U.S. Learning From Past Pirate Attacks « Liveshots

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U.S. Learning From Past Pirate Attacks

November 18, 2009 - 12:13 PM | by: Amy Kellogg

Four suspected pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday off the coast of Somalia, but this time the ship escaped hijacking by firing small arms and blasting noise from large circular speakers.

When the Maersk was taken by Somali pirates back in April, there was no such security detail.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, praised the change in tactics saying “Due to Maersk Alabama following the maritime industry’s best practices such as embarking security teams, the ship was able to prevent being successfully attacked by pirates.”

That’s a big change in tactic, and one that is much more readily embraced by Americans. Europeans generally feel it is the responsibility of navies to protect merchants ships and are hesitant to employ armed guards aboard ships.

And pretty much everyone knows that the security situation off the coast of Somalia won’t change until law and order is restored to that country.

Depsite the fact that piracy remains a threat to ships in the region, and the proof is in the details (11 ships are currently hostages of Somali pirates and 241 merchant mariners are being held), a European ship owner tells Fox News that actually the security situation in the Gulf of Aden itself is recently vastly improved due to the presence of ships from so many navies down there.

This ship owner says if vessels stay within the “secure zone” and utilize navies for a sort of escort through the Gulf they are likely to be safe if they follow sound rules of practice.

It is the wider Somali basin that is extremely risky and he says you really need to be more than 1000 nautical miles away from the coastline to be safe. The pirates have expanded their reach and have been edging closer to the Seychelles to seek prey.

A British couple, Paul and Rachel Chandler, were captured by Somali pirates on October 23rd and remain in custody. There are unconfirmed reports that Rachel Chandler has been refusing food and water.

Meantime, while pirates do not set out to kill hostages, rather to get ransom for them, yesterday, according to a self-declared pirate spokesman, the captain of a Virgin Island owned, North Korean crewed ship taken by pirates died of internal bleeding.

There have been dramatic sea rescues such as the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips but generally ransoms are paid and the United States government estimates that around $30 million was paid in ransom to pirates last year.

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17 Comments

Seafarer

Piracy in the Straits of Malacca has been a painful reality for the last 25 years or more. The safety of this sea lane is by far more important than the coast off Somalia. Yet it has been going on for such a long time without repair. Ships have been boarded and highjacked, crew members killed, ships' safes emptied, and no concerted effort to curb this atruacity. Modern pirates have no shortage of targets in the straits of Malcca. Each year, according to Lloyd’s of London, some 70,000 merchant vessels carrying a fifth of all seaborne trade and a third of the world’s crude oil shipments transit this critical choke point in the global economy. The strait’s geography makes it nearly unsecurable. It passes between Malaysia and Indonesia, known for thorny relations, further complicating the security picture. Some 250 miles (400 kilometers) wide at its northern mouth, the strait funnels down to about ten miles (16 kilometers) across near its southern end and is dotted with hundreds of uninhabited mangrove islands, offering endless hideouts to all manner of criminals. Since 2002, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has recorded 258 pirate attacks in the Malacca Strait and surrounding waters, including more than 200 sailors held hostage and 8 killed. The insurance arm of Lloyd’s classified the strait as a war zone in June 2005. Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia responded by bolstering security in their respective waters, and Lloyd’s suspended the rating in August 2006. Page [ 2 ] of 13« Prev | Next » Subscribe to National Geographic magazine »- ADVERTISEMENT - New at ngm.com International Photo Contest See galleries and shots from previous winners. My Shot Create and share albums, puzzles, and games. Slide Puzzle Generator Try Daily Dozen puzzles from Your Shot. Browse the Archives Check out features and photos from previous issues.

November 21, 2009 at 9:24 AM

melly

anyone armed and with intent to hijack, ransom, kill or do any other harm to anyone better be ready for the same. international shipping is not fair game. what the british couple expected to happen sailing around there i can't say, but they aren't fair game either- foolish, but not fair game. put more navy vessels out there, arm the ships with equal or better firepower and let them use it! when it no longer pays or is safe to take ships and hostages it will stop. there is no way that the u.s. and other countries don't know where these people headquarter and where they get their arms from. SHUT THEM DOWN. of course there is the possibility of innocents being hurt, but if this happens as a result of proactive hits, then better their innocents than ours. of course somalia is corrupt. they are starving because of corruption, not inadequate aid. SHUT THEM DOWN!

November 19, 2009 at 10:52 AM

forex robot

Nice post & nice blog. I love both.

November 18, 2009 at 11:08 PM

dulmidiid

LOOK THESE FACTS AND REAL INFORMATIONS: http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/innovations/data/000147 AFTER THAT TALK ABOUT SOMALI PIRACY? EVERY SOMALI PERSON MALE OR FEMALE MUST GO AND HUNT ALL ILEGAL WESTEREN FISHING COMPANIES AND ITS PROBERTIES.

November 18, 2009 at 6:40 PM

Duke

For hundreds of years Pirates were treated with a shoot or hang on site policy . In todays PC world however, the press would portray them as poor 3rd world people only trying to feed their families. The first ship that sinks a pirate craft would be met with pictures of young dead africans floating in the sea , MURDER !! Then "Big AL" would hold protest at the UN and demand JUSTICE for Solmalia ! Crazy world we live in !!!!!

November 18, 2009 at 6:24 PM

eddie mathews

smoke those fools. you play you pay.

November 18, 2009 at 5:51 PM

dewey.james281

dewey.james281@gmail.com the Maersk Alabama learned a leson, and now have learned another , they learned not being armed does not work, and that being armed does work. The learned the latter today. It should be a requirement that all American comerical ships be armed and ready. Then when the pirates see those stars and stripes flying over the ship they will just say to one another, not this ship, lets find a ship from Europe.

November 18, 2009 at 5:22 PM

Mike

Thomas you are an idiot

November 18, 2009 at 4:23 PM

KL

Guns are great but mount a flame thrower on the ships and that will keep the pirates away!

November 18, 2009 at 3:46 PM

Paul

Just like at home... It is the job of the homeowner to provide immediate protection to home and family. The police are there only to figure out what happened afterward, and perhaps to provide patrols that make the criminals think twice. It is the job of the ship's crew to provide primary security against attacks. The Navy will always arrive too late to do anything but figure out what happened. Perhaps the military and intelligence services are put to better use tracking down these folks where they live in Somalia. Paul

November 18, 2009 at 2:57 PM

Jim

Unless we are willing to do what the rest of the world is afraid to do, these attacks will become more and more frequent more deadly. Hunt them down like dogs and blow their boats out of the water.

November 18, 2009 at 2:39 PM

Dan

What I can't understand is why all the ships traveling through this area aren't armed to the teeth because unfortunately not all ships can be protected by the few military ships patrolling the area. Another thing I can’t understand is why the international maritime community is so opposed to armed guards on merchant vessels at sea. Would it be so hard to hire or train crew personnel on the use of high power rifles and such; keep them locked up until the ship enters dangerous waters? I personally believe a person has the right to protect not only their self but those around you especially when entering an area of the ocean known to contain pirates. To put it bluntly…we need to treat all oceanic pirates like they did when ships were using only sails (chase them down and sink them). The nations of the world need to take back, by force, if necessary, all the ships being held hostage and wipe out the pirates on the ships and refuse to play their game any further. Let them know that if they continue to attack merchant ships they may pay the ultimate price. It’s time to get tough because in the end, it will not only make shipping safe once again, save possible lives and stop holding countries hostage with ransom demands.

November 18, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Daniel

So why not take a page from the old history book, sink and kill the pirates when found in their little skiffs? No pirates in boats out hunting, means no ships held hostage.

November 18, 2009 at 1:51 PM

SC

ALL you ANTI-GUNS, bunny huger, pot smokers, progressive liberals... READ this carefully: "That’s a big change in tactic, and one that is much more readily embraced by Americans. Europeans generally feel it is the responsibility of navies to protect merchants ships and are hesitant to employ armed guards aboard ships." It works!!!!!

November 18, 2009 at 1:37 PM

Larry Simms

Sooner or later we are going to have to arm all of the American ships that travel in harms way. Why do we have to wait until Americans are killed before we act to protect ourselves. More dithering from the front office I assume. Obviously we do not have the courage of our convictions. Looks like we lost that when the new administration took over. But looking at the bright side, we are politically correct in mot offending our enemies. And that's what counts.

November 18, 2009 at 1:07 PM