Pirates Die Strangely After Taking Iranian Ship

Pirates Die Strangely After Taking Iranian Ship

www.thetimes.co.za

A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.

Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 9/27/2008 by Keyhole]

Hmmm, this doesn't sound good at all!

*SNIP*

Seems like this boat was known for "smuggling" possible illegal cargo!

If it ends up that the ship, operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, was actually smuggling illegal chemical weapons I'm sure this incident is going to become a HUGE incident and "I told you so" from Bush.

So far this is the only source I could find on this though.

www.thetimes.co.za
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 9/27/2008 by Keyhole]

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[edit on 27/9/2008 by Mirthful Me]

Starred and flagged.

Wasn't this a Ukrainian ship? Now, it's Iranian? Now, along with 30+ T-72s, there's "Minerals" on board that are suspected of really being Chem Weapons???

I have a weird feeling about this one. So far, it sounds like the Preface to a Tom Clancy novel.

Cuhail

These are two different ships that were captured!

Somalia's pirates seize 33 tanks

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said the captain of the Faina cargo ship had reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men on Thursday afternoon.

Defence Minister Yury Yekhanurov confirmed that 33 Russian T-72 tanks and "a substantial quantity of ammunition" were aboard.

And then there's the one this thread is about.

Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship

The Iran Deyanat was sailing in those waters on August 21, past the Horn of Africa and about 80 nautical miles southeast of Yemen, when it was boarded by about 40 pirates armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. They were alleged members of a crime syndicate said to be based at Eyl, a small fishing village in northern Somalia.

Those pirates are capturing ships at, what appears to be, an alarming rate over there!

Originally posted by Keyhole

So far this is the only source I could find on this though.

Pssttt....


There's a few more links in this guys post, and an interesting analysis here



[edit on 9/27/08 by makeitso]

Very interesting. Suunds like radiation exposeure/sickness to me.

I believe radioactive cargo would be detectable via satellite, if it was shielded enough to hide it from the satellites we use, it wouldn't harm the 'crew'. I think the real 'fear' element of the story is biological or chemical.

Here's a little more info about this Iranian ship.

Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship

The ship is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL, a state-owned company run by the Iranian military.

According to the US Treasury Department, the IRISL regularly falsifies shipping documents to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments and operates under various covers to circumvent United Nations sanctions.

The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

And then there's this speculation!

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.

[edit on 9/27/2008 by Keyhole]

To me this seems to smell of the usual "attack evil Iran before they attack us" bull poo that keeps being spewed out in the press, but if I'm wrong maybe it might start making these pirates think twice about what they are doing.

Serves the thieving so and so's right...

Could be anything. I hope it wasn't a bacterial, viral or any agent that might spread uncontrollably; but still, these "pirates" have caused many problems for a lot of people (especially seamen). They have no right to complain about dieing because of their crimes. Had they not stolen the ship and accessed its cargo they wouldn't be ill, dieing or dead.

Perhaps the crewmen deliberately released a toxin or the ship was a Trojan Horse. I'd do similar. Wouldn't you?

It'd really be pushing the boat out if they tried to sue the ship's or cargo's owner/s for damages.

Starred and indeed flagged...

Very interesting, as one fellow member said, it's like an intro to a thriller, a bit chilling and mysterious...

?????? ???????

Originally posted by Rapacity
It'd really be pushing the boat out if they tried to sue the ship's or cargo's owner/s for damages.

Seeing how this didn't happen in the USA I doubt any such litigation would go very far.

Meaning - it seems to me that only in the US do lawsuits of such a stupid nature reward the wrongdoers and penalize the victim.

[edit on 9-27-2008 by intelgurl]

Was the vessel a Ukranian vessel sailing from Iran ?

Russia who has never participated in UN operations in Somalia mounted a massive military effort to recover the cargo.

Russia has also been assisting Burma and Al Qaeda in Burma to build an Islamic nuclear weapon.

Time the world woke up to the fact Russia is arming Iran and Islamic terrorists as a kind of fifth column to destabilise the west.

Finally found more articles on this!

Iran Rejects Pirates' Claims on Hijacked Vessel

Iran dismissed reports that its vessel hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden was carrying a dangerous consignment.

The pirates were angry because when they opened the cargo of the Iranian ship, several Somalis died, while others lost hair and suffered skin burns, Reuters quoted Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenyan-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, as saying. "It must have been a very dangerous chemical," he added, without identifying the substance.

Iran's shipping company, however, said on Monday that the report was a "sheer lie", adding, "The ship - Iran Diyanat had no dangerous consignment on board."

Somali Pirates Hijack Iranian Ship with Chemical or Radiological Cargo

MS Iran Deyanat belonging to Iran state shipping company was hijacked a month ago, a common occurrence at the Somali coast though the ship of 45,000 tons is unusually large for pirates. Oddly, they asked for an unusually small ransom, just $200,000 which Iran allegedly paid.

Upon bringing the ship to Somali, the pirates tried opening its containers, but failed. They, however, received typical radiological skin burns and their hair fell out. The damage can be of chemical origin, too.

US Offers Pirates $7m Bribe for Iran Ship Entry

The hijackers have yet to respond to the USD 7m offer, but a source close to the pirates told Press TV that the pirates are likely to accept the bribe and allow the Americans onboard the vessel.

The US the naval fleet off the Somali coast alleges that The Iran Diyanat was carrying 'uranium and chemical weapons'.

Seems like the US government are even willing to PAY to see what's on that ship!

HMMM, they wouldn't pay a ransom to get hostages released from kidnappers, but they'll pay to get a ship released that is being held for a ransom!





[edit on 9/27/2008 by Keyhole]

This sounds like radiation poisioning to me. They didn't go into all the symptoms, but loss of hair is, without a doubt, way up there on the list. Usually followed by bleeding gum, bloody diarhea and death. There are chemical weapons that can do the same thing, but unless I'm mistaken, they work much faster.
If the poor bastards got od'd on rads then I feel sorry for them, even if they are pirates. It's a horrible way to die. (And if it don't get you now, it gets you later in the form of cancer.)
There is definitely something pretty damned fishy about this.

Seems like the US government are even willing to PAY to see what's on that ship!

what ever happened to ` we [ the USA ] do not negotiate with terrorists ` ?

i am sure tat the commander of the nearest USMC MEU would be able to give the inspectors a tour for considerablty less than $7M

as for piracy in general - ` Q-ships ` are the answer nothing fancy - just a 20 to 35mm canon to deter hi seas pirates with bigger vessels , hand held machine guns atd ATGWs to blast small vessels out of the water and claymores to deter boarders -

once a few pirate gangs have been slaughtered - the rest will opt for a new safer proffession

This sounds like a case of propaganda poisoning to me.

Makes me wonder who the Somali's work for...

I got a kick out of their hair falling out... though, ahem... I hope it isn't true.

Great, now we have to protect pirates from the Iranians.

Preemptive strike now!

Might have been depleted uranium they came into contact with. Heavy metal poisonings can also cause all the symptoms listed, if I remember correctly in this matter.