Somali piracy thread

[Mercenary]

why in the world would iran ship chemical/dirty weapons to africa??..it has no foreseeable interests in the continent..no allies, Iran should logically be stockpiling all the weapons it can, instead of shipping em around to destinations unknown..

[Skywatcher]

why in the world would iran ship chemical/dirty weapons to africa??..it has no foreseeable interests in the continent..no allies, Iran should logically be stockpiling all the weapons it can, instead of shipping em around to destinations unknown..

Might just be hazardous waste the Iranians are trying to get rid of. They have some fairly substantive industry.

[Mobbme]

Somalia asks Russia for help with pirates

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- The Somali government has asked Russia to intervene against pirates who have seized a Ukrainian cargo ship, the Somali ambassador to Russia said Wednesday.


The U.S. Navy released this observance photo of the MV Faina, which is loaded with weapons and tanks.

"The questions of freeing the ships and crew are being dealt with in line with the corresponding international practices," Interfax quoted Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo as saying. "For understandable reasons, the use of force would be an extreme measure because it could threaten the life of the international crew of the ship."

The pirates took over the MV Faina last week off the coast of Somalia and are demanding a $20 million ransom for the ship's cargo of 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms. The ship is anchored within Somalia's 12-mile territorial limit.

"The government and the president of Somalia are allowing the Russian naval ships to enter our waters, and fight against pirates both in the sea and on the land, that is, if they would have to chase them," Amb. Mohamed Handule said at a news conference in Moscow.

"We think that this issue of piracy has exceeded all limits. It is very dangerous that pirates are now laying their hands on arms -- not just for Somalia, not only for the navigating, but for the entire region in general," he added. "Right now, pirates are controlling the sea in this area, but just imagine if they get control of the land too."


"We may have bad news," said Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association.

Mwangura said some of the Ukrainian crew's family members are concerned for their loved ones' safety and have called him to see if he can communicate with the pirates. He urged negotiations to continue.

"For the safety of the crew members," Mwangura said, "let the ship owners talk with the pirates." Watch Mwangura talk about the rise in pirating »

A Russian navy ship sailing toward the Faina is in the Atlantic Ocean and "still has a bit of water to get here," said U.S. Navy Lt. Stephanie Murdock, who is stationed in nearby Bahrain. "There is no estimated time of arrival yet."

The U.S. Navy has several ships in the area monitoring the situation.

"There have been no changes today," Murdock said.

The Navy has not communicated with the Russian ship but will work out coordination when it arrives, Murdock said.

The Russian ship Neustrashimy is headed to the region solely to protect Russian shipping, according to the Russian navy spokesman.

"The navy command has been stressing that the Neustrashimy, from the Baltic Sea Fleet, has been given the task of arriving in the area of Somalia and guaranteeing for a certain time the safe seafaring of Russian ships in the area with a high risk of pirate attacks. The essence of the mission is to prevent the seizure of Russian ships by pirates," Dygalo said.

Handule, the Nigerian ambassador, seemed to criticize the United States for not taking action.

"Ships of more than 10 countries are now close to our shores, but we are not satisfied with the results of their activities," he said.

Citing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1816, Handule said, "We are inviting all countries, all states who have possibility to support Somalia to fight against ... pirates. We are especially inviting Russia and giving special status to Russian warships to fight, to help Somalia."

The latest developments came two days after three pirates were killed when they started shooting at each other, according to Mwangura, the Kenya maritime official. The shootout centered on a disagreement between moderate and radical pirates aboard the ship, Mwangura said. The moderates wanted to surrender, but the radicals did not.

The pirates hijacked the ship off the coast of Somalia September 25. The Faina had been headed to the Kenyan port of Mombasa after departing from Nikolayev, Ukraine, and was seized not far from its destination.

The Faina is owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, and its crew includes citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Latvia, the Navy said.

Abdi Salan Khalif, commissioner of the coastal town of Harardhere, told CNN the pirates told a group of town elders that one crew member had died of high blood pressure problems.

Attacks by pirates have increased dramatically in the waters off Somalia's northern coast in the past year, prompting the U.S. and other coalition warships to widen their patrols in the region.

Three ships were hijacked on August 21 in that area, the "worst number of attacks" in a single day in many years, Capt. Pottengal Mukudan of the International Maritime Bureau told CNN.

After the spate of attacks, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain announced that it would begin patrolling a newly established shipping corridor in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to protect international shipping. Canada also sent a warship through the end of September.

The International Maritime Bureau said in April that 49 pirate attacks on ships were reported in the first three months of 2008, compared with 41 for the same period last year. It recorded 263 pirates attacks last year, up from 239 the year before and the first increase in three years.

Finally, I hope the Russians blow them to shreds, dh$m Pirates!

[JamesCash]

It's happened before with the Probo Koalo dumping chemical waste in Ivory coast. I believe they reckoned the proper processing costs were to high.

[snapper]

"The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels."

The Times - Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship

[Exarecr]

These pirates are little more than thugs who deserve a double tap to the forehead....every last one of them. The longer we allow these lowlifes to smugly taunt and defy International law begs for a quick and terminal conclusion to this criminal action. JUST DO IT .

[Jay]

"The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels."

The Times - Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship

Another reason to cheer for Bush. He lately has no cheer at all. :)

[Dreadnought]

If history is any teacher at all, we ought do to the Somali pirates as we did to the Barbary pirates.

Agreed but nowdays it may not be "politically correct" wouldnt bother me in the least and I support it.

[Mercenary]

Agreed but nowdays it may not be "politically correct" wouldnt bother me in the least and I support it.

it's somalia for christ's sake...not atlantis..
nothing is politically incorrect in Somalia

[snapper]

Appaerently it says on the ships manifest that it is due to unload at Rotterdam...can't remember where I read that offhand.

[Guest]

Not sure if this is relevant, but seems like Somalia was a dumping ground before, so maybe this just a continuation of process.


UN: Nuclear Waste Being Released on Somalia's Shores After Tsunami

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
23 February 2005

A United Nations' report released this week says nuclear and hazardous wastes dumped on Somalia's shores had been scattered by the recent Asian tsunami and are now infecting Somalis in coastal areas.

A spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Nick Nuttall, told VOA that for the past 15 years or so, European companies and others have used Somalia as a dumping ground for a wide array of nuclear and hazardous wastes.

"There's uranium radioactive waste, there's leads, there's heavy metals like cadmium and mercury, there's industrial wastes, and there's hospital wastes, chemical wastes, you name it,” he said. “It's not rocket science to know why they're doing it because of the instability there."

Mr. Nuttall said, on average, it cost European companies $2.50 per ton to dump the wastes on Somalia's beaches rather than $250 a ton to dispose of the wastes in Europe.

He said the Asian tsunami dislodged and smashed open the drums, barrels, and other containers, spreading the contaminants as far away as 10 or more kilometers inland.

Mr. Nuttall said it is impossible to know the exact tonnage or number of containers of wastes on Somalia's shores, but that the problem, in his words, "is very serious."

The results of the contamination on coastal populations, Mr. Nuttall says, have been disastrous.

"These problems range from acute respiratory infections to dry, heavy coughing, mouth bleedings, abdominal hemorrhages, what they described as unusual skin chemical reactions,” he noted. “So there's a whole variety of ailments that people are reporting from these villages where we had a chance to look. We need to go much further and farther in finding out the real scale of this problem."

The tsunami's effects on Somalia were detailed in a report the United Nations Environment Program released this week at its governing council meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The report described the effects of the late-December tsunami, which killed up to 300,000 people in 11 countries. It says the massive waves dislodged hazardous materials in countries throughout the region and recommended that governments preserve natural resources and restrict or ban development in vulnerable areas.

According to the report, hazardous wastes in Somalia have also contaminated some groundwater areas there.

The dumping of hazardous and nuclear wastes onto Somalia's coastline is a long-running concern. In a media report last year, Somali fisherman said they saw foreign vessels dropping containers onto the beach and pollution into the waters.

Somali officials said the country was vulnerable to illegal dumping, as Africa's longest coastline is not patrolled and the country has no coast guards, or health officials and facilities to test whatever is inside the containers.

Until late last year, Somalia had been without an effective central government since 1991, when then-leader Siad Barre was ousted. The new transitional government is in the process of moving to the capital Mogadishu from its current base in Kenya.


UN: Nuclear Waste Being Released on Somalia's Shores After Tsunami

[Mobbme]

These pirates are little more than thugs who deserve a double tap to the forehead....every last one of them. The longer we allow these lowlifes to smugly taunt and defy International law begs for a quick and terminal conclusion to this criminal action. JUST DO IT .

Do it, do it real good.

[Knaur Amarsh]

I thought they just tried to go at any juicy ship that showed up close enough to the coast...

You were right about that, the pirates had no idea of the cargo aboard.

[snapper]

Sink it and be damned...

[bengalraider]

no need to sink the ship witha na innocent crew on board i would arther have ajoint SEAL and "alfa" operation. one team sinks and kills the pirates in the boats around the ship while the other takes out the pirates on the ship.

p.s why does the united states not use the famed ultrasound weapon the one that uses a high pitched sound for crowd control anyways.