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Pirates of Somalia

By lex, on March 23rd, 2009

The photo issue.

I’m not seeing Johnny Depp anywhere in there.

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March 23rd, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Navy

18 comments to Pirates of Somalia

  • MaxDamage
    March 23, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    Pirates, traditionally, could ply the trade routes of the seven seas for their booty. I would barely trust these little boats for salmon fishing near Seattle.

    Having spent time at sea in larger craft, I’m fairly certain that a rifle or RPG aside, there’s no way of boarding that larger ship if it doesn’t want to be boarded. Like if it stays 15 gallons of gasoline away from port. Or speeds up a bit and swamps you as you pull alongside.

    And when did Yamaha get the lock on outboard motors world-wide?

    I noticed one commenter referenced the standard story, these are not pirates but in fact private fishermen merely protecting their fishing grounds. Against pollution and such. Yeah, I’d buy that in a heartbeat, just as soon as I could discern a net or a fishing pole in those boats.

    Corvettes. I’m thinking three Corvettes. And some Marines.

    – Max

    • Jeopardy
      March 24, 2009 at 5:42 am

      I was thinking the same thing regarding the boarding. In one of the pics, the pirates look like they’re getting ready to go up the rope ladder, which makes me wonder why the ladder was down in the first place.

      I can’t see what the incentive would be for the ship captains to stop. I suppose an RPG could do some considerable damage to a ship, but who would pay ransom on a sunken ship?

  • MajHarvey
    March 24, 2009 at 1:03 am

    Man, did you read some of the comments after those pictures?

    Here’s a sample:

    I used to think these people should be imprisoned for what they do. Seeing their eyes on these pictures I have yet to discern a single evil person among them. I’ve seen worse eyes in neighbors, co-workers or -surprise!- lawyers.
    These people are simply illiterate, malnourished and, more than probably, forced to take up arms by a local warlord. Hunger drives them, not greed. And it’s the overfed “civilized” West that doesn’t deign to alleviate their suffering. In which case maybe we are all a bit responsible for their boarding actions. Maybe we’re all a bit pirates.

    Oh, right – so now it’s OUR fault that these pirates are roaming the high seas – ‘cuz we don’t feed them. Maybe this no-talent a$$ clown forgot the little episode there in the early 90′s where we tried that… Blackhawk Down, anyone? Maybe he should parachute into Mogadishu with a few sacks of grain and see how far he gets.

    There’s a part of me that wouldn’t be at all bothered if a few of these vessels were given a good dose of “Ma Deuce” (that’s a .50 cal. MG for any non-military types out there) – “pour encourager les autres.”

    Ok, ok… I’ll my chaplain robes back on now…

  • HomefrontSix
    March 24, 2009 at 1:24 am

    MajHarvey ~ I’m so glad you made the comment about the “no-talent a$$ clown” without your chaplain robes on. Wouldn’t want you to get them dirty ;)

  • Zero
    March 24, 2009 at 2:48 am

    A$$Clown is right and a Ma$$hole to boot. It is a Boston.com site after all,

  • Fast Nav
    March 24, 2009 at 4:47 am

    Maj Harvey, on point!!

    I’ve always said, it’s not America’s fault people are going hungry in Africa. It’s because they live in sand. Nothing grows in sand.

    except more sand.

  • Rhinowso
    March 24, 2009 at 5:05 am

    Perfect target for a strafing run… Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrup!

  • b2
    March 24, 2009 at 5:21 am

    Should be titled- “Skinnies at Sea”.

    b2

  • bobble
    March 24, 2009 at 6:56 am

    Questions and comments:

    The pirate with the tanker helmet, no doubt originally a part of the T-72 shipment, in pic #4. Now what could be a more useful piece of apparel for a pirate than that?

    Just out of curiosity, does anyone know where the Atlantic aircraft (pic #5) would be based? I’m guessing Djibouti.

    Gotta love the AK pic (#19). One would think it was laying in a bilge unused for a few months before the pic was taken, but the wear resulting from safety/selector lever use indicates otherwise. The owner sure put some elbow grease into keeping the spike clean, though. Wonder if the bore is as shiny.

    Can anyone identify the vehicles/trailers positioned in front of the T-72′s in the cargo hold pic (#25)?

    Thanks.

    bobble

  • Idaho Joe
    March 24, 2009 at 7:40 am

    Is it just me, or did these guys who were captured, awaiting trial, not look that worried? Maybe its three squares and a cot, whether you work for the local war lord or belong to the state?

  • Zane
    March 24, 2009 at 9:20 am

    Cuppla. The picture that says the M/V Faina is being taken over is miscaptioned. The dropped anchor should give it away. The rope ladder is down because the pirates were using it.

    As for those boats, they hold up well, and pirates have gone as much as 300NM out to sea in them looking for prey. Catch the currents, save gas, sleep a lot.

    In the comments there is a good discussion from what appears to be a near-illiterate perfessor as to why these merchants can’t defend themselves. As a rule, high freeboard and knots (12 or more) is usually adequate for defense, charge the fire hoses for a little extra. But as you can see from these pictures, the pirates learned how to take ships with high freeboard, and that they were far more profitable than the smaller steamers they had been taking.

  • SSG Jeff (USAR)
    March 24, 2009 at 10:28 am

    One RPG to the wheelhouse can ruin your whole day.

    That’s why the rope ladder is down. The sheep and wolves are loose and there appear to be an inadequate number of sheepdogs.

  • RonF
    March 24, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    Ah. I’ve found the problem.

    As it currently reads:

    Somali pirates continue their attacks against international ships in and around the Gulf of Aden, despite the deterrent of stepped-up international naval escorts and patrols – and the increased failure rate of their attacks. Under agreements with Somalia, the U.N, and each other, ships belonging to fifteen countries now patrol the area. Somali pirates – who have won themselves nearly $200 million in ransom since early 2008 – are being captured more frequently now, and handed over to authorities in Kenya, Yemen and Somalia for trial.

    As it could read:

    Somali pirates have discontinued their attacks against international ships in and around the Gulf of Aden, due to the deterrent of stepped-up international naval escorts and patrols – and the increased failure rate of their attacks. Under agreements with Somalia, the U.N, and each other, ships belonging to fifteen countries now patrol the area. Somali pirates – who have won themselves nearly $200 million in ransom since early 2008 – are being sunk with all hands.

  • RonF
    March 24, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    One RPG to the wheelhouse can ruin your whole day.

    What about a couple RPGs to the waterline?

  • G-man
    March 24, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    Heck, why not install a blow up armed helo on the deck of every freighter? Then randomly stick in a real one. From afar they would not be able to tell the difference.

    In 88 Persian Gulf saw the remnants of an Iranian boghammer after being tickled by 2 flechette rounds when they were doing their tanker thing. Nothing bigger than a loaf of bread left. A couple of those wash up on the Somali shores and they might think twice about protecting their coastline.

  • Steve
    March 25, 2009 at 5:50 am

    Back in the day on CGN-666, we used to tow a target for the A-6s and A-7s from the carrier to strafe. Seems like that would be great training for dealing with these pirate types. The strafing, I mean. Not the towing.

  • Steve
    March 25, 2009 at 5:52 am

    Oh, and when do these guys find time to download all of that music from the intarwebs?
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