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Inset photograph of Captain Richard Phillips; photograph of U.S.S. Bainbridge, a missile destroyer observing the pirates
The escape attempt apparently happened to quickly for the Navy too help. Phillips is being held on a life boat by four Somali pirates, 300 miles off the coast of the Horn of Africa. The pirates, armed with AK-47 guns, had hijacked the ship, but the crew regained control; ABC News says the 53-year-old captain "stepped forward to be a hostage to avoid a bloody battle with the gun toting pirates." The FBI has been brought in to help with negotiations.
The NY Times reports, "American Naval reinforcements moved towards the scene of a pirate hostage standoff in the Indian Ocean on Friday amid reports that the Somali pirates, desperate to get back to shore with their American captive, had themselves called in additional ships and men." The Daily News looks at how piracy has benefited Somali business: "Big villas and hotels are sprouting, former subsistence fishermen are driving Mercedes-Benzes and gold-digging women are showing up. So are accountants."
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you know you're living high on the hog when the gold-digging women and accountants show up.
1. Special Ops rescue captain and kill captors
2. Park Iowa class battleship off Eyl and flatten it.
3. Mandate that commercial shipping is responsible for and capable of securing its fleet. Any small craft that approaches gets vaporized.
What is the freaking problem here? If you are Rome, act like Rome.
1. Special Ops rescue captain and kill captors
Can't get close. This isn't a Rambo movie.
2. Park Iowa class battleship off Eyl and flatten it.
Ooh, how dramatic! And yet completely unrealistic, even too silly be part of the plot of a Rambo movie.
3. Mandate that commercial shipping is responsible for and capable of securing its fleet. Any small craft that approaches gets vaporized.
Experts estimate it would take at least 61 ships on constant duty to secure just the shipping lanes. Between 12 and 16 from a handful of countries are currently assigned. Who sends the next 50 warships?
What is the freaking problem here?
The real world.
Very nice.
I'd wager they have something in their bag of tricks if given the go-ahead. Rambo or no, I'd bet on special ops over 4 meathead pirates.
We fought the Barbary Wars...why is this different? We certainly have better justification than we did going into Iraq, and there's no need to occupy it.
I'm not suggesting we secure the entire shipping lanes. The tactics currently used by the pirates could probably countered by Blackwater type mercenaries on the currently unarmed ships. Why sail the most dangerous waters on Earth with your pants around your ankles?
Navy SEALs might be a decent idea, if they could get close enough.
All Iowa class ships have been decommissioned and mothballed. And Internet tough guys aside, it would be illegal under international law to target civilians.
Commercial ships don't carry weapons because they complicate normal activities. Unarmed vessels get to dock quickly when they get to a port. If you have any weapons onboard, prepare to go through a lot of inspections and paperwork everywhere you go.
Shucks. So much for the 16" guns. What will Cher straddle for her next video?
Would you classify RPG armed thugs as 'civilians'? They are at least as organized and dangerous as Taliban fighters in Afganistan. These clowns are accumulating quite a bit of coin and will eventually obtain real hardware.
Security teams could be ferried by helicopter in international waters to skirt the port hassles.
The status quo is certainly not working. Harden the targets or eliminate the threat at its source.
"Security teams could be ferried by helicopter in international waters to skirt the port hassles.
The status quo is certainly not working. Harden the targets or eliminate the threat at its source."
Who is going to pay for security teams on every one of the thousands of vessels going through the area, not to mention the deployment of helicopter shuttles? Who is going to be sued when an unarmed commercial crewman is collaterally killed in a resulting firefight?
The status quo, paying a ransom for a tiny percentage of ships, is unquestionably a better business decision.
No doubt pressure will mount for there to be some kind of a response greater than there has been so far, but the answers aren't that easy. And so far, the pirates haven't injured or killed anyone. It's a property crime, albeit a major one.
A better business decision, indeed, assuming the crewmen are potentially expendable. Yes the ransoms are a pittance compared to the value of the ships and cargo and the costs of security would cut into profit margins. Boo fucking hoo. Who would get sued if Capt. Phillips is killed? Does it matter to anyone but the company lawyers?
Security, however, is worth something. This problem will invariably escalate. Ransoms will purchase more sophisticated weapons systems and passenger liners will replace cargo ships as targets. Better deal with the problem now than later.
Security is a cost of doing business. If it cuts into the owners profits, boo hoo.
Are the crews expendable? Who will sue if Capt. Phillips is killed? Why is a lawsuit even relevant?
Eventually, the steady stream of millions in ransom will buy more sophisticated weapon systems, and passenger liners will replace cargo ships as targets. Yes, paying them off is the most expedient and cheapest recourse for the shipping companies, but sure to end up on the US government's plate eventually. Better to deal with them now.
These pirates are thugs from a lawless shithole and should be treated as such.
crap double post
20,000 ships cross the Gulf of Aden each year. The pirates operate in an even larger area, consisting of over a million square miles of open sea. No one knows how many ships might be within that reach at some point.
Without a doubt everyone connected with shipping in the region would like to find an answer. No one has found a practical one yet, and I don't believe anyone knowledgeable about it would take "helicopters shuttle a security team onto every ship coming into this million square miles of ocean as they enter, and then take them back off before the ship ports" to be a practical solution.
If you do come up with a workable plan, though, there's no doubt you'll become a millionaire. No one else has been able to do it.
why should just the usa be policing these highly-traveled lanes? can't europe get off their lazy asses and actually do something for once?
"why should just the usa be policing these highly-traveled lanes? can't europe get off their lazy asses and actually do something for once?"
They are there. The 12 - 16 military vessels on duty at any time are part of an "international anti-piracy coalition."
This is the first American-flagged ship to be targeted, so of course the USN is taking the lead in responding.
The escape attempt apparently happened to quickly for the Navy too help.
too quickly
...to help.
I am certainly no expert in maritime hostage situations, but I wonder why US forces didn't try to sink the lifeboat when the Captain jumped off and tried to escape?
"The escape attempt apparently happened too quickly for the Navy to help."
Probably he was also too close -- remember, he was trying to swim.
And besides.. imagine all the bleeding heart outrage that would definitely happen if they HAD capped the pirates.
I'm sure the Obama administration isn't giving anyone confidence to do anything aggressive... Especially when he won't even comment to the press about it when asked!