Iranian-operated cargo ship hijacked off Somalia

[sabra]

Source: WP/AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. Navy says a cargo ship has been hijacked off the Somalia coast _ the latest in a series of attacks by pirates operating out of the African country.

Navy Commander Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the 26,000-ton bulk cargo carrier was attacked Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden.

She says the ship was flying a Hong Kong flag but is operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

The status of the crew or its cargo were not known. Campbell says the ship is likely heading toward an anchorage site off the Somali coast.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111800583.html

[denverbill]

1. You know, we should think about building a navy someday.

I can't believe in this day and age a handful of guys in speedboats can hijack ships with impunity.

[TheWraith]

5. They're operating out of Somalian territorial waters.

Technically it's illegal for anyone else to go in there and get them. Though with the last few attacks they've mounted, international law is looking less and less convincing.

[denverbill]

13. I'm not terribly concerned about violating Somalian territorial waters.

If they had a functioning government and a navy or coast guard, this would not be an issue. I'm reasonably certain the UN would pass a resolution allowing us to operate there under the circumstances, considering Chinese, Saudi, Iranian, and other nationalities have all been victims. We're talking tens or hundreds of millions of dollars going to terrorists here.

[TheWraith]

20. I'm sure somebody's thinking along those lines right now.

Somebody already should have been, but we haven't had much of a functioning government ourselves lately. But the way these guys have stepped up their attacks is bound to raise eyebrows. There have been more attacks this month already than in the 10 weeks prior.

Of course, simply going into their waters probably wouldn't do the whole job. We (or somebody) would have to sweep the harbor and surrounding area, in order to capture or kill pirates still onshore.

[Xithras]

15. Territorial waters belong to nations. Does Somalia even qualify?

Somalia isn't so much a nation as it is a bunch of competing clan and religion based fiefdoms. Quite a few of those fiefdoms, representing a huge portion of Somalias land area, don't even claim to be a part of the "nation" of Somalia anymore but aspire to be independent kingdoms. Those kingdoms, in turn, generally aren't recognized by anyone but themselves. On top of all that, half of Somalia is still under the control of the Ethiopians.

Outside of the Ethiopian controlled areas, most of Somalia is simply a no-mans land governed by whomever has the most guns. Inside of the Ethiopian controlled areas, the situation is only marginally better.

Many people have argued that Somalia, as a nation, doesn't exist. It's a geographic term today, and not a government one. If there is no nation of Somalia, it cannot have territorial waters.

[TheWraith]

18. Well... it's THERE...

And it has a nominal government, albeit one which controls jack shit. So I suppose it qualifies as a "nation" under international law. Of course I'm not sure if international law is capable of recognizing an area where more than a handful of people live, but doesn't meet the traditional definitions of a country.

[Robbien]

7. It is not a couple of guys in speedboats. Somali pirating is a well funded big business.

With the (US backed) overthrow of Somalia government, the territorial waters off Somalia became a free-for-all. Trawlers from more than 16 different nations were recorded within its waters. EU vessels flying flags of convenience cut deals with the illegitimate authorities in Somalia, according to UN investigators.

Clashes between large, foreign fishing interests and Somali fishermen in the late 1990s were the prelude to the upsurge in piracy.

The epicenter of this piracy is the port town of Eyl. In Eyl, the streets are lined with new buildings and awash with Landcruisers, laptops, satellite phones and global positioning systems. An industry has grown up around the pirates, with restaurants to feed the kidnapped crews who as potentially tradable assets must be looked after.

There is no unified effort to stop the piracy because the trawlers are not really supposed to be there in the first place. The traffic is being conducted in Somalia territorial waters, coming and going freely because there is no real Somalian government to stop it or with which to negotiate a deal to use the waters.

It is more profitable to just use the Somalian waterway free of charge and pay the pirates ransom for any ships they may hi-jack.

[denverbill]

14. Well, that's a lot more than I knew about it. I had no idea it was big business.

I knew they were organized. My speedboat reference referred more to the pictures I've seen of them, and in those pictures, they are essentially using small boats and light weapons, nothing more than rpg's and rifles. It's not like it would require a destroyer to fight them. A couple marines on every ship with a few tow missiles would eliminate them all easily.

[slackmaster]

23. Behold the fruits of gun control in action

International law prohibits merchant vessels from being armed with effective weapons, e.g. machine guns.

[denverbill]

27. Oh, yeah, gun control. That's the problem. That explains the rash of piracy around England lately.

I can't say I know the history of this particular international law, but if I had to guess it would be either related to 'merchant' vessels armed with machine guns attacking actual merchant vessels or drug-runners arming their boats with machine guns.

The problem here isn't unarmed merchant ships. It's the failed government of Somalia. And just as in some American inner-cities, the problem isn't a lack of guns among the 'dis-armed' populace. It's the lack of an effective police deterrent that allows crime and gangs to run amok.

[JohnnyRingo]

2. I'm not sure I understand how they hold these ships with immunity

I can see how they get away with hijacking, but then they dock a supertanker or large cargo ship, and tell the owner they can't have it back.

What if it was an airliner held by terrorists? Would a ransom be paid?

[The Stranger]

3. Why does the U.S. military invade countries for no reason and murder its inhabitants, when pirates

are literally stealing oil from ships right beneath its nose, and it does nothing?

[Nihil]

4. It prefers to steal from stationary victims ...

... makes the bottom line of the accounting report look better ...

[sam sarrha]

21. because pirates don't attack other pirates...

[Romulox]

6. Sounds like "free market" economics taken to its logical extreme.

It's not the US' job to protect Iranian shipping profits, one way or the other.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Actually, there is an international treaty that requires members to act

against piracy on the open seas when possible. India recovered, and prosecuted the Indonesian pirates that hijacked the Japanese freighter Alondra Rainbow (full of about 10 million in Aluminium ingots) in Indonesian waters, for this reason, because it passed through Indian waters while crewed by the pirates. This is not necessarily about protecting Iranian shipping.

It IS a good opportunity to build a little good will with Iran, by assisting them, or a joint military operation to recover the ship and it's crew, safe and sound. Opportunity doesn't knock often, I hear.

Article 105 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

[Romulox]

11. So agitate for Germany, Japan, or China to intervene. nt

[AtheistCrusader]

12. None of whom are really in a position to do so.

If we are going to have this huge Navy, scattered all around the globe, might as well use it to good effect. Again, this is a chance to build bridges with Iran, instead of one of our leaders getting in front of a camera, blathering about how evil they are, and burning bridges.

I generally support a reduction in military force around the globe, but we are in the neighborhood today, and the chance to act is before us right now.

Edit: There is a Russian destroyer in the region, another nation we should be building bridges with.

[Romulox]

16. "Position to do so"??? Why not?

If three of the wealthiest nations on earth are "not in a position" (???) to act, despite being *required* to do so by international treaty, what you are really saying is:

The United States has a special responsibility (which no other country has) to police international shipping lanes. That's garbage. Pax Americana is over. Time for Pax China.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. I think you misunderstood me.

By 'not in a position' I mean they don't have any assets in the area to project force with. We are. We also have a bit of a public relations deficit with Iran. I'm not advocating a Pax Americana or anything like that. Nor does the treaty require Germany to hike it's navy all the way over there to deal with this. We don't have a responsibility to police the entire high seas, nor does any other individual nation. We're in the neighborhood. Seems reasonable to me to fix this particular situation.

[Romulox]

25. Ummm, this has been going on for 5 days. Germany could've "hiked it's navy" there by now.

:hi:

[Maineman]

8. Perhaps shippers should hire private contractors like Blackwater to ride shotgun

This would seem to be a much more appropriate use of them than the kind of activities the Bush-Cheney gang has used them for.

[slackmaster]

24. Not legal

Prohibited by international treaties and laws.

[Regret My New Name]

31. It's illegal to have security on board ships?

[ohio2007]

32. its expensive and besides...whats to keep them from going "pirate" on the company ship

[Regret My New Name]

33. Same thing that prevents any security companies from go 'pirate' on anything...

Obviously such things happen, but there is usually that whole bad for business thing... If the ships your company are protecting keep getting hijacked, then people are probably going to want to use your services.

[Soylent Brice]

9. these pirates are damned good at what they do

how many hijackings is this so far this year? a brazillion??

seriously though. these guys are like ninjas. wait until they get a hold of some nuclear materials, or some cruise missiles. that'll be fun to watch, ey?

i hope someone is trying to track these black market sales to see whose hands this shit is ending up in...

[sam sarrha]

19. they hijacked ship was over 200 miles out..when attacked.. they are in deeo shit now..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7067192.stm

[FarCenter]

22. Time for the Third Barbary War

The first and second were against the Barbary Pirates of the North African coast circa 1805 and 1815.

[Romulox]

26. Always a new Holy War round the bend!

Isn't it great that the US is "uniquely positioned" to be the world's Hessian?

[Uncle Joe]

28. Aarrrgghh, these pirates are getting out of hand, aarrrgghhh! n/t

[KansDem]

29. What ever happened to sending in the mighty American armada for "exercises?"

I mean, don't we send the fleet to "trouble spots" for "exercises" when we really want to send a message? It seems to me if we float a few ships just off the coast of Somalia, this shit would stop.

But then, does Somalia have oil?

[Kire]

30. Old pirates, yes, they rob I,

Old pirates, yes, they rob I,
Sold I to the merchant ships.
Minutes after they took I,
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong,
By the hand of the All Mighty.
We forward in this generation,
Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom ?
'Cause all I ever had,
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery,
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's just a part of it,
We've got to fullfil the book.

So won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever had,
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs,
Redemption songs.
-
/Guitar break/
-
Old pirates, yes, they rob I,
Sold I to the merchant ships.
Minutes after they took I,
From the bottomless pit.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?