"SKorean navy pursuing hijacked tanker off Somalia" by Tom Maliti, Associated Press Writer | April 5, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya --A supertanker carrying about $160 million of crude oil from Iraq to the United States is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates, officials said Monday, the latest high-value bargaining chip for the sea bandits.
Those pirates sound like the CIA warlords Islamic forces ran out back in 2006 to me. They had nothing better to do.
You must view the AmeriKan MSM and the Boston Globe through a particular coded prism now.
That is why I say that. The AmeriKan MSM is nothing but a distorting, dividing, deceptive piece of propaganda-pushing rubbish.
Similar seizures of oil supertankers in the waters off the coast of lawless Somalia have yielded ransoms as high as $5.5 million. A South Korean navy destroyer was rushing toward the supertanker but its highly volatile cargo prevents crews from carrying guns on board or even lighting cigarettes while on deck. The South Korean-operated 300,000-ton Samho Dream is believed to have been seized Sunday when the South Korean navy received a call from the vessel saying three pirates had boarded it and then lost contact.
At the time, it was about 930 miles southeast of the Gulf of Aden. It has 24 crew -- five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos. A maritime analyst doubted the South Korean warship would launch an assault on the pirates believed to be holding Samho Dream because such action would put the crew at great risk.... The South Korean warship was ordered to move toward Somali waters where the supertanker was expected to be taken. The destroyer will need a little over a day to catch up to the tanker, said Kim Young-sun, a spokesman of South Korea's Foreign Ministry....
The tanker was sailing from Iraq to the U.S. state of Louisiana, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said.
And that was where my printed paper cut it.
The Samho Dream had no security detail because Somali pirates were believed to be inactive in the area where the tanker was seized -- several hundred miles from Somalia, said Cho.
Every paragraph stinks more, and the cut censorship doesn't help ones attitude.
The waters surrounding the Horn of Africa nation, including the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, are known to be among the world's most dangerous. An international flotilla, including warships from the United States, the European Union, NATO, Japan and China, has been patrolling the area to protect the vital sea lane that links Asia to Europe. But pirates have also shown an ability to strike farther afield, on the high seas.
Yeah, somehow the world's navies cannot stop a band of two-bit thug pirates with all their radar and sonar and satellites, etc, etc., huh?
Then how do they ever expect to win a war, and why isn't this occurring all over the planet? Given the way the economy is if you have a boat and some guns....
The U.S. 5th Fleet, however, said in a statement Monday that the distance Somali pirates are willing to go to capture ships shows their desperation and is a sign of the success of a multinational effort to police the vast Gulf of Aden....
You have to hand it to the U.S. military; no one turns a turd over better.
Also on Monday, the Dutch Defense Ministry said one of its Navy frigates freed a German merchant ship and 15 crew off the coast of Somalia after the Dutch ship's helicopter fired on the captured freighter's bridge and marines slid down ropes onto the German ship, the mv Taipan.
The marines arrested 10 pirates who seized the ship Monday morning. The German ship's crew members had locked themselves into a secure area of the ship and were unharmed. One Dutch marine was slightly injured during the boarding. The statement said the German container ship resumed its voyage....
--more--"Webbers received an update:
"Authorities trail US-bound oil tanker seized by Somali pirates" by Sangwon Yoon, Associated Press | April 6, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean navy destroyer caught up with a hijacked supertanker carrying about $160 million of crude oil and was maneuvering nearby in the Indian Ocean, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said today. The supertanker, on its way from Iraq to the United States, is believed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates, the latest high-value bargaining chip for the sea bandits....
--more--"
Related:
South Korean Sailors Lost at Sea
Around Africa: Somali Supper
Also see: Fighting in Mogadishu Kills 20, Injures Over 30
How could the BG have missed that one, huh?
