Somali pirates board oil tanker; warship en route

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

Somali pirates board oil tanker; warship en route
By KATHARINE HOURELD (AP) – 55 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali pirates armed with automatic weapons boarded an oil tanker with 23 Russian crew onboard Wednesday, and a Russian warship was rushing to intervene, a European Union Naval spokesman said.

Cmdr. John Harbour said pirates launched an attack on the Liberian-flagged ship, which is named the Moscow University, at dawn. He said the crew managed to evade the pirates for several hours while sending out distress calls. At one point the pirates, who attacked in a small speedboat, returned to their larger mothership before returning to attack again, he said.

The pirates are now onboard the 106,000 ton ship but it is unclear if they are in control of the ship or the 23 Russian crew. The ship is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil.

A Russian warship is heading to the ship at full speed, said Harbour. He declined to say how long the warship would take to arrive or what action it might take, citing security.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD9FGKQ500

[rpannier]

1. I'll take a guess at what they probably will do

Attempt to board and capture the pirates
or
They'll sink the boat as a warning to others

[SkyDaddy7]

2. Well, my guess is Russia will...

Get their ship back with no regard for the Russian Crew. I would be surprised if Russia plays the sit and wait game. And I can't see them paying ransom either.

I do not think Russia would sink that ship full of oil to make a point. Not that I think Russia is worried about the environmental disaster but something much more valuable to them, the OIL! Like I said, I think they would be willing to sacrifice the crew members in exchange for retaking the ship.

I hope they can get the ship back with all 23 crewmen unharmed!

We will see!

[Ohio Metal]

3. Agreed. SAVE THE OIL! nt

[activa8tr]

4. Well, the oil is more important than human lives, we all know

that! <sarcasm>


Look at BP, getting away with so many deaths over the yeas, and nothing was ever done to break them up, or get rid of management.
BP is just like Russia, in that regard: the oil is more important than human safety.

[Codeine]

18. The ship was recovered with no injuries.

Sorry.

[proteus_lives]

8. I hope so too.

But the Russians have never blinked at causalities in these situations.

[junior college]

5. You can't dump toxic waste in Somali waters one day and then

expect to pass safely through their waters the next.

[boppers]

6. Because Somali pirates are known for their environmentalism?

Uh, perhaps I missed your point?

[Codeine]

17. junior college is well-known for being

one of the only people silly enough to buy the notion that Somali piracy has to do with toxic chemicals being dumped in their waters. They're a regular fuckin' Earth First! and shit.

[Phoonzang]

7. They REALLY didn't want to hijack a Russian ship.... nt

[flvegan]

9. I'd hit the "mothership" first.

Then circle back to regain control of the Moscow University. Knowing the Russians, this will be done using a great deal of munitions.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Russian special forces storm oil tanker, free ship; no crew injured

Russian special forces rappelled onto a disabled oil tanker taken over by Somali pirates, freeing 23 Russian sailors and arresting the pirates during a dawn raid Thursday, the commander of the EU Naval Force said.

The raid against the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates had taken the ship over and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil worth about $50 million.
...
Shots were fired during the raid but no one was injured, Thornqvist said.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Alexei Kuznetsov said the pirates are being held aboard the tanker. Russian news agencies reported the death of one pirate during the raid, but Kuznetsov told AP that information was still being looked into.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gB7YMEDuCwwY9ncDOtPAkEI4-H2wD9FH5TKO0

That seems a pretty good operation. Hats off to the Russians, if the report is accurate.

[Alamuti Lotus]

11. Not a good week for the pirates; Hizbul Islam invade Haradere

and shut down the pirate bases there, and then they were dumb enough to go after a Russian ship?

[BrightKnight]

12. Messing w/ big oil is dumb and messing w/ Russian oil is suicidal. - n/t

[Mudoria]

13. The Russians, like the Israeli's, don't fuck around when someone does something like this..

[Phoonzang]

14. I told you they shouldn't have hijacked a Russian ship....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_re_eu/eu_piracy

[BrightKnight]

15. LOL - Kuznetsov "...Why should we feed some pirates?" - Medvedev:

"...Until then, we'll have to do what our forefathers did when they met the pirates,"

It sounds like they were all "sent home" with Darwin awards.

[Alamuti Lotus]

16. Yes, they were executed

The story about "sending them home" is barely concealed admission of as much.

I don't particularly mind the piracy (global capitalism could use a swift kick in the ass every now and then, just to keep the bastards on their toes), but it's fair if the attacked fight back and kill a few. This bunch was fucking retarded to attack a Russian ship anyway, Soviet "anti-terrorism" (shooting all involved, be they hostage or hostage taker and never paying a ruble) was legendary back in the day.

Personally I am betting more in the Islamic Resistance movements al-Shabab or Hizbu'lislam wiping the pirates out after moving into the northern areas. That'll be a hilarious day when "al-Qai'dah" comes to the rescue of world imperialism yet again and does capitalisms dirty work. Sheikh Aweiys personally despises all of the gambling and whoring going on in the pirate cities and would take great pleasure in wiping them out. The southern port city of Kismayo used to be another notorious pirate haven before the Islamic Courts Union (now split apart over differences mostly over foreigners and now known as al-Shabab and Hizbu'lislam militias) came in and cleared that ugly business out of there.

[KillCapitalism]

19. Kudos to Russia

They deal with shit & don't pussyfoot around. Who knows what they did with these pirates, but it would be funny if they bound their hands and made them walk a plank right into the sea.

[Incitatus]

20. Could they just create safe rooms on these ships?

The entire crew could send a distress call and retreat to the safe room which would be supplied with enough provisions to last until the military could arrive and take care of the pirates.

How hard would it be to make an area of the ship that could only be opened from the inside that could hold the crew for a week. Unless the pirates are willing to use explosives and possibly kill hostages to break down the door.