Indian navy sinks suspected pirate 'mother ship'

[TheLancinator]

Indian navy sinks suspected pirate 'mother ship'
By SAM DOLNICK, Associated Press Writer


NEW DELHI – An Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said Wednesday, as separate bands of brigands seized Thai and Iranian ships in the lawless seas.

A multinational naval force has increased patrols in the waters between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, where pirates have grown bolder and more violent. The force scored a rare success Tuesday when the Indian warship, operating off the coast of Oman, stopped a ship similar to a pirate vessel described in numerous bulletins. The Indian navy said the pirates fired on the INS Tabar after the officers asked to search it.

"Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers," said a statement from the Indian navy. Indian forces fired back, sparking fires and a series of onboard blasts — possibly due to exploding ammunition — and destroying the ship.

They chased one of two speedboats shadowing the larger ship. One was later found abandoned. The other escaped, according to the statement.

Larger "mother ships" are often used to take gangs of pirates and smaller attack boats into deep water, and can be used as mobile bases to attack merchant vessels.

Last week, Indian navy commandos operating from a warship foiled a pirate attempt to hijack a ship in the Gulf of Aden. The navy said an armed helicopter with marine commandos prevented the pirates from boarding and hijacking the Indian merchant vessel.

Separate bands of pirates also seized a Thai ship with 16 crew members and an Iranian cargo vessel with a crew of 25 in the Gulf of Aden, where Somalia-based pirates appear to be attacking ships at will, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.

"It's getting out of control," Choong said.

Tuesday's hijackings raised to eight the number of ships hijacked this week alone, he said. Since the beginning of the year, 39 ships have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, out of 95 attacked.

"The criminal activities are flourishing because the risks are low and the rewards are extremely high," Choong said.

Once, the pirates mainly roamed the waters off the Somali coast, but now they have spread in every direction and are targeting ships further at sea, according to Choong.

He said 17 vessels remain in the hands of pirates along with more than 300 crew members, including a Ukrainian ship loaded with weapons and a Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying $100 million in crude.

Despite the stepped-up patrols, the attacks have continued unabated off Somalia, which is caught up in an Islamic insurgency and has had no functioning government since 1991. Pirates have generally released ships they have seized after ransoms are paid.

NATO has three warships in the Gulf of Aden and the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet also has ships in the region.

But U.S. Navy Commander Jane Campbell of the 5th Fleet said naval patrols simply cannot prevent attacks given the vastness of the sea and the 21,000 vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden every year.

"Given the size of the area and given the fact that we do not have naval assets — either ships or airplanes — to be everywhere with every single ship" it would be virtually impossible to prevent every attack, she said.

The Gulf of Aden connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of miles and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa.

The Thai boat, which was flying a flag from the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati but operated out of Thailand, made a distress call as it was being chased by pirates in two speedboats, but the phone connection was cut off midway.

Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, manager of Sirichai Fisheries Co., Ltd. told The Associated Press that the ship, the "Ekawat Nava 5," was headed from Oman to Yemen to deliver fishing equipment.

"We have not heard from them since so we don't know what the demands are," Wicharn said. "We have informed the families of the crew but right now, we don't have much more information to give them either."

Of the 16 crew members, Wicharn said 15 are Thai and one is Cambodian.

The Iranian carrier was flying a Hong Kong flag but operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

On Tuesday, a major Norwegian shipping group, Odfjell SE, ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after the seizure of the Saudi tanker Saturday.

"We will no longer expose our crew to the risk of being hijacked and held for ransom by pirates in the Gulf of Aden," said Terje Storeng, Odfjell's president and chief executive.

Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer, has condemned the hijacking and said it will join the international fight against piracy. Despite the fact that its government barely works, Somali officials vowed to try to rescue the ship by force if necessary.

The supertanker, the MV Sirius Star, was anchored Tuesday close to Harardhere, the main pirates' den on the Somali coast, with a full load of 2 million barrels of oil and 25 crew members.

[Meursault]

If this piracy thing continues, the indian navy might well send an aircraft curryer.

[Harpoon]

Booooo Hissssssssss

[Meursault]

I'll get my coat. Nemo is better at that kind of thing.

[Datto]

Does anyone know if the sailors in these parts are allowed to defend themselves? I have'nt heard anything about this (defence) in the news. I would assume that it would be up to the different companies operating in these parts.

[Meursault]

as far as I know, they have every right to defend themselves. The problem is that they probably won't have had any military training, so giving them more than handguns is probably useless.

[Datto]

Maybe these ships should just put some rocket launchers on their ships. I'm sure the companies insurance would go up but hey something needs to be done.

[Meursault]

sounds like a plan, but I suspect that kind of gear might be illegal in a lot of civilized places.

[Nemowork]

Apparently it depends on the home rules of the listed national owner of the ship. Egyptians are usually armed, the Russians have a rule (or had) that only men who had served in the navy could become merchant marine so they were heavily armed.
Oil tankers cant be armed because of the risk of explosions and damage around that oil although steam hoses and so on are a piossibilty.
the problem is more one of finance, the guys on those ships are high value hostages and well treated by the pirates until they are released so a hired deckhand on minimum wages can either defend his ship with an old AK against pirates who are armed with machine guns and rocket launchers for a conglomerate who don't give a rats ass for his well being or sit round for three months on pay while the insurer negotiates.

[beowulf]

Originally Posted by Meursault

If this piracy thing continues, the indian navy might well send an aircraft curryer.

doubt it.....they aint got one at the mo.........

[Nemowork]

Originally Posted by Meursault

If this piracy thing continues, the indian navy might well send an aircraft curryer.

Originally Posted by beowulf

doubt it.....they aint got one at the mo.........

Sigh, i think the famous German sense of humour needs a publicity campaign again

[beowulf]

im tired............didnt pick up on it

[Wolfeyes88]

Now that I think of it, there is some semi-legitimate, and somewhat ethical money to be made off this situation. Anyone got access to a decent sized ship?

Get in touch with some of the navies patrolling the area and see if they need privateers. Even some of the shipping companies might be interested. I figure they'd be willing to pay $10k for a bodyguard as opposed to $10M in ransom.

[Nemowork]

Theres a shortage of jobs for PMCs at the moment, i think a few of them have floated the idea.

[beowulf]

too late...........Blackwaters already thought of it

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...s-1024582.html