Haven't heard much about this on the news or elsewhere, just some short stories this week...looks like the story is over now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110222/ap_on_re_af/piracy

Fish on...

Todd

There is too many other places to sail, why put yourself at risk and even sail near Somalia?

I heard on the radio this morning that the Navy took the pirates, 13 of them IIRC, into custody. That absolutely sucks relative to the treatment the Russian Navy gave some pirates they captured a couple months back. They chained them to their boat, blew it up, and sunk it. That's just so much more in keeping with the whole Jolly Roger concept. I read we just finally convicted and sentenced (to prison) one of the Somali pirates from that freighter hijacking two years ago. No wonder the U.S. can't get no respect!

Sg

That's exactly what needs to be done.

FEAR - a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

If you don't FEAR it, you'll keep doing it....

Keith

Ignoring NATO maritime warnings as to the presents of Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia can result in hostage taking and death.
I guess that means different things to different people.
Again why would anyone be so stupid to venture into waters that are clearly inhabited by pirates?

News said they were handing out Bibles along the way..

I would like to see coordination among the navies in that area. Draw a line in the water. Outside (seaward) of this line no pirates will be allowed. If they try, they die. Inside the line, you are on your own. No rescue, no nothin.

That does leave those currently in custody of the pirates in a bind, though.

Capturing them? WAFJ They should all be Shark bait.

The area the pirates operate in is so large that it is difficult or impossible to patrol it all. The rewards are so big right now, millions of dollars in a country where the average yearly wage is very low, that it will take a lot of fear to lessen this problem. Ufortunately, to create that fear, a lot of innocent people would have to be harmed. I read an interesting article that argued that most of the key players are happy with the current pirate situation. Shippers get to charge more and pass their costs on to others. Insurers are charging higher premiums and are making money. Navies get to practice patrolling. Pirates get money. All the towns and villages that serve pirates share the money. Only real losers are sailors but even most of them have not been actually harmed. Kind of an F'ed up situation all around.

Time for real live target practice, you want to run with the big dogs then learn that they bite!

It's time the US stopped acting like such pussies.


Fishy

Very sad indeed. Especially in this day and age.

I was hopeful this would have a better ending once the Navy found their sailboat but unfortunatly not.

All these super rich yacht owners hire retired special forces teams as their security detail. When not using thier yachts they should send them down there for training. Everyone know what they look like but we do nothing until after they've taken over a boat. We need to be proactive and scuttle them while they are still in their speedboats.

Hell don't even need a shovel!

Maybe they knew something more than I do, but from what I've been hearing on the news in the past year or two, sailing that area doesn't exactly seem all that safe....

That is one area I wouldn't want to sail, knowing whats going on with all the pirates...

Don't mean to sound like a douche but your asking for trouble sailing those waters...Pirates see a private yacht with no protection and that must be an easy target to get that ransom check that they want...

Decent idea, but not everyone in that area is politically friendly, nor are there a ton of stable governments....

+1

On the other hand, I read a while back that the pirates are good for the local fish and fishermen. The threat of piracy keeps the big foreign boats away.

The pirates are nabbing boats up to 300 miles from the Somali coast.

That is definitely the "other" part to the story. In no way do I find it justifiable to hijack boats and kill people but there is a larger story here. The lack of goverment has lead to exploitation of their resourses and the people doing the first and most signficant exploiting aren't the locals.

How anyone would spend time in that area on a boat and not be prepared to win a small arms battle is beyond me? I suspect they were relying on prayer.

It isn't just the Somali coast. I just read that the pirates are traveling across the ocean and nabbing ships near India. Maybe it's stupid to travel along the coast of Somalia, but under the Freedom of the Seas doctrine, you shouldn't have to fear Somalian pirates when you're nearly in India.

I think a joint Navy taskforce, excluding the US Navy since our piracy policy is screwed up, patrolling the 3-mile limit of the Somalian coast and sinking every vessel that isn't a fishing boat or merchant ship would create an active incentive towards some line of work other than piracy.

Sg

Who here hasn't known for several years that the coast of Somalia is infected with pirates? And very few, if any here are world sailors. Those four were experienced enough to know it was deadly dangerous to travel those waters.

Those four deserved, and were awarded the Darwin Award.

I am so sorry for their families. They didn't need to die. As many have said, there have been sufficient warnings to keep folks away from the area. Call it Darwinism, niavete, or just plain stupidity. They shouldn't have been there unless they had a quad .50 cal on the bow.

Call me a pussy, but you will not find me taking my family to Mexico, to Haiti, Jamaica, on a boat trip off the east coast of Africa, hiking along the Iraq/Iran border, or anywhere else where the rule of law doesn't keep criminals somewhat in check.

Being aware of your surroundings protects you only so much. I just think these folks were plainly unaware of the danger, and hopelessly arrogant.

GoHarley gets a star from me for his call on the events.