Navy Exchanges Fire With Suspected Pirates

[warpedskydiver 0]

Navy Exchanges Fire With Suspected Pirates
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
3 hours ago

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Two U.S. Navy warships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates Saturday off the coast of Somalia, and one suspect was killed and five others were wounded, the navy said.

Seven other suspects were taken into custody after the early-morning shootout, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

No sailors were wounded in the battle, which occurred at about 5:40 a.m. local time, approximately 25 nautical miles off the Somali coast in international waters.

The battle started after the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez, which were patrolling as part of a Dutch-led task force, spotted a 30-foot fishing boat towing smaller skiffs and prepared to board and inspect the vessels.

The suspected pirates were holding what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the navy said. When the suspects began shooting, naval gunners returned fire with mounted machine guns, killing one man and igniting a fire on the vessel.

Three suspects were seriously wounded and being treated on one of the Navy ships, Brown told The Associated Press. A Dutch Navy medical team was en route.

The suspects' nationalities were unknown.

The Navy boarding teams confiscated an RPG launcher and automatic weapons, the statement said.

The Cape St. George, a guided-missile cruiser, and Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, were conducting maritime security operations in the area. They are based in Norfolk, Va.

The International Maritime Organization has warned ships to stay away from the Somali coast because of pirate attacks, which surged to 35 last year from two in 2004.

On March 15, the U.N. Security Council encouraged naval forces operating off Somalia to take action against suspected piracy. Pirate attacks against aid ships have hindered U.N. efforts to provide relief to the victims of a severe drought in the area.

The pirate raids are part of the anarchy wracking Somalia, which has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other.

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[Andy9o8 3]

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Seven other suspects were taken into custody after the early-morning shootout, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

I always wondered what he'd do once he grew up. Good grief.

[sundevil777 102]

Charlie Brown was also a member of the Golden Knights competition team, I do believe.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[rehmwa 2]

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Charlie Brown was also a member of the Golden Knights competition team, I do believe.

there was also a Charlie Brown at the Naval Nuclear Command

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Adriandavies 0]

I love the idea that a Somali bloke with a machine gun sailing on a small fishing boat thinks that he can take on two ships of the US navy!

[tbrown 26]

Aaarrgghhhh matey, so will there be a hanging from the yardarm ? Or do modern ships have yardarms anymore ?

Anyway, these pirates have been making a royal pain in the ass of themselves for several years now, so maybe just shoving the RPGs up their asses and pulling the trigger might send the right "message".

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[kallend 2,219]

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I love the idea that a Somali bloke with a machine gun sailing on a small fishing boat thinks that he can take on two ships of the US navy!

"Those who do not learn the lessons of history..."

On October 12, 2000, USS Cole came to the harbor of Aden, Yemen for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 09:30. Refueling started at 10:30. At 11:18 local time (08:18 UTC), a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, putting a 40-by-40-foot (12 m-by-12 m) gash in the ship's port side. The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control by the evening. Divers inspected the hull and determined the keel was not damaged.

Seventeen US sailors were killed and 39 others were injured in the blast.

Small boats can be very dangerous.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Richards 0]

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Aaarrgghhhh matey, so will there be a hanging from the yardarm ? Or do modern ships have yardarms anymore ?

Anyway, these pirates have been making a royal pain in the ass of themselves for several years now, so maybe just shoving the RPGs up their asses and pulling the trigger might send the right "message".

Better yet, don't bother pulling them out of the water to arrest them when you sink their boats. Leave them for the sharks.

Richards

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[warpedskydiver 0]

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I love the idea that a Somali bloke with a machine gun sailing on a small fishing boat thinks that he can take on two ships of the US navy!

"Those who do not learn the lessons of history..."

On October 12, 2000, USS Cole came to the harbor of Aden, Yemen for a routine fuel stop. Cole completed mooring at 09:30. Refueling started at 10:30. At 11:18 local time (08:18 UTC), a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, putting a 40-by-40-foot (12 m-by-12 m) gash in the ship's port side. The crew fought flooding in the engineering spaces and had the damage under control by the evening. Divers inspected the hull and determined the keel was not damaged.

Seventeen US sailors were killed and 39 others were injured in the blast.

Small boats can be very dangerous.

I don't think any skinny's, or anyone else is going to get that close to a US Navy ship after the Cole.

I wouldn't doubt that anyone approaching within a defense perimeter of a Naval Vessel is either going to do as told, or be turned into chum for the fish.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Piracy Remains Threat in Southeast Asia
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
5 hours ago

SINGAPORE - Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington and its allies feared militants could inflict global economic devastation with a high seas assault in the Malacca Strait in Southeast Asia _ one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

More than four years later, analysts say tougher law enforcement in the region has helped contain the threat of piracy in the strait, which lies between Indonesia's Sumatra island and Malaysia and Singapore. Still, vulnerabilities remain.

Indonesia lacks resources to patrol the coastline of Sumatra and other islands in its vast archipelago. Islamic militants are believed to have moved freely in waters north of Sulawesi island, about 1,200 miles east of the strait, en route to sanctuaries in the Philippines.

On a trip to Indonesia last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said maritime security is a top priority in the region, noting that one-quarter of the world's oil and trade pass through the Malacca Strait every year.

"Southeast Asia is more water than land," Rice said. "We are working with Indonesia and others to close this region's waterways to drug smugglers and human traffickers, pirates and weapons proliferators."

Tougher law enforcement has helped. Attacks in the Malacca Strait fell to 12 in 2005 from 38 the previous year, according to a report by the International Maritime Bureau, a maritime watchdog. Tens of thousands of ships pass through the strait annually.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have started joint air and sea patrols, while neighboring Thailand is also getting involved in the policing.

Australia is advising the Philippines on maritime surveillance amid concerns that Indonesian recruits of al-Qaida's regional ally, Jemaah Islamiyah, are sneaking into terror training camps in the southern Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf, another group linked to al-Qaida, operates in the area and has been blamed for numerous kidnappings and bombings.

"What was a problem of some concern has now been ... brought under control," said Tim Huxley, an expert on Asia-Pacific security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London. "Some of the reportage on this issue over the years has given the impression that the strait is highly dangerous. The figures show that that's not the case."

Another reason for the decline of piracy may have been the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 and subsequent peace agreement between the Indonesian government and rebels in Aceh province.

The disaster devastated Aceh and brought substantial foreign naval forces into the region as part of the relief effort, possibly impacting the capacity of pirates to operate, Huxley said. The peace deal reached the following year curbed the underground arms trade that supplied the rebels, which could have also deprived pirates of weapons.

However, bilateral disputes and sovereignty concerns could undercut cooperation. Last year, a dispute over oil fields in Sulawesi Sea, which separates Malaysia and Indonesia, triggered a tense standoff between their navies.

Territorial sensitivities about a navy chasing suspected pirates into another country's waters in so-called "hot pursuit" could also make it easy for criminals to slip away, said Christian LeMiere, Asia editor for Jane's Country Risk in London.

"There are doubts about the effectiveness of these patrols," he said. He noted that pirates are elusive because they operate in small, inflatable boats, often under the cover of darkness. In some cases in Indonesia, law enforcement authorities are suspected of colluding with pirates.

Some security experts have said terrorists could try to seize an oil tanker, steer it into a harbor and detonate it in a giant ball of fire. LeMiere said a more likely scenario would involve pirates seizing a tanker, blocking sea traffic and creating a huge oil slick.

Last year, the Joint War Committee of the Lloyd's Market Association put the Malacca Strait on its list of war risk areas, and some shipowners paid additional premiums for passage through the waterway. But industry leaders say many reported attacks in the region occur on moored ships of small or medium size, and amount to little more than petty theft.

"There is a very distorted definition of piracy as far as this region is concerned," said Daniel Tan, the Singapore-based secretary-general of the Federation of ASEAN Shipowners Associations. "A lot of these incidents are occurring within territorial waters, within port areas, on anchored ships."

However, attacks in the Malacca Strait can be ruthless. Last June, pirates boarded a Thai tanker armed with guns and knives and kidnapped two crew members, including the ship's captain. They were released 10 days later after a ransom was paid.