US cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates. ( Crew fights back, re-takes control of ship. )

POSTED BY: AURaptor
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 22:39
VIEWED: 1058
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AURAPTOR

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:12 PM

U.S. officials said an American warship and a half-dozen others are headed to the scene where pirates captured a cargo ship Wednesday with a U.S. crew off Somalia's coast.
Late Wednesday morning, the military confirmed that the crew had regained control of the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama by overpowering the pirates, taking one pirate into custody and throwing three overboard.
But a crewmember aboard the Alabama later told CNN that the pirates were still holding the ship's captain, Capt. Richard Phillips, hostage. The crew was negotiating for his release.
"There's four Somali pirates, and they've got our captain," crewmember Ken Quinn told CNN.
The crew had a plan to make an exchange for the captain, but the pirates reneged on the deal, Quinn said.
The destroyer USS Bainbridge is headed to the scene, military officials said.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpopular/19126517/detail.html

WHOZIT

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:19 PM

All U.S. ships should now have big scary guns aboard.

AURAPTOR

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
All U.S. ships should now have big scary guns aboard.

That's the obvious conclusion, but I think there's some rules against that. Dunno if it's US law, maritime / International law or what.

FREMDFIRMA

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:45 PM

Nice job!

Quote:
throwing three overboard.

Not quite as good as makin em walk the plank, but it'll do.

I think we should fall back on the time-honored traditions of letters of marque, along with some finders fees and bounties to encourage a little free enterprise instead of dumping the job on active duty warships, which is really expensive and overkill for the purpose.

Gimme a freakin Zhuk refitted with front and rear dual M2HB .50cal mounts, upgrade the engines with volvo penta units, throw in a pack of scurvy louts to crew the damn thing, and watch them goddamn pirates flee in terror when the jolly roger goes up the mast.

-Frem

PS. This is a Zhuk, in case you were wondering.
http://www.harpoondatabases.com/Encyclopedia/Entry1216.aspx
And yes, you could prolly cover the Gulf of Aden quite effectively with a passel of em if you could convince the Yemeni's to support em, which they might, cause they hate these pricks.

STORYMARK

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:47 PM

Hope the Captain makes it out of this okay.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

GINOBIFFARONI

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Nice job!
Quote:
throwing three overboard.

Not quite as good as makin em walk the plank, but it'll do.

I think we should fall back on the time-honored traditions of letters of marque, along with some finders fees and bounties to encourage a little free enterprise instead of dumping the job on active duty warships, which is really expensive and overkill for the purpose.

Gimme a freakin Zhuk refitted with front and rear dual M2HB .50cal mounts, upgrade the engines with volvo penta units, throw in a pack of scurvy louts to crew the damn thing, and watch them goddamn pirates flee in terror when the jolly roger goes up the mast.

-Frem

PS. This is a Zhuk, in case you were wondering.
http://www.harpoondatabases.com/Encyclopedia/Entry1216.aspx
And yes, you could prolly cover the Gulf of Aden quite effectively with a passel of em if you could convince the Yemeni's to support em, which they might, cause they hate these pricks.

Nice thing about having " active duty warships " police this area, is they can also address the illegal fishing in Somali waters and the illegal dumping of toxic waste ( by both European and Middle eastern nations ) in same waters. By addressing the factors which help create the problem, perhaps it will go away that much sooner.

" They don't hate America, they hate Americans " Homer Simpson

Lets party like its 1939

KWICKO

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:39 PM

Figured it was just a matter of time before they screwed with the wrong boat and crew.

I'd been wondering for a while why they didn't just send out "decoy" boats manned by mercenaries, heavily armed of course. Let the pirates start coming over the sides, and then et the drop on 'em. After enough pirate crews start going out and never coming home, I think maybe they'll get the message and look for a better line of work...

Mike

Just lying smiling in the dark,
Shooting stars around your heart,
Dreams come bouncing in your head
pure and simple every time.
Now you're crying in your sleep;
I wish you'd never learnt to weep.
Don't sell the dreams you should be keeping
pure and simple every time.
"Pure", by Lightning Seeds