Royal Navy Engages Pirates

[MalahatTwo7]

From Times OnlineNovember 12, 2008

Royal Navy in firefight with Somali pirates

Michael Evans, Defence Editor and Rob Crilly

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

By the time the Royal Marines boarded the pirates’ vessel, the enemy had lost the will to fight and surrendered quietly. The Royal Navy described the boarding as “compliant”.

The dramatic confrontation, the latest in a series of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden in recent months, took place 60 miles south of the Yemeni coast and involved the Royal Navy Type 22 frigate, HMS Cumberland, which has a Royal Marine unit on board, on short-notice standby to engage in “non-compliant boardings”.

HMS Cumberland, on anti-piracy patrol as part of a Nato maritime force, detected the dhow which was towing a skiff, and identified it as a vessel which had been involved in an attack on the Danish-registered MV Powerful earlier yesterday. The pirates had opened fire on the cargo boat with assault rifles.

Under rules of engagement which allows the Royal Navy to intervene when pirates are positively identified, the commandos were dispatched from the frigate in rigid-raider craft and sped towards the pirates’ dhow. The Ministry of Defence said the Marines circled the pirates’ boat to try and persuade them to stop.

As they approached, however, several of the pirates, a mixed crew of Somalis and Yemenis, swung their assault rifles in their direction and opened fire. The MoD said the Royal Marines returned fire “in self defence”, and then boarded the dhow — a stolen Yemeni-registered fishing vessel.

The commandos found guns and other “paraphernalia” on board the dhow and a handful of terrified pirates. The MoD said it was unclear whether the Yemeni who died had been shot by the Marines or was wounded from a previous incident involving the pirates.

The gun battle was in stark contrast to the Royal Navy’s last encounter with a boatful of armed men - when crew members of HMS Cornwall, also a Type 22 frigate, patrolling in the Gulf in rigid raiders, were surrounded by heavily armed Iranian Revolutionary Guards in March last year. Eight sailors, including a woman, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, and seven Marines were taken hostage without a shot being fired, and detained for 13 days. The Commons Defence Committee described the incident as “a national embarrassment”.

Yesterday’s battle signalled a new policy of maximum robustness for the Royal Navy on the high seas. Captain Mike Davis-Marks, a senior spokesman for the Navy, said: “This is bound to have an impact on pirates who for the last two years have been getting away with seizing vessels and receiving large ransoms. Now suddenly there’s the threat of death and this may force them to think again, but they are determined people, so we’ll have to see.”

The Russians claimed a helicopter based on their own frigate Neustrashimy had also taken part in yesterday’s battle, though the Royal Navy knew nothing about it. The Royal Marine commandos who boarded the pirates’ dhow were supported by a Lynx helicopter from HMS Cumberland, the MoD said.

[FWDbuff]

I say, bloody well done, Lads!

[MalahatTwo7]

I say, bloody well done, Lads!

I agree, but they should have just opened up with the main armament and done away with the dhow as well. Now they would have had to tow it back to somewhere, which in turn means it will likely be back on the water, under "New Management".


























I have some rather up close and personal experience with dhow and it was a good one. We detained one (actually rescued it) with a crew of about 25, and ended up taking it in tow for 4 days until Omani coast guard finally took possession of it and the crew. Its a longer story, but that is the jist of it.

[RoaddoggAK]

Now RRRRn't we a bunch of smart little pirates now? (haha!) I can see it now... Come on chaps, let's put a shot across her bow...

[Just a new name]

I thought the once mighty powerful UK Navy was shut down.

[MalahatTwo7]

I thought the once mighty powerful UK Navy was shut down.

Not by a long shot. They are doing just like the rest of us in the Modern World - More with Less.

[doughesson]

Yeah,but you can keep that "Boarders Away!" stuff.That slugging it out yardarm to yardarm is hard on the hull.Hand to hand combat?My God,man,you'll mess up the shine on your shoes and right before going to take the Quarterdeck watch too!

I wonder what the pirates thought when they finally realized that they'd picked the wrong damn ship to strap on.

[MalahatTwo7]

I wonder what the pirates thought when they finally realized that they'd picked the wrong damn ship to strap on.

That thought crossed my mind when I first read the article. I'm trained for boarding (legalized piracy in its own right?) operations and I can tell you it aint fun most of the time, until you are about 45 minutes into it, and things are calm... but at the same time thats about when you start to worry because things have been "too quite"......

[volfirie]

So the Royal Marine Commando now have the OK to shoot? About bloody time. The Royals have always been a mob that liked a fight I like the bit "handful of terrified pirates" - I'll bet they were!

[BryanLoader]

These guys should definitely be in the top tier for this one. Taking on 2 squads of Royal Marines, probably in RHIBs each with a pintle mounted LMG, plus all lads with their own L80's. Probably one of the shortest fire fights in history. Plus there were supposed to be some Lynx and Russian Navy choppers on scene too.

[MalahatTwo7]

Bryan, here is the photo that went with the original article. Also "more" on the pirates at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sit...&sectionId=675

[doughesson]

They used to live for this scenario.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453030,00.html

If it weren't for the environmental aspects of doing so,I'd say herd the pirates back into Somali waters the next tanker they hijack and then dare them to pull the trigger.When the tanker spills her guts onto THEIR beaches,maybe they'll realize that the actions of the pirate bands have bigger consquences when Al Gore and his ilk get on their cases.
It might be kinder to sic an entire SEAL team or SBS unit on them.

[doughesson]

Bryan, here is the photo that went with the original article. Also "more" on the pirates at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sit...&sectionId=675

Caption:
Pirate Little Indian to Pirate Big Chief:"Abdullah,you are my sister's husband and all but have I told you lately what an idiot you are?"

[MalahatTwo7]

Doug, is this the scenario you were suggesting?

Somali pirates seize supertanker loaded with crude

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer

Monday, November 17, 2008 (11-17) 08:58 PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)

Somali pirates hijacked a supertanker hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the Saudi-owned ship loaded with crude and its 25-member crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday.

It was the largest ship pirates have seized, and the farthest out to sea they have successfully struck.

The hijacking highlighted the vulnerability of even very large ships and pointed to widening ambitions and capabilities among ransom-hungry pirates who have carried out a surge of attacks this year off Somalia.

Saturday's hijacking of the MV Sirius Star tanker occurred in the Indian Ocean far south of the zone patrolled by international warships in the busy Gulf of Aden shipping channel, which leads to and from the Suez Canal. A U.S. Navy spokesman said the bandits were taking it to a Somali port that has become a haven for seized ships and bandits trying to force ransoms for them.

Maritime security experts said they have tracked a troubling spread in pirate activity southward into a vast area of ocean that would be extremely difficult and costly to patrol, and this hijacking fits that pattern.

"It is very alarming," said Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau. "It had been slightly more easy to get it under control in the Gulf of Aden because it is a comparatively smaller area of water which has to be patrolled, but this is huge."

The tanker, owned by Saudi oil company Aramco, is one of the largest ships to sail the seas. It is 330 1,080 feet long, or about the length of an aircraft carrier, and can carry about 2 million barrels of oil.

Fully loaded, the ship's cargo could be worth about $100 million. But the pirates would have to way of selling crude and no way to refine it in Somalia.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, said the Sirius Star was carrying crude at the time of the hijacking, but he did know how much. He also had no details about where the ship was sailing from and where it was headed at the time of the attack.

Christensen said the bandits were taking the ship to an anchorage off Eyl, a northeastern Somali port town that is a haven for pirates and the ships they have seized.

The ship was sailing under a Liberian flag and its 25-member crew includes citizens of Croatia, Britain, the Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia. A British Foreign Office spokesman said there were at least two British nationals aboard the vessel.

The Sirius Star was attacked more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, the U.S. 5th Fleet said in a statement from its Middle East headquarters in Bahrain.

"It's the largest ship we've seen hijacked and one attacked farthest out on the sea," Christensen said.

The capturing of the oil tanker represents a "fundamental shift in the ability of pirates to be able to attack merchant vessels," he said.

Classed as a Very Large Crude Carrier, the Sirius Star was commissioned in March and is 318,000 dead weight tons.

With a full load, the ship's deck would be lower to the water, making it easier for pirates to climb aboard with grappling equipment and ladders, as they do in most hijackings.

It is not clear if there was a security team on the vessel. An operator with Aramco said no one was available to comment after business hours. Calls went unanswered at Vela international, the Dubai-based marine company that operated the ship for Aramco.

Somali pirates are trained fighters, often dressed in military fatigues, using speedboats equipped with satellite phones and GPS equipment. They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and various types of grenades.

As pirates have become better armed and equipped, they have sailed farther out to sea in search of bigger targets, including oil tankers, among the 20,000 tankers, freighters and merchant vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden each year. Attacks have increased more than 75 percent this year.

With most attacks ending with million-dollar payouts, piracy is considered the most lucrative work in Somalia. Pirates rarely hurt their hostages, instead holding out for a huge payday.

The strategy is effective: A report last month by a London-based think tank said pirates have raked in up to $30 million in ransoms this year alone.

In Somalia, pirates are better-funded, better-organized and better-armed than one might imagine in a country that has been in tatters for nearly two decades.

They do occasionally get nabbed, however. Earlier this year, French commandos used night vision goggles and helicopters in operations that killed or captured several pirates, who are now standing trial in Paris. The stepped-up international presence recently also appears to have deterred several attacks.

Raja Kiwan, a Dubai-based analyst with PFC Energy, said the hijacking raises "some serious questions" about securing such ships on the open seas.

"It's not easy to take over a ship" as massive as an oil tanker, particularly VLCC's that can transport about 2 million barrels of crude, he said. He said such vessels typically have armed guards but could not say if that was the case with the Sirius Star.

Pirates have gone after oil tankers before, most recently in October when they were thwarted by a Spanish military plane.

Warships from the more than a dozen nations as well as NATO forces have focused their anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, increasing their military presence in recent months.

But Saturday's hijacking occurred much farther south.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, managing director of British company Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service Ltd, said the increased international presence is simply not enough.

"The coalition has suppressed a number of attacks ... but there will never be enough warships," he said, describing an area that covers 2.5 million square miles.

He said the coalition warships will have to be "one step ahead of the pirates. The difficulty here is that the ship was beyond the area where the coalition were currently acting."

Associated Press writers Katharine Houreld, Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya, and Jason Keyser and Tarek el-Tablawy in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.

Time for pirates to experience "Lost At Sea Syndrome". "The (Local Government) regrets to inform the Public that several pirate raiders sailed into a typhoon. The ships crews were lost at sea and presumed drowned. And now Sports with Doug. Over to you, Doug."

[doughesson]

My Fox News link was about that very incident.But yes,suddenly seeing a few Little Boys overhead with guys fast roping down off the skids and no escape or no way for the pirate wannabes to contact support followed by your "Lost at Sea" ending might convince a few pirates or countries supporting them to rethink their way of conducting "commerce" on the seas.
You could even motivate the SF troops by slipping into their clubs and swiping their beer and other adult beverages.Then you tell them that the pirates dood the dirty deed and where they are at last report.
But,I think someone would claim that he'd been tortured by the evil United States military and get Al Franken and Randi Rhodes all worked up again.

Before I get on to yesterday's Ford 400 and the Titans' game,I want to just say whatta pity for those pirates,eh?And I'm not talking about Pittsburg.At least the crew of the hijacked ship was rescued.

Doug, is this the scenario you were suggesting?

Somali pirates seize supertanker loaded with crude

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer

Monday, November 17, 2008 (11-17) 08:58 PST DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)

Somali pirates hijacked a supertanker hundreds of miles off the Horn of Africa, seizing the Saudi-owned ship loaded with crude and its 25-member crew, the U.S. Navy said Monday.


Time for pirates to experience "Lost At Sea Syndrome". "The (Local Government) regrets to inform the Public that several pirate raiders sailed into a typhoon. The ships crews were lost at sea and presumed drowned. And now Sports with Doug. Over to you, Doug."

[doughesson]

Speaking of strapping on the wrong damn ship
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081119/ap_on_bi_ge/piracy

I know that the Indian Navy does not splice the main brace,but an extra and full ration of grog for all hands is in order here.Maybe before they venture out to try again,the pirates will figure out that navies still hunt their type down to administer a little home cooking justice.

[MalahatTwo7]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

He said "Grog"

Haven't been offered to Splice The Main Brace in years................ Thank you Lord Admiral Nelson for the Pusers Rum.

[doughesson]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

He said "Grog"

Haven't been offered to Splice The Main Brace in years................ Thank you Lord Admiral Nelson for the Pusers Rum.

Not trying to hijack this thread(and pardon the pun) but when I was in the Navy,I shared a one bedroom apartment with two other shackmaster wannabes.We had a few rules like whoever comes home first gets the bed,everyone else just drop in an open spot on the floor,and most importantly,whoever eats the last slice of pizza has to call for the next one and pay for it.
The punishment for failing to do so was what we called "Captain's Mast". You fill an 8 oz glass with Captain Morgan rum and then hold a respectful moment of silence for the coke.
If you could gun it down without stopping or choking,you were off the hook.If not,you had to call your roommates "Daddy" in front of guests for a week plus, buy the pizzas for the duration.

[MalahatTwo7]

Not trying to hijack this thread(and pardon the pun) but when I was in the Navy,I shared a one bedroom apartment with two other shackmaster wannabes.We had a few rules like whoever comes home first gets the bed,everyone else just drop in an open spot on the floor,and most importantly,whoever eats the last slice of pizza has to call for the next one and pay for it.
The punishment for failing to do so was what we called "Captain's Mast". You fill an 8 oz glass with Captain Morgan rum and then hold a respectful moment of silence for the coke.
If you could gun it down without stopping or choking,you were off the hook.If not,you had to call your roommates "Daddy" in front of guests for a week plus, buy the pizzas for the duration.

FOC-ROFLMA OFF!!!!!


HAAHAHAHA I like those rules! and since I am a Connoisseur of Rum, there would not be too many (IF any) times for the latter part. {I am assuming that you are referring to Captain Morgan's 151, right?}

[doughesson]

FOC-ROFLMA OFF!!!!!


HAAHAHAHA I like those rules! and since I am a Connoisseur of Rum, there would not be too many (IF any) times for the latter part. {I am assuming that you are referring to Captain Morgan's 151, right?}

Though usually a Kentucky bourbon drinker,when I hit rum there's nothing but Captain Morgan 151.

Back to the original topic,according to Fox News,Somali pirates have raked in over $150 MILLION over the last few years.Obama's wanting to hit the wrong kind of pirates for tax revenue.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455864,00.html

Also,a Greek chemical tanker was released Thursday but the owners aren't discussing whether they paid a ransom or not.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,456427,00.html

This is getting serious and someone's going to get hurt or killed before long.Hopefully,it won't be any lawful crewmembers of any vessel.I still think SEAL Team 6 needs to be sicced on these bustards.