Somali pirates open fire on cruise ship

[Felix the Cat]

Pirates open fire on cruise ship (http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pirates-open-fire-on-cruise-ship/2005/11/06/1131211933331.html)

Pirates have fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at a US-owned cruise ship carrying more than 300 people, including 19 Australians, in the Indian Ocean.

Men in two small boats approached the ship Spirit yesterday about 160 kilometres off the Somali coast, fired on it and tried to board in an apparent bid to rob passengers and crew, the Seabourn Cruise Line said.

Cruise line spokesman Bruce Good said the ship managed to escape from the pirates and no-one was hurt.

A passenger said one of the rockets fired by the pirates hit the ship.

"I looked out of the window and saw a small boat with about five people in it about 20 yards [18 metres] away," said Norman Fisher, 55, a passenger.

"They were firing the rifle and then fired the rocket launcher twice. One of the rockets certainly hit the ship. It went through the side of the liner into a passenger's suite."

The 161-member crew gathered the 151 passengers into a central lounge away from windows and decks during the attack, said Good.

"The captain managed to change the course of the vessel and speed away. Most of the passengers are believed to be Americans or Western Europeans. No-one was hurt," said Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator for the Seafarers' Association in neighbouring Kenya.

Good said training had helped the crew repel the attack.

"There were some windows broken, nothing that affected seaworthiness," Good said. "The crew did an excellent job and those guys gave up.... These guys didn't plan this too well."

The Indian Ocean waters off the Somali coast are classed as among the most dangerous in the world. Typically pirates target freighters which carry only a handful of crew members.

The Bahamian-registered Seabourn ship was on a 16-day cruise from Egypt to Mombasa, Kenya. The 10,000-tonne vessel sailed on to the Seychelles Islands, where passengers were to disembark and fly to Mombasa, Good said.

Seabourn is headquartered in Miami and is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise group.

Fisher said the captain tried to ram one of the boats in an attempt to capsize it and stop them getting aboard.

"The captain didn't sound the usual alarm because he was worried that people would run up on the deck thinking it was a fire, and that would be the worst place to be," he said.

"Instead he made an announcement at five past six, saying: 'Stay inside, stay inside, we are under attack.'"

The Spirit's passengers included 48 Americans, 22 from the United Kingdom, 21 Canadians, 19 Germans, 19 Australians and six South Africans. The others were mostly from other European nations, Good said.

Authorities in the United States, United Kingdom and Seychelles were investigating, Good said.

Hijackers have commandeered two vessels used by the UN World Food Program this year and ship owners now demand armed escorts to travel in the waters, the agency said.

This week, the London-based International Maritime Bureau said it knew of 27 pirate attacks off Somalia since March.

The attacks highlight insecurity in Somalia, without a government since warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

[OVERWATCH]

Mercenaries to Police Somali Coast

November 27, 2005: The growing piracy problem off the Somali coast has been solved by the hiring of private contractors to operate as a coast guard. The American firm, Top Cat Marine Security (www.TopCatMarineSecurity.com), has previously provided counter-terrorism and coastal security services for the Department of Homeland Defense, and other government agencies. The firm also designs and builds high speed patrol boats.
While no one is saying it, the United States is basically taking over coastal security duties for Somalia. The Transitional Government there has no money for this sort of thing, so it appears that the U.S. is picking up the tab. This could get interesting, for the Somali warlords who operate along the coast are not going to take kindly to some foreigners trying to interfere. The first priority of the new coast guard is to put the pirate gangs, and especially the two larger "mother ships", that are supporting attacks far out at sea, out of action.
Many of the Top Cat personnel will be non-Somali, and former military. Most of the staff will eventually be Somalis. By not sending active duty American military personnel into this, there is less for the media to grab onto and cause public opinion problems for the U.S. government. There’s also the opportunity for more private security forces to be used to help pacify all of Somalia. That would be very expensive, and it’s not a sure thing that the United States government would be willing to absorb the entire cost, as well as the media heat for spending all that money to try and police a bunch of uncooperative, heavily armed and, ungrateful Somalis.
Top Cat Marine Security is being paid $55 million for the first two years of the contract. Some of this will be recovered by enforcing the payment of fishing fees by foreign boats that work the lucrative coastal waters. Warlords are now getting some of this money, by demanding protection money from fishing boats, and ransom fro boats that are seized by pirates. In reaction to the police effort, the warlords can be expected to go after the new coast guards land bases. Top Cat will either have to establish heavily fortified and well defended land bases, or put some, or all, of them in foreign countries (like Kenya, Djibouti, and the breakaway Somaliland). But because of the extent of the Somali coat, it's unavoidable that a base be established in central Somalia, which is thick with heavily armed, aggressive and greedy warlords. Top Cat will have to live up to its name in order to survive.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20051127.aspx

[Jimbo Gomez]

If it works, I'm not gonna bitch about it.

[Felix the Cat]

Cruise ship attacked by pirates used sonic weapon (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-11-07-cruise-blast_x.htm)

MIAMI — The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday.

The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard.

The subsidiary of Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in warding off the pirates, he said. The ship's captain also changed its course, shifted into high speed and headed out into the open sea to elude the pirates, who were in two small boats, he said. He had no further details.

Device maker American Technology Corp. said earsplitting "bangs" were directed by trained security personnel toward the pirates. That, combined with ship maneuvers, caused the attackers to leave the area, the company said.

The LRAD is a so-called "non-lethal weapon" developed for the U.S. military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships.

The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected.

American Technology, based in San Diego, compares its shrill tone to that of smoke detectors, only much louder. It can be as loud as about 150 decibels, while smoke alarms are about 80 to 90 decibels.

The devices have been deployed on commercial and naval vessels worldwide since summer 2003, the company said.

[Felix the Cat]

Robotic vessels against pirates (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4521364.stm)

Robotic patrol boats could safeguard the seas from piracy and fight ocean-going people traffickers, reports Tracey Logan in the BBC World Service's Discovery programme.

Passengers aboard the Seabourn Spirit, a luxury liner sailing off the coast of Somalia, came face to face last month with the growing problem of piracy, especially planned assaults and ocean hijackings using fast boats and sophisticated weapons.

As the pirates go hi-tech, so ships must use more advanced technology in their defence, according to the latest report from the International Maritime Bureau.

Anti-piracy technologies endorsed by the bureau include an unmanned spy plane, the Inventus UAV, for aerial surveillance of risky waters.

Others include Secure-Ship, a 9,000 volt electric fence that when rigged around ship's deck stops the pirates from boarding, and ShipLoc, a hidden tagging device for ships that allows satellites to track ships on behalf of their owners even after a hijacking.

In their defence against pirates off the coast of Somalia, the Seabourn Spirit's crew used an acoustic weapon that focused a deafening alarm sound on the attackers, hastening their retreat.

Sea-faring bots

In the future, robotics could play a role in anti-piracy defences, though the technology has yet endorsed by the International Maritime Bureau.

Speaking to BBC World Service's Discovery for its programme on the future of shipping safety, Keith Henderson of Marine Robotics International explained how unmanned robotic vessels could help.

Marine Robotics have created vessels called Ghost Guard which can patrol the seas along pre-programmed routes, overseen by a single, human controller on shore.

The boats can also escort other ships through dangerous waters. Video and other equipment on board these robotic ships allow their on-shore controllers to see and interact with the crew of any vessels they encounter:

"They could go alongside, there's a loudspeaker and a microphone so they could have a conversation with the vessel," said Mr Henderson.

"And if they feel that there's something suspicious then they could call up a naval patrol vessel."

People smugglers

"If the vessel gets lost or damaged or sunk, then there's no loss of life," he added.

"If the robotic vessel goes alongside a suspicious-looking boat, and they suddenly open fire or throw hand grenades, or fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the vessel to take it out, then yes, there's a cost factor but nobody's lost their lives."

Mr Henderson said that the dispensability of such craft makes them particularly suitable to the changing nature of world piracy, including the area of people smuggling.

"A normal naval patrol boat, if he gives chase to a smuggler often has to stop because the smuggler will start to throw people overboard. It's a ploy they often use, and, of course saving lives is a priority for the navy boat.

"But with a remote piloted vessel, even if the navy has to stop, the robotic vessel can continue the chase right back to its harbour, or even follow it into a bay where it starts putting people ashore.

"And of course then the smugglers' position can be reported back to the mother vessel."

[Felix the Cat]

U.S. destroyer chases down suspected pirate ship (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/01/22/navy.pirates.ap/index.html)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, the Navy said Sunday.

The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized Saturday by the guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 87 kilometers (54 miles) off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said. U.S. sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms. (Watch commander describe pirate encounter -- 2:59)

The dhow's crew and passengers were being questioned Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.

Sailors aboard the dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate attacks on merchant ships.

The Churchill is part of a multinational task force patrolling the western Indian Ocean and Horn of Africa region to thwart terrorist activity and other lawlessness during the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The Navy said it captured the dhow in response to a report from the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur on Friday that said pirates had fired on the MV Delta Ranger, a Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier that was passing 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the central eastern coast of Somalia.

Hull-Ryde said the Navy was still investigating the incident and would discuss with international authorities what to do with the detained men.

"The disposition of people and vessels involved in acts of piracy on the high seas are based on a variety of factors, including the offense, the flags of the vessels, the nationalities of the crew, and others," Hull-Ryde said in an e-mail.

Piracy is rampant off the coast of Somalia, which is torn by renewed clashes between militias fighting over control of the troubled African country. Many shipping companies resort to paying ransoms, saying they have few alternatives.

Last month, Somali militiamen finally relinquished a merchant ship hijacked in October.

In November, Somali pirates freed a Ukrainian ore carrier and its 22 member crew after holding it for 40 days. It was unclear whether a $700,000 ransom demanded by the pirates had been paid.

One of the boldest recent attacks was on November 5, when two boats full of pirates approached a cruise ship carrying Western tourists, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Somalia and fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

The crew used a weapon that directs earsplitting noise at attackers, then sped away.

Somalia has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other, carving the nation of 8.2 million into a patchwork of fiefdoms.

[Jimbo Gomez]

I wonder what our resident American pirate has to say about this. :D

Serious: I don't think they'll ever completely eradicate piracy. This scum still kills several hundred people every year and will probably continue to do so for as long as there is any shipping going on.

[ironweed]

The dhow's crew and passengers were being questioned Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.

Sailors aboard the dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate attacks on merchant ships.


I thought there was some sort of code of the sea where you could hang pirates on apprehension, kind of like the way you don't have to treat out of uniform soldiers as normal POWS?

Probably there'd be a big screechy outcry about racism if they did so in this instance, though. :rolleyes:

[Ahknaton]

I've always thought some kind of modern-day pirate scenario would make a really cool computer game. Kind of like CounterStrike on the high seas, with a bit of management skills/ship upgrading thrown in for good measure.

[Felix the Cat]

http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/MSN/world/national/2006/03/18/pirate-060318.html

Two U.S. navy warships attacked and captured a group of Somali pirates Saturday, leaving one suspect dead and five wounded.

Twelve suspects were taken into custody after the early-morning shootout, said U.S. navy spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Charlie Brown.

No U.S. sailors were wounded in the battle, which occurred early in the morning off the Somali coast in international waters.

Brown said the battle started when two U.S. guided-missile ships spotted a nine-metre fishing boat towing smaller skiffs.

Sailors from the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez were preparing to board the fishing boat when they saw the suspected pirates holding what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade launchers. When the suspects began shooting, naval gunners returned fire with mounted machine guns.

The International Maritime Organization has warned ships to stay away from the Somali coast after pirates attacked 35 ships last year, making it the most dangerous marine location in the world for piracy.

The pirates generally use speedboats to steal merchandise, sometimes holding the ship and its crew at gunpoint and then demand ransoms before they are released.

Last year, a group of heavily armed pirates attacked a luxury cruise ship. They left when the crew scared them off with an ear-splitting acoustic device, a non-lethal but highly effective weapon.

[cerberus]

Hang the bastards , sorry its my gut feeling.

[Keystone]

Hang the bastards , sorry its my gut feeling.
Arrrggghh. Blister their scurvy hides! Keelhaulin' is too good for 'em!

Didn't this happen before, not too long ago...?:confused:

[Felix the Cat]

Global battle plays out in Somalia (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4841170.stm)

Since the 11 September attacks on the United States more than four years ago, Somalis have feared that their lawless country could become the setting for a battle between US-backed anti-terror forces and al-Qaeda sympathisers.

Now it seems as though their worst fears may be coming true.

The capital, Mogadishu, has been rocked by the worst violence in almost a decade, leaving at least 70 people dead.

Hundreds of people have fled their homes as the rival militia clashed with mortars and anti-aircraft guns.

The few private hospitals still operating are unable to cope with the deluge of people injured in the fighting.

The fighting is between the Islamic Courts' militia, which wants to set up Sharia law to end the years of anarchy, and a coalition of the warlords who have devastated the country, fighting for control in the 15 years since there was last an effective national government.

The Islamists say the warlords, who recently formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, are being funded by "non-Muslim foreigners", taken to mean the US anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti.

The US authorities have not commented on these latest allegations. They have previously said they had "no information" on widely accepted reports that warlords had kidnapped terror suspects in Mogadishu and handed them over to US agents to be flown abroad for questioning.

The warlords - Mohammed Deere, Mohammed Qanyare and Bashir Rageh - and their business allies control large parts of Mogadishu and crucially the airstrips around the capital.

It is always difficult to know exactly what is going on in a country with no central authority. Some analysts say the fighting may also be over business rivalries between militia leaders.

Conflict deepens

The BBC's Hassan Barise in Somalia says the latest fighting is the worst seen in Mogadishu for almost a decade - since the aftermath of the last US intervention in the country and the death of warlord Mohammed Aideed.

To make matters worse, the fighting has come at a time when there seemed finally to be some progress in Somalia's snail-like peace process.

More than a year after a new parliament and president were sworn in in neighbouring Kenya, the MPs finally started their first meeting on Somali soil last month - just a week after the fighting between the Islamic Courts and the warlords first started.

A diplomat following the Somali peace process told the BBC News website that the fighting was a "serious blow", which has overshadowed the parliamentary session in the town of Baidoa.

"Three of those involved should be in Baidoa but instead they are fighting in Mogadishu," he said.

President Abdullahi Yusuf has long argued that Mogadishu is too dangerous to host the government. He has set himself up in Jowhar, 90km north of the capital, to the concern of some MPs, led by Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.

They say the president does not have the authority to move Somalia's capital.

This latest fighting only makes it more difficult to set up a government in Mogadishu and puts backwards the date when Somali can again be a "normal" country.

Arms bazaar

Some Somalis back the Islamic Courts for doing something to establish law and order in a country where the law of the gun has long held sway.

But the warlords, and others, say the Islamists are also behind a series of targeted assassinations of prominent figures, including a peace activist and senior military officials.

Many of the Somalis killed are those who had argued in favour of a foreign peacekeeping force in Somalia - an idea strongly rejected by the Islamists.

The warlords further accuse the Islamic Courts of sheltering a Sudanese man, known as Zuweydan, wanted by the US as a terror suspect.

Western diplomats have long said that Somalia was home to training camps for Islamic radicals.

In a country without a government, a group with enough money can do just about anything it wants.

Weapons are easily available in Mogadishu's arms bazaar.

Last year the International Crisis Group, a political think-tank, reported that: "In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of this state without a government... al-Qaeda operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism networks are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest waged by intimidation, abduction and assassination."

Islamist sentiments

One of the key figures in the Islamic Courts, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is wanted by the US, denies the existence of training camps in Somalia.

But he says he has sympathy for the "Muhajadeen who are fighting back" against attacks by the US and their allies around the world.

On the streets of Mogadishu, many distrust the Islamic Courts but also have little time for the warlords who have ruined their country, or for the US, which they see as oppressing Muslims.

The thousands living as refugees, in tents or wooden shelters erected on waste ground or in derelict buildings, are desperate for more permanent shelter, and for schools and clinics.

Before then, however, most people are just desperate to be able to go about their daily lives without the fear of being killed by a stray mortar.

[cerberus]

Didn't this happen before, not too long ago...?

Only a few months back if memory serves me correctly , much the same region as well.
It will be the next option for "private security firms" protecting cruise ships.
World is certainly going mad.
Why couldn't the Russians have invented the "biro" instead of the AK-47 or the RPG ?