were injured in the fire-fight to recapture the ship). All 23 crew members of MT Bunga Laurel were successfully rescued.
Yonhap News Agency also reports that South Korean naval special forces, supported by a Lynx helicopter successfully rescued 21 seamen and their South Korean-operated cargo ship, Samho Jewelry, that was hijacked last week by Somali pirates. When the operation ended, 21 hostages had been rescued, eight Somali pirates killed and five assailants captured. Pockmarks from artillery fire blanketed the ship's bridge. One of the hostages was wounded, but all were alive — a remarkable ending for a risky rescue. Three South Korean naval special forces members suffered minor injuries and were sent to a hospital in Oman. The South Korean skipper of Samho Jewelry suffered a gunshot wound to his stomach during the operation, but his condition is not life-threatening. The rescue ended a seven-day ordeal for the crew of the 11,500-ton Samho Jewelry, which was hijacked last Saturday in the Arabian Sea when it was en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates.
Bravo Zulu, MAF and South Korean naval special forces
Yonhap News Agency also reports that South Korean naval special forces, supported by a Lynx helicopter successfully rescued 21 seamen and their South Korean-operated cargo ship, Samho Jewelry, that was hijacked last week by Somali pirates. When the operation ended, 21 hostages had been rescued, eight Somali pirates killed and five assailants captured. Pockmarks from artillery fire blanketed the ship's bridge. One of the hostages was wounded, but all were alive — a remarkable ending for a risky rescue. Three South Korean naval special forces members suffered minor injuries and were sent to a hospital in Oman. The South Korean skipper of Samho Jewelry suffered a gunshot wound to his stomach during the operation, but his condition is not life-threatening. The rescue ended a seven-day ordeal for the crew of the 11,500-ton Samho Jewelry, which was hijacked last Saturday in the Arabian Sea when it was en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates.
Bravo Zulu, MAF and South Korean naval special forces
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They're sophisticated business models, and its pretty universally known within maritime INT circles that they have inside knowledge - thats why they are reaching further out into less known lanes. they could only attack in these lanes if they knew that vessels were there, as they do have to go out of their range to do so.
these people usually have people in the ports that are on the payroll. they provide transit times, manifests, crew lists etc.... and often can establish how much onboard money may exist depending on ships transit time.
John Sansom
New Member
Thanks for all that good stuff, OPSSG. I guess, in both instances, the proverbial foot "came down hard".
To those who insist that alll this is just a case or two of poor fishermen on the beach with no other way of scratching out some sort of living, one can only suggest a re-read of OPSSG's postings and then some quiet consideration of what it takes for indigent fishermen to mount piratical raids of the general nature cited,
The "those" I mention are the significant number who don't touch base with sites like this.:wave
This is the way to go. I congratulate the Malaysian and South Korean commandos for a job well done. But I like the South Korean way, they killed 8 pirates. There is really no purpose of keeping pirates alive and prisoners. they should all be killed. that is the only deterrence. why keep them prisoners then feed them. we ever there is a need for prisoners then should only for interrogation to gather info on their accomplices in ports and other places if any.
Good question -- Khat is supposed to have a very short shelf life, only 2-3 days.
RubiconNZ
The Wanderer
Right, execute people who before their move into piracy were living in absolute poverty, while the Pirate bosses continue to make massive amounts of money of the operation, how many Somali youth do you think would be willing to put their hands up for the kind of a payday that a successful ransom would bring them, a couple of thousand maybe?
There are plenty more where they came from, it's the Bosses you want not the unskilled grunt.
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then kill their bosses too. Remember Somalia has no government and they do not respect anything. Somalia is also a hot bed for al qaeda. so you want to be lenient with them then thats really incomprehensible.
RubiconNZ
The Wanderer
John Sansom
New Member
You're right, robsta83. The sign wavers would be out everywhere while those without signs would be on ervery phone-in and talk show available.
Al Qaeda members would swoon with delight at the God-given opportunity to malign the Crusader infidels and, in certain influential Western circles, the wringing of hands would provide more white noise than most could stand.
The better bet would be a concerted effort to provide legal, on-board defence for merchant vessels in high risk areas; set up Q-ship patrols, and become extraordinarily "robust" (as they say) in the matter of armed naval patrols by participating nations.
Captured pirates should be held for trial at the Hague and the question of execution should be a matter for government and public debate as this thing develops. Oh, yes. Pre- and post-facto asistance to the pirates along with the financing of their activities should carry the same punishable weight as the more egregious pirate acts themselves.
Pirate vessels captured should probably be destroyed, with the exception of those vessels used for piracy as a result of their capture by the pirates. These should be returned to their egistered owners.
The indigent fishermen are those doing the actual piracy & taking the risks, e.g. those killed by the Koreans. You have to kill a huge number of them to make much impact on piracy, as Robsta says.
The lawyers, accountants, PR men, negotiators, informants, etc. employed by the warlords who run a lot of (most?) Somali piracy are probably much more susceptible to pressure, & harder to replace. But they keep away from where they might get shot at, as do their employers.
It will end either when Somalia becomes stable & secure enough to stop it at source (don't hold your breath), or when it becomes unprofitable or too risky for those in charge.
John Sansom
New Member
We're pretty much saying the same thing....which is why, in a much earlier post, I suggested on-shore interdiction of supply and "booty" transfer routes.
A year or so ago, I believe it was the French who successfully identified inland routes from shoreline points of transfer amd the vehicles using them.
The result was an airborne visit by attack choppers and the consequent spreading of the wealth over a considerable area of countryside.
This may still be going on for all I know. As for Somalia becoming stable....... I fear this will not involve a by-the-rules process.
1. -- The high risk area now extends from the Persian Gulf south past Madagascar, and from the African coast east to Ceylon. There are not enough naval vessels in the world to mount ‘robust’ naval patrols for an area that large.
2. – The pirates are taking less than 1% of the total traffic. They also appear to have an effective network of spies / informers. Q-ships cannot be effective in these circumstances.
3. – The press only covers the big international freighters. Most of the vessels taken by the pirates are small merchants plying their trade between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. They have also taken a number of small private yachts (2 to 6 man crews). Armed guards are not available or practical for these vessels.
Won’t happen. Firstly because, thanks to the UN, piracy is no longer recognized as a crime, so the pirates will have to be charge with battery, kidnapping, or theft. They will get a couple years at most for that. Secondly, because of the language in the EU Constitution and several Human Rights Treaties, the pirates, and any witnesses called on their behalf from Somalia, will automatically qualify as economic and political refugees, fully eligible for all the benefits available, including the legal benefits that make them almost impossible to expel or stop them from bringing in additional family members. Note, these are the EU Constitution and inter-European treaties, not a country’s laws that can be simply overridden by the legislature.
Also, because trials must take place under the laws of a host country, the trials can only take place if the vessel is ‘flagged’ by the same nation as that holding the trials.
That is why the NATO countries have never brought pirates back for trial. For a Somali pirate the prospect of spending 3 to 10 years in a European prison in return for his extended family being allowed to move there and go on the dole is a reward, not a punishment. I am using NATO here rather than the EU here because France, as usual, is doing things their own way and getting away with it.
John Sansom
New Member
I get your point(s), my2cents. Perhaps I should have preceded my remarks by saying, "In an ideal world...."
Of course, I appreciate that there aren't enough naval vessels available anywhere to perform a clean sweep through robust anti-piracy efforts. However, those which are available, and which are tasked for anti-piracy, should operate under the standard of "official encouragement" toward the near-immediate use of the proverbial shot and shell. Skiffs and mother ships taken in the act should be sunk (unless the mother ship is a previously piratically seized vessel).
And your contention that piracy is no longer classified as a crime has encouraged me to consider possible new ventures in the field of commerce (as it were). And I have a bit of a problem with the thought that pirates are taking less than one percent of the merchant and pleasure traffic as a possible argument for taking things easy. In fact, it opens up some remarkable possibilities (in areas such as on-shore robberies, murder, etc.).
At any rate, while thanking you for your informed comments, I think I'll stand by my belief that on-shore interdiction of materiel and money supply routes and systems could be a useful exercise to pursue.
Have a lovely.....
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