Somali Pirates Attempt Hijack Of US Ship, Turned Back

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Real late to this story but it appears some Somali pirates picked the wrong victim, a US flagged ship, and got beaten back but they have taken the Captain hostage:

0408091535_m_040809_piratecapt01.jpgHours after pirates commandeered a United States-flagged container ship with 20 American crew members off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday, the pirates and crew appeared to be in a standoff, with the ship under control of its crew once again but the skipper a captive of the pirates.

There were conflicting reports about the drama unfolding on the container ship, the Maersk Alabama — the first ship with an American crew to be seized by pirates in the Horn of Africa, one of the most notoriously lawless zones on the high seas. By late afternoon Washington time, when it was night off Somalia, the situation was unresolved, although there had apparently been no bloodshed.

Several American warships were headed for the area. The vessels reportedly included a destroyer, the U.S.S. Bainbridge, which can steam at more than 30 knots and can launch helicopters. Based on early reports that the closest ships were some 345 miles from the scene at the time of the hijacking, they could be expected to arrive in the area by late Wednesday night, Eastern time, or daylight Thursday off Somali.

At about noon Eastern time, some 12 hours after the hijacking, a Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity said that “it is our understanding that the crew has taken back control of the vessel.” But as the hours went by, it became clear that the situation was far from resolved, as a senior American military official said the skipper had been taken off his ship while the captors tried to negotiate a ransom.

There were reports that the crew had been able to disable the ship around the time that the pirates came aboard, preventing them from going anywhere with their prize. Later, there were reports that while the crew had been able to capture one pirate and regain control of the ship, at least three pirates were holding the captain hostage in a small boat near the vessel.

That was from a few hours ago…the latest from CNN (I know, I know….take it with a grain of salt) says the pirates are holding the Captain on a 28 foot lifeboat. Why are they in a lifeboat? Because the idiots sank their own boat after coming aboard the US ship. After some negotiations the US crew agreed to exchange a pirate prisoner they had overpowered for the Captain and surprise, surprise…the pirates reneged on the deal.

Something else interesting, the US crew apparently disabled the ship when the pirates came aboard and then hid in the steering gear room for 12 hours. The pirates got frustrated because they couldn’t find them, and while the pirates have AK-47’s a US warship will be in the area in a few hours. Something tells me those AK-47’s won’t cut it.

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Probably need to sit down with these folks and just have a nice conversation. Pretty sure this is just a misunderstanding. Send in Geithner.

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This is a problem with a simple answer i.e. the ends and means exist all of course depending on political ‘will’.

One night soon you send in special folks to take out the ships and crews held hostage. It’s called a cutting out expedition and navies have been doing it for years. You kill as many pirates as possible in the process. All hostage crew members on land and out of reach… those are the risks.

Come morning you mine every harbor with acoustic and pressure mines so that nothing can leave, no matter how small, and nothing can enter those harbors again. All honest fishermen… those are the wages of piracy.

While mining you drop pamphlets telling the inhabitants of the towns giving base to the pirates that all “mansions” and other high value targets will be gone within 24 hours. Let them guess by what means.

Somali piracy, ended.

Then we can all sit back and listen to every pundit in the world explain how it was better and always will be better to do nothing about barbarians.

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It is simple. All pirates beware… we will sink your vessels, destroy your lines of communication AND hang you from the yardarm of American Warships. It is time to splash some of these guys to prove a point.

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@Tom in CA:

I would like to “Send in Geithner” but not for the reasons you suggest.

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Steve Schippert offers up a solution:

Somali Piracy: A Solution
Security Aboard Ships – Not USS Sledgehammers – To Fight At Point of Pirates’ Attacks

[ . . . ]

The only tenable solution is to put the prevention at the point of risk: Aboard the vessel.

It is the only solution – sans magical liquidation of all pirates and their havens – that is fast-reacting enough or cost effective enough. (Have you ever checked the expense tab of operating a US Navy destroyer for a 24-hour period of steaming? It’s an expense only a stimulus’s mother could love.)

What does the security team look like? Pretty simple, actually. 4-6 men from the contracting outfit, with small arms with enough reach and punch to introduce a speedboat to the ocean floor. There is an array of potent automatic rifles available. The team should possess at least one .50 caliber weapon for both range and punch. Certainly no 5.56mm M-16’s. As well, some form of grenade weapons should be on hand (RPGs, grenade launchers and/or other shoulder-fired explosive weapons suitable for maritime use.) Night scopes and night vision goggles are essential as well. There are plenty of arms experts who know what would and would not work best. Point is, it isn’t rocket science. Get it done.

It must be made known that all small craft deemed a potential threat that come within 500 meters of any vessel in the open seas risk being fired upon and sunk upon approach.

The specific logistics for maximum efficiency can be a challenge, but the basics here are pretty simple – at least on paper. There is no need for the contracted maritime security team to be aboard the vessel outside demonstrated high-risk zones. That, currently, is the float around the Horn of Africa. It is surely possible to coordinate embark and debark points at the ends of that leg of a particular ship’s journey. This can happen at a port of call or, most efficiently, via scheduled smaller craft along the way.

[ . . . ]

Writing this into the wee hours of the morning, I failed to state that a security team, if properly coordinated, can debark one ship heading north after passing through the danger zone, and then board a southbound vessel heading into danger. This would ideally create a loop – a series of one way trips, if you will. Any nation’s ships could contract with the US security teams (provided they are not under current sanction, like Iran).

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I heard a talking head say these ships aren’t allowed to have weapons onboard. That seems crazy in that area.

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