More Piracy Near Somalia

[Stan]

...according to this article, there's not much room for more than two Ukrainians, since the passengers were elsewhere during the capture

This article really helps figure out just who is on board the French Yacht these days

6 Filipinos On French Yacht Seized By Pirates:

MANILA (AFP)--Six Filipinos are among 30 crew members of a luxury French yacht hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, the Philippine foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The Filipinos along with the 26 other crew members of the 32-cabin Ponant are "in good physical condition" at present, but there have been no demands from the pirates who captured them, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

[Steve Blair]

This is starting to sound more and more like some kind of botched French intel operation to me.... Either that or they just don't know who actually was working as crew on the yacht.

[Stan]

This is starting to sound more and more like some kind of botched French intel operation to me.... Either that or they just don't know who actually was working as crew on the yacht.

Hey Steve,
Wayne and I were PMing potential options for a quick and dirty intervention. My version included 500 rounds of .50 cal at 300 meters followed by a small torpedo while Wayne envisioned Zodiacs stormin' and a boardin' with an AC-130 providing suppressive fire (ahem... without hitting the ship).

A quick trip to the International Maritime Bureau's site however has come up with an ingenuous device to keep those pesky pirates at bay... with 9,000 volts

Secure-Ship is the most recent and effective innovation in the fight against piracy. It is a non-lethal, electrifying fence surrounding the whole ship, which has been specially adapted for maritime use. The fence uses 9,000-volt pulse to deter boarding attempts. An intruder coming in contact with the fence will receive an unpleasant non-lethal shock that will result in the intruder abandoning the attempted boarding. At the same time an alarm will go off, activating floodlights and a very loud siren. The IMB strongly recommends ship owners to install this device on board their ships.

For you sailboat fanatics, the IMB also has a Weekly Piracy Report

[selil]

Joshua Slocum used tacks on the deck.

[Vic Bout]

an oxymoron. Evidently the folks with enough money to staff and sail a luxury yacht also have enough juice to get some commando action.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/11/africa/yacht.php

[jcustis]

French commandos there are. GIGN and the Legion fellows definitely hold up their part of any tactical bargain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRYgrwhhM8

I'm just not so sure I agree with GIGN's choice of an entry gun, which used to be a revolver.

[Vic Bout]

the SEALs used to use wheel-guns for ship board stuff...evidently it helped keep the old slip-and-fall to a minimum by reducing spent brass all over the deck. And, yes, I'm positive the french maintain a capable CT force...I just keep having images of pepe lePew in a beret and striped shirt...

[carl]

"A quick trip to the International Maritime Bureau's site however has come up with an ingenuous device to keep those pesky pirates at bay... with 9,000 volts

Quote:
Secure-Ship is the most recent and effective innovation in the fight against piracy. It is a non-lethal, electrifying fence surrounding the whole ship, which has been specially adapted for maritime use. The fence uses 9,000-volt pulse to deter boarding attempts. An intruder coming in contact with the fence will receive an unpleasant non-lethal shock that will result in the intruder abandoning the attempted boarding. At the same time an alarm will go off, activating floodlights and a very loud siren. The IMB strongly recommends ship owners to install this device on board their ships."

I would not want to be the salesman for this device when he is asked to answer the question "What do I do if they tell me to turn it off or they will continue to shoot up the ship?"

[Stan]

I would not want to be the salesman for this device when he is asked to answer the question "What do I do if they tell me to turn it off or they will continue to shoot up the ship?"

Hmmm, I'd have to say hunker down (behind some steel) and hope the power source for the fence keeps up during the cooking process and they eventually run out of grenades

Looks like Somalia's Puntland region has had enough and took matters into their own hands.

The men from the semi-autonomous region defeated the pirates after "brief fighting", the mayor of the region's Bosasso port told Reuters news agency.

Seven pirates were arrested in the incident a day after the Al-Khaleej was hijacked, local officials said.

At least three people were wounded in the incident, although the ship's crew were unhurt, local reports said.

[Stan]

Caught up in all the other world's problems ?

The folks at Danger Room have found the Pirates Map (of all places) off the shores of Somalia

Pirates have been attacking ships off the coast of Somalia for years. This map, from the United Nations satellite imagery team, plots all the strikes in 2007. There are no big red Xs to mark the treasure spots, I'm afraid. But it does note the last known whereabouts of the pirate "mother ship." Which is still pretty cool.

Troubled waters no more as the United Nations pulls the plug on tub toys

The UN has authorised foreign countries to send warships into Somali waters to combat rampant piracy on a busy shipping route linking Europe and Asia.

The security council resolution, backed by Somalia's weak interim government, authorises navies to use force to stop hijackings at sea over the next six months.

The resolution was sponsored by the US, Panama and France, whose military obtained special permission from Somalia's government in March to pursue and arrest some of the pirates that had hijacked the luxury yacht. Initial resistance to the bill from Indonesia, which has its own problems with piracy, fell away after guarantees that it would not set a precedent for foreign intervention elsewhere in the world.