Related: Exclusive: Ethiopia/USA/Somali pirates' cover-up
Yes, I have been noting for a long time that it is impossible for the world's navies to be unable to control a band of pirates.
I mean, how you going to win a war when you can't even defeat pirates in skiffs, huh? Wouldn't there be piracy everywhere?
Anyhow, they took on the wrong boat here:
"Pirates board tanker; warship is en route; Russian crew has taken refuge in safe room" by Katharine Houreld, Associated Press | May 6, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates armed with automatic weapons boarded an oil tanker with $50 million worth of oil on board yesterday, but the ship’s Russian crew locked themselves into a safe room to wait for a Russian warship rushing to the scene, a European Union Naval spokesman said.
The pirates launched the attack on the Liberian-flagged ship, which is named the Moscow University, at dawn. Commander John Harbour, the EU Naval Force spokesman, said the crew evaded the pirates for several hours while sending out distress calls. They locked themselves in a secure room when the pirates boarded.
A maritime patrol aircraft flew over the 106,000-ton ship yesterday afternoon but it was not moving, said Harbour. It is unclear if pirates or the 23 Russian crew had control of the ship. The ship is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil.
A Russian warship was heading to the ship at full speed but had not arrived by nightfall, Harbour said. He declined to say how long the warship would take to arrive or what action it might take, citing security.
“We think it’s unlikely that they would use explosives to try to force open the door,’’ said Harbour. “Pirates know killing or injuring crew members would up the stakes considerably.’’
If crew members were hurt, he warned, the Russians could respond “very robustly.’’
There was no word on the crew’s condition. Safe rooms are typically stocked with food, water, and communications equipment and have reinforced metal doors that can only be opened from the inside if locked.
The attack occurred about 500 miles east of the Somali coast. The ship was not registered with the Maritime Security Center, said Harbour. The ship’s route was from the Red Sea to China, the ship’s owner said....
Ever notice AmeriKan and Israeli ships are never attacked?
The owner, Novoship, is a subsidiary of Sovcomflot, which is owned by the Russian government....
Ooops!
They took the wrong ship!
But naval interventions have also faced criticism.
Yesterday, a French prosecutor said a French rescuer was responsible for killing the skipper of a sailboat hijacked by Somali pirates during a rescue operation.
Chief prosecutor Hever Pavy in the western French city of Rennes said investigators found a French military bullet had killed Florent Lemacon in April 2009 when a special intervention team came to rescue his yacht, the Tanit, off the Somali coast.
Three suspected pirates who survived the rescue operation are on trial in France.
But the U.S. military can murder some pirates to "save" a ship captain and it's applauded, huh?
Pirates currently hold more than 300 hostages taken from ships attacked off East Africa in the last several months.
But they are no match for the Russian military!
"Russian forces retake tanker; Pirates routed in predawn raid" by Anastasia Ustinova, Bloomberg News | May 7, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — Russian forces stormed an oil tanker seized by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa yesterday, freeing the crew and capturing or killing the marauders.
Marines from the Marshal Shaposhnikov warship commandeered the Moscow University tanker in a predawn raid to end a 20-hour siege, the owner of the ship, OAO Novorossiysk Sea Shipping Co., or Novoship, said on its website yesterday. One pirate was killed and 10, some wounded, were apprehended, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news service said.
The Moscow University was bound for China with about $50 million of crude oil when it was attacked by armed men in speed boats at about 8 a.m. Moscow time Wednesday. The ship’s 23 crew members locked themselves in the engine room, preventing the pirates from operating the tanker, Novoship said.
“Thanks to the skillful and timely action of Captain Yury Tulchinsky, the pirates were unable to take a single hostage or command the ship,’’ Novoship said. “The personnel of the Marshal Shaposhnikov performed their duties in the best traditions of Russian sailors,’’ Novoship said. “All members of the crew are alive and well.’’
The Marshal Shaposhnikov, an antisubmarine vessel, approached the tanker in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia at about 3 a.m. and dispatched a helicopter for surveillance, the European Union’s antipiracy force said.
“The helicopter was fired upon by the pirates holding the ship,’’ the European Union Naval Force said in a statement.
“The Russian warship, knowing the crew were locked down and safe, returned fire,’’ the agency said. “Eventually the pirates surrendered and a boarding team from the Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived on the tanker, captured all the pirates, and freed the crew.’’
Russian prosecutors plan to transport the captured pirates to Moscow as part of their investigation, the Interfax news service reported, citing Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The tanker departed Sudan on April 29, the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper reported.
Piracy and armed robbery at sea reached a six-year peak in 2009, with Somalis accounting for more than half of the 406 attacks, according to the International Maritime Bureau....
"Citing flaws in law, Russia says pirates freed" by Associated Press | May 8, 2010
MOSCOW — The pirates captured by a Russian warship off the coast of Somalia have been released because of “imperfections’’ in international law, the Defense Ministry said yesterday, an assertion that sparked skepticism — and even suspicion the pirates might have been killed.
Related: NATO Has No Limit on Pirate Catch
Yeah, I don't know what he is talking about. Those guys grabbed the wrong boat, and they will never do it again.
Authorities initially said the pirates would be brought to Russia to face criminal charges for hijacking a Russian oil tanker. But Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Alexei Kuznetsov said yesterday the pirates had been released.
Kuznetsov declined to elaborate on the purported legal flaws that prompted the release and it was unclear how the seizure of the tanker might be legally different from last year’s alleged hijacking of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea.
That vessel was reportedly seized by pirates in the Baltic Sea off Sweden and went missing for several days before a Russian warship tracked it down off West Africa. Eight suspected pirates were flown to Moscow to face eventual trial.
Related: The Pirates of Portugal
The Day the MSM Was Proved Liars
MSM background doesn't really tell you much, does it?
You can see why, of course.
The Law of the Seas Convention, to which Russia is a signatory, says the courts of a country that seizes a pirated vessel on the high seas have the right to decide what penalties will be imposed.
“Why should we feed some pirates?’’ Kuznetsov asked. He did not give specifics of the pirates’ release, but the official news agency ITAR-Tass quoted a ministry source as saying they were “sent home,’’ unarmed and without navigational devices, in the small boats they had used to approach the tanker.
That's the cover story they came up with?
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So what happened to them?
"Russia says freed pirates didn’t reach land" by Associated Press | May 12, 2010
MOSCOW — A Russian official claimed yesterday that 10 pirates seized by Russian special forces aboard an oil tanker last week were quickly freed but then died on their way back to the Somali coast.
The unidentified high-ranking Defense Ministry official did not elaborate on how the pirates died, deepening a mystery that has prompted speculation the pirates were executed by commandos who had freed a Russian oil tanker seized in waters 500 miles east of Somalia’s coast.
The official told Russian news agencies the pirates’ boat disappeared from Russian radar about an hour after their release.
“They could not reach the coast and, apparently, have all died,’’ the official said....
Just like this story.
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Yeah, the Russians must not like show trials for public consumption:
"11 Somalis face US piracy charges" by Associated Press | April 24, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. — Eleven suspected Somali pirates accused in separate attacks on two Navy ships off the coast of Africa were indicted in US federal court yesterday.
There was heavy security at the courthouse when the men appeared wearing handcuffs and either bright orange or olive drab prison outfits....
Were they tortured?
The defendants did not enter pleas. An interpreter read them the charges of piracy, attacks to plunder a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Piracy carries a mandatory life sentence; the other charges carry penalties of 10 to 35 years.
The men, appearing weary and impassive, sat in the jury box during the 90-minute hearing. They did not make any statements other than to say they understood the court proceeding.
US Magistrate Tommy Miller scheduled a detention hearing Wednesday and ordered the men kept in custody until then. They have no listed assets, so will be assigned defense attorneys....
I'm sure you don't mind picking up the tab for this charade, American taxpayers.
US Attorney Neil H. MacBride said the Defense Department has pushed for the US prosecution because the Navy was the target. He said officials believe the piracy charges can be proved in federal court.
“Piracy threatens human lives and disrupts international commerce,’’ MacBride said. “When pirates attack US vessels by force, they must face severe consequences.’’
Some do.
The trial, which could be scheduled within two months, would be held in a court that has a strong reputation for maritime law.
An AmeriKan court, huh?
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