Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Money African Pirates in the Age of Obama
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 12:16 PM
The tanker captured by the Somali pirates:
The fisherman speaks!
"I headed for the sea to fish, but I saw a very, very large ship anchored less than three miles (5km) off the shore," said Abdinur Haji, a fisherman in Harardhere.Does this boldness have anything to do with Obama? Are Africans now feeling that the whole world is possible? Certainly the scale of this theft has defeated my imagination."I have been fishing here for three decades, but I have never seen a ship as big as this one," he said.
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1
Pirates capturing a ship this size would actually be much easier than a car ferry. The tanker would have quite a small crew on board and no passengers.
2
I am surprised that the US Navy hasn't assumed control of this situation, and taken control from the pirates.
The fact that this ship is full of crude oil, and in the hands of pirates, seems to me, an ecological disaster in the making.
The fact that this ship is full of crude oil, and in the hands of pirates, seems to me, an ecological disaster in the making.
3
Charles I am sure the crew of the ship don't share your admiration for the boldness of the pirates.
7
@1 has it right. Piracy around the Horn Of Africa is not new and has nothing to do with Obama being elected. To suggest such is mere silliness. This modern phase of piracy started after Somalia became a failed state in the 80's. Supertankers and container ships are prime targets because they are so highly automated they require only small crews to operate them and have little or no security personnel. Piracy is also rampant in the South China Sea and off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.
8
This has been a problem in that region for a while now, and pirates their have seized over 200 ships since the beginning of the year. Not just oil tankers and state commercial boats, but fisherman held for ransom, attempts on cruise ships, and most disturbingly, UN vessels carrying food to Somalia. This oil tanker is big, but probably doesn't have the potential regional impact that their seizing of the Ukrainian weapons carrier does.
It's probably the countries most, or only, lucrative industry.
It's probably the countries most, or only, lucrative industry.
9
So Charles, are you saying that anything people of African descent -- or indeed Africans themselves -- do now has direct causality from Obama's election? Wow. I wonder what made them do stuff before?
Probably crack.
Idiot.
Probably crack.
Idiot.
10
I think the boldness has to do with dumbfuck moron pirates getting their hands on something too big for their tiny brains to process. WTF are they going to do with it? They can't sell it. They are only hoping for ransom. What if they don't get it? If they sink it and coat the Indian Ocean in oil, then they and their ilk would be doing worse to themselves than they can imagine. If Obama is the President we want him to be, this kind of ecoterrorism will be met with more viciously than anything else. I'm not usually a death penalty kind of guy, but these pirates need to be hung, and if they are tried anywhere but the USA, they will be. I hope they die a horrible death, notwithstanding. Fuck them.
11
This heist was well outside the pirates' usual haunts---450 miles SE of Mombasa, well out in the Indian Ocean. About all they can do with it is ransom the ship and the crew; it's not a Hummer you can repaint, and 2M bbl of sweet crude is tough to move.
12
These assholes are absolutely desperate enough to sink the thing if it came to it. It's a real threat. The biggest effect, though, isn't on this ship but on all the others going through this vital chokepoint.
13
Piracy has been on an upward trend ever since Nelsen Mandela was freed in the eighties.
Perhaps it would plummet if they popped him back in the pokey?
Perhaps it would plummet if they popped him back in the pokey?
14
Aaaaaargh!
I'm soooooo angry at these lightly armed, untrained goons from an improvised country who went out and took all that oil from poor, poor Aramco whose bean counters decided not to protect their ship. I'm especially angry at these pirate yahoos because they must have known that cleaning them off this boat will fall to some American GIs making $30k hoping to get some college money. Because our young people are the world's policemen.
Aaaaargh!
I'm soooooo angry at these lightly armed, untrained goons from an improvised country who went out and took all that oil from poor, poor Aramco whose bean counters decided not to protect their ship. I'm especially angry at these pirate yahoos because they must have known that cleaning them off this boat will fall to some American GIs making $30k hoping to get some college money. Because our young people are the world's policemen.
Aaaaargh!
15
You and Scott Adams are on the same page today.
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/pirates/
I agree, Obama is the root of everything right now.
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/pirates/
I agree, Obama is the root of everything right now.
17
You know, maybe we should stop importing oil from the Middle East ... that would solve the problem.
19
Charles-- this is yet another example of your specious arguments. It's hard to take you seriously with such weakly made connections.
I can hardly believe you went to college , much less taught it.
I can hardly believe you went to college , much less taught it.
20
For those of you who like maps here are the locations of acts of piracy worldwide in 2008 as reported to the International Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=…
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=…
21
on NPR this morning, they quoted a somali dude as saying that Somali women won't even look at you unless you're a pirate.
so it's obvious: muslim women are (again) to blame for crimes committed by muslim men.
so it's obvious: muslim women are (again) to blame for crimes committed by muslim men.
22
I think the pirates are reasonably smart; they know enough to generally leave the crews unharmed, because they're in it for the ransoms. So as long as no-one gets hurt, I think the respective naval forces will just leave this as a companies-who-would-rather-pay-for-tribute-than-defence issue.
23
I don't get it. If you're that far out to sea, and everyone knows where you are with gps and all, how do you escape once you've got the ransom money?
24
Don't give them a dime. It only encourages them. They have rocket launchers. This could potentially cause a catastrophe. First, make it against the law to pay pirates any ransom and enforce it. Secondly, starve this bunch out. Sit them out. We can wait. Either that or use the Navy Seals and raid the fucker at night.
26
John McPhee, in "Looking for a Ship", elucidates modern piracy and (fairly) current international
maritime law. Insurers are often willing to pay ransoms but would rather save their money by getting a governmental military force involved in rescuing the ship.
maritime law. Insurers are often willing to pay ransoms but would rather save their money by getting a governmental military force involved in rescuing the ship.
27
Hahaha....I find this post very funny, unlike "hartiepie" @19. "Specious logic"? My, my, my. It's humorous! Though, as one comment pointed out, most likely not for the crew of the vessels!
28
speaking as someone who has been the steersman on several large vessels, if the skipper gave orders to run down the pirates, this would not be a problem. supertankers are big slow lumbering vessels, but:
A. you cannot stop them
B. if they do not allow you to board, you will not get aboard
A. you cannot stop them
B. if they do not allow you to board, you will not get aboard
29
wouldn't it be great if a tour operator gave you the opportunity to shoot at pirates off the Somali coast? 25k for a chance to shoot naval artillery at real, live people?
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