Thursday February 16, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Somali pirates hijack 2 tankers in 24 hours

World Mar. 27, 2009 - 06:20AM JST ( 7 )

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Order by Time Order by Popularity

7 Comments

0

graftonMar. 27, 2009 - 08:15AM JST

“Cmdr Jane Campbell of the U.S. 5th fleet said both hijackings took place in a vast Indian Ocean expanse of over 1.9 million square kilometres.

“This activity highlights the complexity of even trying to monitor an area this size,” she said.”

To translate this into real, normal English; this is an enormous area & we can’t be everywhere all the time, so don’t blame us. If people said what they really mean (& want to say) we would all be a lot more understanding.
0

JoeBigsMar. 27, 2009 - 08:42AM JST

Why not place a few Destroyers within the usually travel lanes and have them wait. The moment some one claims to be under attack send in the sea based attack helicopters and it is game over.

Someone needs to strike these pirates in their own homes. Maybe take a few of them hostage and then ask for ransom. One can only hope.......

Handle these pirates like the Barbary pirates were handled, by force.
0

graftonMar. 27, 2009 - 09:06AM JST

JoeBigs at 08:42 AM JST - 27th March

Cmdr Campbell sort of pointed out that people really need to get an idea of just how big this ocean really is. Placing a few destroyers is more or less what has been done, but they really can’t be everywhere at once & helicopters also have a limited range. This is one seriously big pond to be trying to protect.

I sort of agree with the idea of going for the pirates in their own homes, but how one goes about getting the intelligence to know who to go for is quite another matter. I’m not one for taking things lightly, but shooting up little villages because they “might” be pirate villages is even a bit too much for me. I would about this a different way, I would sink every ship they hijack, after they got it close to their home port. The pollution would eventually become their problem. Keep in mind they now have two chemical tankers that might well be carrying some really nasty things. Fish with three eyes might taste the same, but are they good for you?
0

AltriaMar. 27, 2009 - 09:14AM JST

Where was Jack Bauer?
0

OkinawamikeMar. 27, 2009 - 10:58AM JST

Or better yet, instead of using a firehose, use a 50cal with a big scope. A few to the head could slow them down a bit. How much would they save by having a lookout and a sniper? With Iraq slowing down I'm sure there will be a few volunteers.
0

notimpressedMar. 27, 2009 - 03:55PM JST

fake freighters as bait, loaded with dudes to turn around and capture the pirates, take them and finds out where they are based, go there and root them out, rinse and repeat.
0

unscrejectsMar. 28, 2009 - 01:20AM JST

Okinawamike: "Or better yet, instead of using a firehose, use a 50cal with a big scope." My oh my... I warned about pirate threats in 1993. I advised Mazda to start taking out pirate insurance - and they did. But it took two close calls off the coast of Cyprus before they decided to call an insurer. In 2000 I approached the Japanese maritime community and asked them to start serious technology development - radio controlled devices etc. for slowing down pirates and basically putting them out of the hunt - the Straites of Malaca were starting to heat up. I had no takers, not until two weeks ago when a call to make my pitch finally came through. Using the navy to stop pirates is like hunting for left footed bees in the amazon. You get one when you're lucky but don't try building a career out of it. These guys are operating independently. Weapons are every where. And life to them isn't as serious a thing to preserve... The only way to make this fight succeed is to start charging the shipping companies protection money - and line them up in a convoy. Why would any navy spend millions to offer protection to a ship that may very well be carrying contraband for a sworn enemy?