Somali pirates just hijacked a commercial ship for the first time in five years
Source: Washington Post
In 2010 and 2011, groups of armed Somali men were hijacking merchant vessels off Somalia's coast at an almost daily pace. Thousands of hostages of myriad nationalities were taken, and billions of dollars were lost on ransoms, damages and delayed shipments.
The crisis was so severe that a naval task force with more than two dozen vessels from European Union countries, the United States, China, Russia, India and Japan banded together to restore order to one of the world's busiest shipping routes. They largely succeeded. In 2015, there were 17 pirate attacks near Somalia, down from 151 in 2011. Many of those attacks were on smaller fishing boats from nearby countries, mostly by disgruntled Somali fishermen, but not commercial ships.
Until Tuesday.
Somali officials acknowledged that the Aris 13, an oil tanker, had been escorted to the Somali coast by at least eight and perhaps as many as dozens of armed men on two small skiffs. Reports from organizations that monitor piracy could not conclusively identify which flag the ship was flying or where it was owned, but Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry confirmed that eight of its nationals were on board as crew. The ship was on its way south to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/14/somali-pirates-just-hijacked-a-commercial-ship-for-the-first-time-in-five-years/
Eliot Rosewater
(31,106 posts)those crooks out, eh.
maxsolomon
(33,244 posts)Demonstrate those vaunted negotiating skills.
Or start a war. Either way.
Aristus
(66,286 posts)You just know they are...
HoneyBadger
(2,297 posts)IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)Maybe bomb a completely unrelated country? Tax cuts? Gut our health care programs?
groundloop
(11,513 posts)NCjack
(10,279 posts)some relaxing golfing with cronies?
IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)denbot
(9,898 posts)I'm pretty sure he's trying to link up to the ship's microwave for intel.
Bengus81
(6,928 posts)IronLionZion
(45,380 posts)If the crew isn't trained to kill them, they should have the means to hold off the pirates long enough for the Navy to respond.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)What does work well are the armed private security guards at whatever cost they run.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)Eugene
(61,813 posts)Source: Reuters
Somali pirates release hijacked ship, crew without ransom
By Abdiqani Hassan | BOSASSO
Somali pirates released a hijacked oil tanker and its eight Sri Lankan crew on Thursday, a Somali security official and the pirates said, bringing the first hijacking since 2012 to an unusually swift conclusion without the payment of a ransom.
The release followed a gunfight earlier in the day between the pirates and the marine force, and then intensive negotiations between the marine force, clan elders and the pirates.
"There has been discussion going on after the gunfight of this afternoon ... We pulled our forces back and so the pirates went away," said Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, the director general of the maritime police force for Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.
A pirate confirmed the release was made without a ransom payment. In previous hijackings, many crews remained in captivity for years before a ransom was paid. Eight Iranians are still being held.
But the pirates said they agreed to forego a ransom after learning that Somali businessmen had hired the ship, which was taking oil from Djibouti to the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Pirates have traditionally been wary of tangling with Somalia's powerful businessmen.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia-hijack-idUSKBN16N2TX