[ejheverest]

Hey guys, just wanted to share my views on the recent pirate attack.
I work for this company and we do a similar route on my ship. This piracy is not a new thing, it has been going on for the past 8 years in that area. Company won't allow us to have any weapons(guns) and they won't pay to have a military crew ride on the ship when we are overseas. Every 20 days we go thru the suez canal and it gets worse every trip.
How can we get a security team onboard the vessels and convince the company we need them?
I'm glad our ship goes 24 knots and has a lot more freeboard than the Alabama does. Hope the crew gets home safe.
How many people didn't realize the piracy problem before it hit the news last year?

[FStop7]

It sucks that nobody is doing anything to secure the waters off of Somalia. Maybe your company will pay for security now that this has happened.

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by FStop7

It sucks that nobody is doing anything to secure the waters off of Somalia. Maybe your company will pay for security now that this has happened.

What do you mean ?? There's a million square miles of ocean to secure in that area.

[ejheverest]

6 ships in the last day have been hijacked, the only one that made the news was the one that had U.S. crew

[NewSong]

Just bring an Ak47 with you. Shoot now, explain later.

[MadDog]

Latest news:

News


Here's the text:


Pentagon says crew retakes US ship from pirates

By KATHARINE HOURELD, Associated Press Writer Katharine Houreld, Associated Press Writer – 9 mins ago

NAIROBI, Kenya – Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel far off the Horn of Africa.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because information was still preliminary. But they said the hijacked crew had apparently contacted the private company that operates the ship.

At a noon news conference, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO John Reinhart said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

"Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press that his son Shane, the second in command on the ship, had called him to say the crew had regained control.

A U.S. official said the crew had retaken control and had one pirate in custody.

"The crew is back in control of the ship," a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control — the other three were trying to flee," the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

Another U.S. official, citing a readout from an interagency conference call, said: "Multiple reliable sources are now reporting that the Maersk Alabama is now under control of the U.S. crew. The crew reportedly has one pirate in custody. The status of others is unclear, they are believed to be in the water."

The ship was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, when it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

It was the sixth vessel seized within a week, a rise that analysts attribute to a new strategy by Somali pirates who are operating far from the warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack "involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory." She did not give an exact timeframe.

The top two commanders of the ship graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Cape Cod Times reported Wednesday.

Andrea Phillips, the wife of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vermont., said her husband has sailed in those waters "for quite some time" and a hijacking was perhaps "inevitable."

The Cape Cod Times reported his second in command, Capt. Shane Murphy, was also among the 20 Americans aboard the Maersk Alabama.

Joseph Murphy, a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says his son is a 2001 graduate who recently talked to a class about the dangers of pirates.

Somali pirates are trained fighters who frequently dress in military fatigues and use speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades. Far out to sea, their speedboats operate from larger mother ships.

The U.S. Navy said that the ship was hijacked early Wednesday about 280 miles (450 kilometers) southeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia.

U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the closest U.S. ship at the time of the hijacking was 345 miles (555 kilometers)away.

The International Maritime Bureau says 260 crew on 14 hijacked ships are being held off the coast of Somalia, including the U.S.-flagged ship seized Wednesday, the Maersk Alabama and its crew of 20 U.S. nationals.

The Combined Maritime Forces issued an advisory Wednesday highlighting several recent attacks that occurred hundreds of miles off the Somali coast and stating that merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in those waters.

The advisory said the "scope and magnitude of problem cannot be understated."

Douglas J. Mavrinac, the head of maritime research at investment firm Jefferies & Co., noted that it is very unusual for an international ship to be U.S.-flagged and carry a U.S. crew. Although about 95 percent of international ships carry foriegn flags because of the lower cost and other factors, he said, ships that are operated by or for the U.S. government — such a food aid ships like Maersk Alabama — have to carry U.S. flags, and therefore, employ a crew of U.S. citizens.

There are fewer than 200 U.S.-flagged vessels in international waters, said Larry Howard, chair of the Global Business and Transportation Department at SUNY Maritime College in New York.

[aznshrek88]

Originally Posted by NewSong

Just bring an Ak47 with you. Shoot now, explain later.

+1 Get armed and then when you get rid of the pirates throw your shit in the water...I didn' have a gun....what are you talking about...it's against company regs...

I mean you can't seriously tell me that their letting you roam around like sheep when your carrying shitloads of money of cargo...

[Seminole]

I was actually thinking about this while I was watching the news today. If I was a sailor on one of those ships I would damn well try and sneak a gun on board. I realize that could cost me my job, but I'd rather risk that then my life.

OP, maybe you could invest in some non-lethal defenses like Tasers. I've also heard those sound guns work pretty well.

[Heinzftw]

Ever been shot by a taser? It HURTS, a good 3 seconds and your lingering on the ground!

[marty_mcfly]

dont tase me bro

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by damadama

yeah u pull out ur tazer in range of some mean ass african with an ak pointed at you and see how that works out for ya

Don't they climb up the sides of the ships on ladders? Taze the idiot right when he gets to the top and watch him fall back down to the water. You can't use a gun and climb at the same time.

[solefald]

bomb somalia.

[MJC///M3]

seriously...the US should send over some F-22 and bomb the shit out of them. This is getting rediculous....

[808six]

tasers and all are fine and dandy but i think the method of the pirate's takeover of a ship is crucial also...a taster is good only in close range situations...does the actual takeover occur in the waters from seperate boats or are the takeovers literally an onboard situation in which thepirates physically board the victim ship and do a physical takeover..obviously they need to get on to the ship at some point but im wondering if the battle is lost prior to them even boarding the ship, basically on the threat of force

[ejheverest]

On the government contracted ships I have worked on, they all had riding crew and we had 2 50 calibers on each side with people roaming the main deck. Since this is a commercial ship they won't allow any weapons. I built a few machetes but, they are useless if we get fired on.
Best/cheapest solution is to have all ships in high piracy area have riding crew onboard instead of using navy ships to try and patrol over a million square miles of ocean.
I wish I had taken some pics of me on the stern doing a pirate watch while carrying my pipe around waiting for someone to jump on the stern.(these guys are small and extremely fast, they can run up a container quicker than you think)

[jhv]

Originally Posted by marty_mcfly

dont tase me bro

[Comet]

Originally Posted by ejheverest

On the government contracted ships I have worked on, they all had riding crew and we had 2 50 calibers on each side with people roaming the main deck. Since this is a commercial ship they won't allow any weapons. I built a few machetes but, they are useless if we get fired on.
Best/cheapest solution is to have all ships in high piracy area have riding crew onboard instead of using navy ships to try and patrol over a million square miles of ocean.
I wish I had taken some pics of me on the stern doing a pirate watch while carrying my pipe around waiting for someone to jump on the stern.(these guys are small and extremely fast, they can run up a container quicker than you think)

run up a container?

[ejheverest]

what I meant was that they are fast, the guys who lash our containers can literally run up the lashing to get to the next container so these guys can do the same. Off the stern is the lowest freeboard so they probably boarded somewhere off the port or starboard side close to stern.

[ejheverest]

fishing boat

[aznshrek88]

Fine fine fine...so if you get a CAW launcher with CS gas canisters, is it considered a weapon? Cuz I think that would be highly effective.

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by solefald

bomb somalia.

brilliant!

[E90330iS]

modern pirates..