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Somali pirates 'seize 30 tanks'


The_Munchmaster

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Hijacking off Somalia is such a regular thing these days that you would think boat owners would take more precautions, particularly when their cargo is tanks! :doah:

 

"Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks, an official has said.

 

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

 

A report from Russia's Interfax news agency said earlier that the ship had a cargo of about 30 tanks, as well as spare parts for armoured vehicles.

 

There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.

 

The country has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and at sea.

 

Somali pirates are currently holding more than a dozen hijacked ships in the base in Eyl, a town in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

 

It was not immediately clear where the Ukrainian ship had been taken.

 

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said the captain of the Faina cargo ship had reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men on Thursday afternoon.

 

Andrew Mwangura, who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, confirmed to the BBC that the ship was carrying a cargo of tanks.

 

The cargo's final destination was unclear, with reports suggesting either Kenya or South Sudan.

 

Russia said on Friday it would start carrying out regular anti-piracy patrols in the waters off Somalia. A warship was sent to the area earlier this week.

 

A navy spokesman said the move was to protect Russian citizens and Russian ships.

 

Security analyst Knox Chitiyo told the BBC that the incident showed that the waters off Somalia's coast had "become a global security problem."

 

"Piracy has become big business and there seems to be no concerted response to the problem," said Mr Chitiyo, from the London-based Royal United Services Institute.

 

Last week, France circulated a draft UN resolution urging states to deploy naval vessels and aircraft to combat piracy in the area.

 

France has intervened twice to free French sailors kidnapped by pirates, with commandos freeing two people whose boat had been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden earlier this month.

 

After an earlier raid in April, six arrested pirates were handed over to French authorities for trial.

 

International navies have been escorting humanitarian deliveries to Somalia, where a third of the population needs food aid.

 

Pirates have seized dozens of ships from the major shipping routes near Somalia's coast in recent months.

 

Senior UN officials estimate the ransoms they earn from hijacking ships exceed $100m (£54m) a year.

 

Pirate "mother ships" travel far out to sea and launch smaller boats to attack passing vessels, sometimes using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland say they are powerless to confront the pirates, who have been growing in strength.

 

In Eyl, where ships are held for ransom, a flourishing local industry has developed.

 

Insurgents in Somalia, not known to have links to the pirates, are currently battling a combination of government troops, their Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia.

 

The US has an anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti and has carried out several air strikes against the Islamist insurgents, accusing them of sheltering al-Qaeda operatives."

 

 

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From a fried who is in the military (and was until recently on board of a ship there)

the main problems to catch these guys are:

 

- Big maritime traffic in this area thus they can hardly launch a harpoon and nuke any boat appearing on their radar scope -> need to close near and identify visually.

 

- Pirates are "clever" they try to board ships close to the coast so the dangerous "transit time" prior to boarding is as short as possible thus exposing them as little as possible to any foreign warship.

 

- Seems that pirates also use some "friendly" ships (unarmed) to warn them of any incoming warship

 

Thus, with a big zone to cover and a few warships it is not easy to catch the pirates before they board their objective.

 

This said, for once these guys caught something interesting.

I guess that there are quite a few people in the area willing to pay good bucks for some T-72.

These tanks although outdated could kick asses in this combat zone.

(especially if opposed to old T-55 or even older T-34/85)

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Shygye.

 

You know the cost for deploying a war vessel far from its base?

 

I don't think any EU country is ready to deploy all its fleet far away.

 

Greece: With Turkey as a neighbour they will certainly not send their fleet far away without a good reason (and they have no reason to do so)

 

Netherlands: Why send numerous warships at a high cost for a zone which is of no interest?

 

Spain: There was a quite big debate here when a Spanish ship was boarded there.

Spanish economy is in a bad shape so they are not going to waste millions sending many warships abroad.

 

Italy: Same problem as Spain but worse.

 

In addition EU is not a "unified military command" like the US thus it would take a lot for many EU countries to send many warships there.

 

There are already quite a few warships in Somali waters.

 

This said, it always comes down to "geopolitical considerations".

-> France sent quite a few warships just because some incidents made the front page in the French newspapers and the president needed to regain some popularity.

 

Also, don't forget that if a EU warship ever blows out off the water a Somali pirate boat it will probably makes the headlines here and more than certainly in a negative way, criticizing the military for indisciminate use of force against poor third world people.

(without taking into account the RPG, AK etc... these guys use)

 

:beer:

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The various EU Navys have held joint training, under NATO, for decades. So the command structure is ready to go.

 

No single EU country has to send all its warships, just 20% of their frigate class ships should do the job.

 

But it is more profitable for the Navys to intercept cigarette smugglers than Somali pirates. Got to protect the EU tax revenue. :p

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