Warships blasting Somali pirates out of water

Good to see the E.U taking a leading role in combating the piracy eminating from Somalian shores so effectively.

The new tactics by the European Union naval force comes after Spain— which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, and whose fishing vessels are frequent pirate targets — encouraged more aggressive pursuit of pirates and the coalition obtained more aircraft and other military assets, said Rear Adm. Peter Hudson, the force commander.

The EU Naval Force attacked 12 groups of pirate vessels, which normally includes several skiffs and a mother vessel, this month, more than last year. Half of those attacks were on the high seas and half close to shore, reflecting the new strategy to intercept pirates before they reach deep water and international shipping lanes.

www.usatoday.com...
www.washingtonpost.com...
www.google.com...

The countries and ships taking part in this E.U force.

www.eunavfor.eu...

The E.U is really flexing its combined muscles in this operation. This will be of some good for the E.U in a military sense and in influence terms. It will also help the commanders and crews gain some experience in working together as a combined force.

I feel its interesting to note that the British Royal Navy are not involved in the mission. Prob to busy off the shores off Afghanistain in the Persian Gulf and protecting the Falklands.

Good for them, it's about time. Kidnapping, theft and ransom collection at the barrell of a gun is the work of human scum. If they perish in their endeavors I won't shed a tear.

tell me how a pirate bunch can take a big ship....i could keep em back with a .22 or .50 cal or hot pan full of oil....no wait....even better drop fuel oil from the gas tank on the ship, drop it on the attackers boat and shoot a flare in there....no wait....i could take my boy scout knife and...never mind

[edit on 18-3-2010 by GBP/JPY]

reply to post by GBP/JPY


Most of the reports say they are armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. Good luck with your Boy Scout knife.

reply to post by jtma508


Yes they are pretty well armed and organised. Just look at some of their arsenal that have been captured in the last year.

www.armybase.us...

They appear to be widening their operations to include land targets now.

New land tactics being employed by Somali pirates may be a cause for concern, a UN spokesman told the BBC. Peter Smerdon said three trucks and their drivers were being held in the pirate town of Eyl after delivering food aid last week in central Somalia. He said they were hijacked on Thursday when travelling without an escort in the first incident of its kind

news.bbc.co.uk...

Like it or not its likely one of the best methods for dealing with them.

As long as Risk (of arrest, injury, or death) < Reward the pirates would likely continue.

Heck, some likely would when Risk = Reward as the rewards can be very great.

Let Risk get significantly > than Reward and the motivation to do it becomes much less.

This isn't to say that these pirate lads won't just end up finding another outlet for their energies though.

What surprises me is why haven't the insurance companies for these ships hired some sort of escort vessel to repel these pirate attacks? surely it has to be cheaper than paying all the ransom money

this is fkking sad. the pirates started out in direct retaliation to nations dumping waste in their waters and devestating their fishing economy, which is essentially the only economy they have, and one of their prime sources of FOOD.

now the real bad guys are attacking the somalis who are just trying to protect their people and in turn destroying the fishing ecology of the region even more by 'blasting' the 'pirates' out of the water.

just stay the hell away from somali waters until they get back on their feet and until all the nations that have illegally dumped and ruined fishing for many years there apologize and compensate somalia.

What do you all think of the E.U being at the spearhead, in particular Spain, of this change in tactics to a more aggresive style? Does it signal a growing in confidence of the E.U?

reply to post by shagreen heart


That's quite an interesting comment. Do you mean that it is the International Communites fault that Somalia is such a mess and people resort to these methods to earn a living? I can agree with that to some real extent. Of course the media never discuss American and European intervention in Somalia when talking about its povery and piracy problems

Similair to the lack of coverage on why Haiti is such a poor country, following the devastating earthquake there.

However there are plenty of internal problems that are for me the main cause of the conflict in the country.

news.bbc.co.uk...

What do you mean by the dumping of waste in their waters?

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


I wouldnt be so sure of a lack of UK involvement, one of the links mentions that operations are run from Northwood. Please see the link below for an idea of what 'Northwood' does.

www.mod.uk...

I'm surprised some group didn't intervene in this a long time ago. All it takes is a few hundred machine gun bullets shot right in front of their boat to stop them in their tracks. No need to even shed any blood.

reply to post by shagreen heart


I was not aware of that, not that it really surprises me. Gotta look into that.

reply to post by DDAY228


Hmmmm interesting. On the Offical website for the mission no mention is made of British ships being involved. Mabye it is just on the logistical, communication side of things.

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Not sure to be honest.. looks like that the op is being led by the RN, but with no current physical involvement.

As you say, maybe our assets are being used for more pressing needs...

www.eunavfor.eu...

Reading further it looks like the lead role rotates around the EU countries but Northwood is used as the operational base. Probably due to it being the most able site in the EU to conduct Naval operations, only my guess.

[edit on 18-3-2010 by DDAY228]

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Not only is the Commander of this Task Force a British Admiral and it is being run from a British Command centre, but there are also quite a few RN ships in the area as well. Alot of ships are currently tied up in the Taurus Task Group however but up to and including last year, the RN has had a huge presence out there.

When the EU goes on operations, it will always go with either (but usually both) France and the UK, seeing as they are the only two European powers with a significant military and power projection capablities.

As for the rights and wrongs of these pirates and fighting them, I do not care much for the excuses made for them to be honest.

When any "normal" Somali talks about the pirates, they are often described in less than favourable terms, so it's hardly a bunch of local lads trying to make ends meet but more like organised criminals out to make a buck and who don't give a fudge about their country or their people.

If they really are that concerned about their country, they'd re-invest their millions they have got into repairing their country, but they don't care about that as that would mean an end to their luxury lifestyle at the expense of others.

i'll post some links to help you guys better understand that these people are not pirates, but are just defending their livelihood. almost all of the waste is toxic, and nuclear even. besides dumping, many of these vessels would sweep in and net huge amounts of fish before leaving. fishing is such a vital part of their economy, and their primary source of food.

what would you do?

english.aljazeera.net...

www.independent.co.uk... --this link is worth it for the brief history lesson and the quote at the end

www.youtube.com... "one man's pirate is another man's coastgaurd"

reply to post by shagreen heart


That's all well and good for those that started this whole thing, but say you now to the "pirates" who are now living the high life with fast cars and other trappings of wealth while their country is still very much in the crapper? I see no evidence that any of the millions spent on ransoms has been funneled into improving the lot of the average Somali.

reply to post by stumason


because evidence of that would justify the evidence of actual dumping and illegal practices from within the government and ships under fake company contract names, wouldn't it?
the people running the show up in the government aren't in the crapper. who do you think got the ransom money? the pirates were probably thanked for the bonus checks and bought off.

it doesn't change the fact that countries are using their waters as a dumpster for toxic and nuclear waste.

Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by shagreen heart

 

That's all well and good for those that started this whole thing, but say you now to the "pirates" who are now living the high life with fast cars and other trappings of wealth while their country is still very much in the crapper? I see no evidence that any of the millions spent on ransoms has been funneled into improving the lot of the average Somali.

The last robin hood I heard about was a Greek who kidnapped corporate big shots, treated them well, but kept them until he got a pile of cash.. He then spread the cash around to the farmers in the valleys of the mountains of greece where he hid out between escapades.

At one point the greeks arrested him but in a daring helicopter rescue, complete with a buxom blonde hanging out the side door firing an ak37, he was rescued from the prison roof...

and for what it is worth, the real Robin Hood, robbed The Church.. but they leave that part out of the movies...

Originally posted by shagreen heart

it doesn't change the fact that countries are using their waters as a dumpster for toxic and nuclear waste.

Thank you for posting the heads up. This toxic tidbit has the potential to haunt all of us for thousands of years.. much like the use of DU in Iraq...


[edit on 19-3-2010 by seataka]