Talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight: Indian Navy – 1, Pirates – 0
An Indian navy warship has sunk a Somali pirate “mother ship” in the Gulf of Aden, the world’s most treacherous waterway, after the renegades threatened to attack the frigate…
INS Tabar, an Indian frigate dispatched last month to the area to protect the country’s merchant fleet, sighted the pirate vessel late on Tuesday. Indian officers said they spotted pirates moving on the deck with rocket propelled grenade launchers and automatic weapons.
“On repeated calls, the vessel’s threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.
“INS Tabar retaliated in self defence and opened fire on the mother vessel.
Which, carrying ordnance on deck, promptly suffered explosions and sank.
More like this.
Update: Check the comments -
What the world needs now is an end to this violence and a series of strongly worded resolutions from the U.N.. If that doesn’t work then even more strongly worded resolutions are called for. The strongest words the U.N. has at its command may even be required! That should do it.
Stumypete, washington, d.c., usa
A man after my own heart.
The situation is intolerable. The pirates are making a mockery of the world’s navies’ ability to keep the sea lanes open for commerce and trade. Kudos to the Indians. Now if only our people would start using rules of engagement like that …
I kinda liked the ‘magic pixie dust’ comment, too. Probably equally as effective as the UN’s strongest words.
“Strongly worded resolutions from the UN… ” yeah, that’ll work. The Indians’ techniques work far better.
Read something last night about Somalia having a little town from which most of these pirates come and where they hide after their successful forays. Reminds one of Cartagena in the 1600-1800s. But the honest folks finally cleaned it out. Needs to be done now, I think. Where are the Marines?
Marianne
Someone needs to show the UN the definition of the world “resolution”, and then the definition of the word, “resolute”. Vast difference.
Maybe we could hit up our Congress Critters to issue a few Letters of Marque and Reprisal.
BTW, anybody have a good deal on a used Elco PT boat?
Some responsibility has to fall onto the shipping companies themselves. How much would it cost them to hire a 4 man Blackwater team to put on their ships? We’ll see how many pirate attacks succeed with them on board.
off topic (but not really):
my dog enjoys chasing deer who browse thru my wife’s flower beds. every time i let him out, he runs and barks at them, and they scamper away. i always ask him when he comes back in, “what are you gonna do with one if you actually catch it?”
haven’t gotten a good answer from him yet…
..and if he ever figures out an answer, my next questions will be, “you bit him pretty bad (good boy!), but are you any good at bandaging him up? and where are you gonna keep him?”
..cuz i sure as heck ain’t keeping no flea-bitten dear in MY basement. and i can bet none of my neighbors want him either. and we’ll all agree that the most humane thing (for the whole neighborhood) would be to just put the deer down, but have you seen how many inspectors come out of the woodwork when you try to do that? i don’t have a hunting license or a deer tag!! (and, oh!, the dears from my daughter! you shot Bambi!!)
..and the local vet sez that he really WANTS to help, but he’s not really set up for herbivorous ruminants..
if only i had a quiet little island with a nature preserve on it, i could tuck him away safely there… (i better get working on getting a license for running a menagerie).
It appears that there will soon be room at the inn down Guantanamo way. Just don’t try to drop him off at the lawyer’s office.
He’s going to be busy.
Seem to be whole bunch of clowns who think they are real cowboys in Somalian waters. Guess nobody ever told them not to fu$# with the real Indians.
I still think that heads on pikes would be a reasonable approach.
Deterred by the fire, the pirates promptly turned tail and fled in their speedboats into Somali waters.
Does international “law” admit of a “hot pursuit” principle? Not that there’s a government in Somalia to contest it, but ….
India, too, is contributing its might to deter piracy by patrolling the normal route followed by Indian flagships during passage from Salalah (Oman) to Aden (Yemen) as well as by coordinating with other foreign navies.
The problem, however, is that while Indian warships can patrol the Gulf of Aden, they cannot enter the territorial waters of Somalia, where the 18 Indians are being held hostage, since it would contravene UN Security Council resolution 1816 as well as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The UNSC resolution 1816, adopted on June 2, authorises only states cooperating with Somalias transitional government to enter its territorial waters—for a period of six months—to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery by all necessary means. India, at present, has no such agreement with Somalia.
Oh. And let’s say that India decides to set up shop in Somali waters anyway. What will the U.N. do? Oh, no! Not the comfy chair – I mean, a strongly worded resolution?
..and not just the comfy chair, i think they may even bring out the pokey pillows…
The UNSC resolution 1816, adopted on June 2, authorises only states cooperating with Somalias transitional government to enter its territorial waters—for a period of six months—to repress acts of piracy and armed robbery by all necessary means. India, at present, has no such agreement with Somalia.
I wonder if the CINC of the Indian Navy is a movie fan?
If 18 Americans were being held in Somalia, I should think that a U.N. resolution to the contrary would not unduly discomfit the U.S.’s armed forces. India needs to decide whether they are a third-world nation or not.
contrarily: if 18 Somalis were being held in a lovely little carib’ garden spot, would Somalia then not have a similar decision to make??
(i’m getting moderated now??)
off topic RetRsvMike to keep the deer out of the garden look for a product call Liquid Fence, very effective. Unfortunately it cannot be used on edibles as it leaves a very nasty taste, rotten eggs with a hint of garlic.
funny, that’s how my dog usually smells.
I’m sure the Indians are weighing the risks of flouting Somalia’s territorial waters and shaking in their saris at the awful thought that Somalia might actually declare war on India as a result.
OT: Moderation. Akismet is acting up, and I’ve had to manually rescue any number of comments from the moderation bin.
Gomen nasai
“Strongly worded resolutions” – you’ve got to be kidding. Pirates pay no attention to such nonsense – sink the bastards. That’s something they can wrap their brains around. It’s call deterrence, a negative consequence directly attributed to their own actions.
RRM – train the dog. Venison is quite tasty when prepared properly and you may need the meat in a few months.
Submarine!
Do the sound recognition of the mother ships on the way in after a highjack. When they head back out track them over the horizon from port then torpedo the scurvy ship & crew.
You have plausible deniability. It must have been poor ordinance handling.
Evidently I don’t understand the entire situation because I don’t get why this is STILL a problem with all the technology we have now, etc.
Every time I see another ship taken, I wonder along the lines of what PG said. Why are these corporations not hiring some serious kick ass protection? They shouldn’t ‘have to’, but evidently they need to.
The Indians have it right. Blow these suckers up. Kill them. As I said earlier, heads on a pike, and I’ll add…find out where they live, burn their villages and salt the land. And… I’m not really kidding.
Just wondering if sturmypete is related to my cousin, Willy Pete?
Well, those pesky pirates are in for it now! the United Frikkin’ Nations has gone beyond strongly worded letters and has now enacted further sanctions against Somalia! Oh the humanity! Oh the horror!
I would type a more detailed response, but I simply do not wish to risk incurring the scrutiny of the JAG officers. Heaven forbid we should stop practicing LAWFARE & return to practicing WARFARE.
If one could look closely, I suspect they would see the statue of Nelson weeping tears, and the monuments to Hull, Decatur & Jones quaking with anger.
BC – Perfect! We were never there. Dunno what might have happened. Just sank, like…
More Indian Navy Destroyers Head to Fight Somali Pirates:
“India today dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the Gulf of Aden to join the fight against piracy, even as it explores the possibility of sending up to four warships to strengthen its operations against the menace in that region.”
http://www.india-defence.com/reports-4083
You know, why any semi-bluewater POL vessel would go anywhere and worry about a Boston Whaler type of vessel is truly beyond me.
Have any of you ever been in a ’small craft’ such as a Boston Whaler in near proximity to an eight hundred foot, or longer, vessel?
Let’s be real clear, Gang, that’s no fun! Whether you’re shooting the AK or not, just riding anywhere near to the wake of said larger vessel is a really nasty experience. That a crew on a Boston Whaler got aboard a large vessel, whose wake could roll a Boston Whaler on a whim ( think Dame Judy Dench here), should tell somebody something.
The pirate crew DID NOT force their way aboard. Take that as reality. Not speculation. Not Mongo’s Whimsical Notion. It’s fact…
Let the true speculation begin..
For my part, were I Captain ( following in the steps of my Dutch Gr. Grandfather) there would have been sufficient deterrent aboard that, even if I didn’t slow below 25 knots, the criminally minded wouldn’t have survived to witness the sunset…
As said Gr. Grandfather would have said in Dutch ” Put that your pipe and smoke it!”
Deterrents aplenty to those who desire them…all such as have questions shall be answered, where and when asked…