I just don't get it - huge tankers v tiny boats. How the chuff do the pirates 'capture' the boats? They can't really kill the crews as that is what they want (in order that they can make ransom demands). Surely the tankers could just ignore them and keep sailing away?
grappling hooks!
Avast me hearties, arrrrggghhhh!
they have guns, RPG's and ladders and tankers move very slowly.
Not exactly rocket science is it.
it might be if they fire the RPG's at a moving target, angle of dangle and all that.
Yaargh, it be that they beguile the tankers with their feminine charms....aaargh!
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they have guns, [b]RPG's [/b]
Not exactly [b]rocket science[/b] is it.
Rather sounds like it's involved somewhere along the line, yes.
I was so distracted by her that someone just nabbed my biscuit....
mudshark - Member
I was so distracted by her that someone just nabbed my biscuit....
Biscuit Recovery Team on standby awaiting your orders...
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rocket science if you were making the RPG's, not firing them though.
But there have been dozens of hijackings with hundred of hostages taken, why doesn't each tanker carry a couple of rpgs? The pirates would be sitting targets (and it would be great fun as well)
I used to know a chap who was a rocket scientist. According to him, it's not rocket science, this rocket science.
That lot that took the American ship recently took 5 hours to get over the gunwales
All ships in that area will have a pirate watch & raise the alarm if they see anything suspicious & then try to fend them off with high pressure water hoses but if the pirates are shooting back up at them with proper weapons they can't win.
some tankers have mercenaries on them, however there are a lot of tankers and only so many mercenaries.
or are you thinking about giving civilians on oil tankers etc RPG's to shoot at very fast moving speed boats? if so I reckon thats nearly as clever as the idea of allowing everyone on a plane to armed in order to put off hijackers.
But the pirates 'apparently' look after the crews very well in order to get good ransom payouts - surely they couldn't risk hurting the crew at the outset otherwise they lose their leverage. And can't the crew just hide below deck whilst blackbeard and his mates try to board ship?
Bear in mind that most large merchant vessels only have a crew of around twenty, and only one or two will be on watch at any one time. Tankers and container ships can be up to hundreds of metres long, dozens of metres wide, and will be doing around 20knots or so; they have a turning circle of several lengths - not exactly manoeuverable!
Piracy of this style isn't new; it was around when I was in the Merchant Navy twenty years ago - just seems to have hit the news. GPS has made it much easier for them too.
atlaz, laugh of the day! Thanks!
surely they couldn't risk hurting the crew at the outset otherwise they lose their leverage. And can't the crew just hide below deck whilst blackbeard and his mates try to board ship?
I suspect your idea of risk & the pirates are somewhat different
If they hide below deck the pirates will definitely get on-board if they try to repel them they may not - I've not seen figures for failed attempts though
Where's Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal when you need them?
Clearly my simple view on how it works was way too simple...
The crew are not armed because that would increase the risk of a fire fight which sinks the ship, and the insurers would rather pay the ransom than buy a new ship.
shoot at very fast moving speed boats
They're not very fast moving when they're alongside with grappling hooks - in fact, relative to the ship, they're not moving at allnearly as clever as the idea of allowing everyone on a plane to armed
a bit cleverer. letting rip with a firearm on an aircraft can punture the fuselage, depresssurising the aircraft and possibly killing everyone on board. letting go at sea level means hit ot miss. you don't have to know what you're doing, just enough to know which end to point.
I wonder if the crew on this ship would live up to it's name if they were attacked?
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Thanks atlaz, now I can't stop listening to that!
surely helping fix the problems in somalia is a place to start
prevention is always better than a cure etc
What do you recommend Kimbers a couple of strategically placed nukes
FFS! I think I need to set up a "private security firm/service" to protect large shipping company.
This will be a move to beat the recession work.
I will start by recruiting ex-army personnel.
Its not really the crew thats being ransomed its the threat of damaging/sinking the ship and the subsequent environmental outcomes that are being played for, of course you could carry out that threat without getting on board. Boarding the ship is just a means to the dialogue.
What do you recommend Kimbers a couple of strategically placed nukes
What, for an entire nation of people?
So, you advocate genocide, to solve a problem caused by a very tiny minority of people?
So Britain should be nuked, because some people rob and steal?
Britain shouldn't be but London might be an idea
Behave yourself. You'll strain something.
I think that's what he was saying. 😉
What, he's constipated? 😯
why are pirates pirates?
'cos they are from Somaliaaaaarrrr
I think the little Weebl pirates are cute! Proper funny little characters. The one with the beard reminds me of a mate, and they've got funny little belly-buttons!
chewkw - MemberFFS! I think I need to set up a "private security firm/service" to protect large shipping company.
This will be a move to beat the recession work.
I will start by recruiting ex-army personnel.
Bit late, old chap! The market's already sewn up. Oh, and you need Ghurkas and SBS/Marines really, better profit margins.....
😉
I was on a ship in the gulf of aden back in 2001 that had just been attacked by pirates off Somilia. The pirates turned up in small roundabout and raked the vessel with automatics and then started firing RPGs at the vessel. I talked to the American crew and they shat themselves. It was a seismic boat so only had a top speed of 14 knts and it steamed away as fast as it could go. The crew had the firehoses out ready to repel any boarders but the pirates gave up. I saw a video of the attack and it got kind of freaky when one of the pirates shouldered an RPG. The crew were sound guys, but they were pretty freaked out by the whole experience.
Boats and ships are pretty vulnerable to this sort of attack and putting security on the boats just ups the ante. When the attack happened the captain radioed for help by there was only a french frigate a couple of hundred km away and weren't much help. It is a big ocean out there
To board a ship at sea, isn't that difficult if the sea conditions are OK, its when the conditions get to be force 6 up it can get a bit hairy. I spent a year boarding and searching ships in UK waters, the larger the ship the slower they can manoeuvre which make climbing up the side with a grappling line easier, if they are sitting low in the water line, piece of cake. Granted it was all we did and were trained, but we could get an armed 8 man team onboard within 1-2 minutes. Makes you think if we had decided to go, ahmem, freelance how much money we could be making now
