Russian frigate escorts Danish ship off Somalia

[Coventina]

Source: International Herald-Tribune

MOSCOW: Russia's Navy spokesman says a Russian frigate is escorting a Danish-owned commercial ship in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia.

Capt. Igor Dygalo says that the escort of the CEC Commander came after an official request from Copenhagen.

(snip)

Pirates have hijacked 32 ships in the Gulf of Aden this year, most notably a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks in September.

A multinational force including U.S., British and German warships is patrolling the waters off Somalia.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/11/news/Piracy-Russia.php

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Finally!

[Coventina]

1. Whoops! I spoke too soon!

Pirates seize chemical tanker, 23 crew off Somalia

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD94CPGV02

Happened just a few minutes ago...but I didn't want to spam the board with Somali pirate stories....

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Pirates hijacked a Philippines chemical tanker with 23 crew near Somalia, bringing the total number of attacks in waters off the impoverished African nation this year to 83, a maritime official said Tuesday.

The tanker was heading to Asia when it was seized Monday in the Gulf of Aden by pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

In Manila, Foreign Ministry spokesman Claro Cristobal said the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi and the ship's operator identified the chemical tanker as the MT Stolt Strength.

All 23 seamen on board are Filipino and are "reportedly unharmed," he said, adding that Philippine authorities are coordinating with the ship's operator to secure the early safe release of the vessel and crew.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. How hard could it be to clean up a pirate problem?

[14thColony]

3. Lots of pirates

Only a handful of warships. Can't be everywhere all the time. Right now one Russian frigate is escorting one merchant ship - one for one coverage leave a lot of merchants are unprotected when the pirates show up.

[hack89]

4. Very hard

the only effective way to combat pirates is to occupy and destroy their land bases - that is how piracy has been found since the Romans. No one is interested in a protracted guerrilla war in Somalia.

[htuttle]

5. It's a tricky bit of business

If they eliminate too many pirates, it will cause a rapid acceleration of global warming!

[14thColony]

7. I completely forgot about the Pirate-Climate Feedback Loop

The pirate population clearly has to be managed and not over-harvested.

[melm00se]

6. fire on the wrong boat and

you end up with pictures of mangled civilian sailors on CNN. 20mm canon shells and human flesh are not a good mix.

[Posteritatis]

9. In a region with thousands of large ships and God knows how many little ones?

You'd be surprised. They're a big deal there for a reason.

[ohio2007]

8. Navy shoots dead pirate suspects

The Royal Navy has repelled a pirate attack on a Danish cargo ship off the coast of Yemen, shooting dead two men believed to be Somali pirates.
The Yemeni-flagged vessel was identified as having been involved in an earlier attack on the Danish ship

An MoD spokesman said the pirates were shot in self-defence.

After initial attempts to stop the dhow failed, the Royal Navy launched sea boats to encircle the vessel.

The British seamen were fired on and shot back before the dhow was boarded and its crew surrendered.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7725771.stm