Sleepless in Somalia
March 16th, 2011 | Navy Pirates | Posted by David Larter
Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama during a piracy hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2009. // AP
“Joe Versus the Volcano” star Tom Hanks is rumored to have been cast as Capt. Richard Phillips — who achieved 15 minutes of fame when his merchant ship, the Maersk Alabama, was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden in 2009 — in the screen adaptation of Phillip’s book “A Captain’s Duty.”
Put 15 minutes back on the clock.
Tom Hanks // AP
The film is being produced by the same team who brought us the Oscar-winning film The Social Network last summer, according to the A.V. Club. This will be Hanks’ second time playing a captain — Capt. Jim Lovell in “Apollo 13″ — and his second time playing a bearded man facing misadventures on the ocean.
It was just a matter of time. It’s not often we get a high seas adventure quite like the Maersk Alabama saga. It had it all: pirates, kidnapping, bounty, warships and SEALs. The only thing it didn’t have was a buxom female lead, a deficiency I’m sure the movie will correct.
The story told by Phillips came under some scrutiny after crew members came forward and painted a picture of a man who was reckless in pirate infested waters and who was partly to blame for the ship’s taking. Read the rest of this entry »
The direct approach to piracy
March 9th, 2011 | Combined Task Force 151 mother ships Photos Pirates | Posted by Bill McMichael
In the Washington Post two years ago, a Washington, D.C.-based scholar argued in favor of a solution to the vexing issue of modern-day piracy that was decidedly at odds with the long-standing international practice of capturing and prosecuting pirates: Just kill them.
“The international right of self-defense would also justify an inspection and quarantine regime off the coast of Somalia to seize and destroy all vessels that are found to be engaged in piracy,” wrote Fred C. Ikle, a distinguished scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Cowardice will not defeat terrorism, nor will it stop the Somali pirates. If anything, continuing to meet the pirates’ demands only acts as an incentive for more piracy.”
On Tuesday, the ruling party in Denmark essentially agreed with Ikle, arguing that the Danish navy should be allowed to sink the “mother ships” often employed as at-sea bases for modern-day pirates. The Liberal Party also proposed that Danish naval mandate should allow the boarding and confiscation of pirates’ mother ships, according to the Politiken newspaper, courtesy of BNO News.
Both proposals are being considered by Danish government ministers.
It’s a particularly touchy subject in Denmark, still reeling from the hijacking of seven Danish citizens on February 24. Two other Danish hostages have also been held by pirates since mid-January, BNO News reported.
According to the report, Nils Wang, commanding officer of the Danish Defense Academy, said that a wider strategy is needed for anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean than simply chasing pirates.
Wang proposed that the United Nations sets up a new and efficient coastguard, in which Denmark could contribute. Wang’s proposal calls for foreign ships to pay fishing licenses so that Somali pirates can once again work as fishermen.
The U.S. Navy adheres to the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and customary international law while contributing forces to Combined Task Force 151, a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast. Member navies can intervene during pirate attacks in progress, can retake ships with special forces troops after a pirate seizure and can strike pirate bases ashore.
Members of a visit, board, search and seizure team from the guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg and U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South Detachment 409 capture suspected pirates after responding to a merchant vessel distress signal while operating in the Combined Maritime Forces area of responsibility as part of Combined Task Force 151. //U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric L. Beauregard
But they can’t just blast suspected pirates out of the water. Ikle, writing just after American mariner Richard Phillips was dramatically rescued in 2009 when Navy snipers on the destroyer Bainbridge shot and killed three pirates in an enclosed lifeboat who were holding him hostage, argued that if pirates show aggression, navies should be free to open fire.
Government lawyers who advise the governments attempting to cope with such pirates, Ikle wrote, “misinterpret the Law of the Sea Treaty and the Geneva Conventions and fail to apply the powerful international laws that exist against piracy. The right of self-defense — a principle of international law — justifies killing pirates as they try to board a ship.”
Thoughts?
Got pirates?
February 21st, 2011 | Gator Navy Maritime operations Navy Pirates | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Marines with 31st MEU's Force Reconnaissance Platoon make their way aboard combat cargo ship 1st Lt. Jack Lummus during a visit-board-search-seize training exercise Feb. 17 off Thailand during "Cobra Gold 2011" exercises.//Navy photos/MC2 Eva-Marie Ramsaran
The latest hijacking an American couple aboard their yacht Quest by Somali pirates is capturing more of the public’s attention than have dozens of other acts of piracy on the high seas, notably off east Africa where pirates are finding gold in the ransoms sought for their captured vessels ranging from large container ships to smaller craft. Pirates, it seems, face pretty good odds as they wait out for the big payday.
Once in awhile, pirates are plain overwhelmed, by firepower or manpower or just will to fight. We saw that when Navy SEAL snipers aboard the destroyer Bainbridge killed all but one of the hijackers who dared to grab the U.S. merchant ship Maersk Alabama and its captain in 2009 – the survivor last week was sentenced to 33 years in federal prison – and last September when a raid force with 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit assaulted the German-flagged cargo ship Magellan Star and captured nine Somali pirates. Other cases get less press, such as last year when the destroyer Farragut nabbed eight pirates suspected in an attempted hijacking of a Tanzanian ship. Just two weeks ago, crews aboard two Navy warships, the destroyer Momsen and cruiser Bunker Hill, blasted a pair of skiffs carrying pirates who tried to hijack the Panamania-flagged vessel Duqm.
Still, these incidents are few compared to the increasing number of hijackings on the high seas that threaten the free flow of commerce across the globe and have prompted international task forces to prevent and thwart hijackings. As of mid-February, pirates were holding for ransom 685 sailors from 30 vessels hijacked off the Somali coast, according to the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization, which warned the situation “has progressively worsened” over the past year as hijackings have become more violent.
So it’s little wonder why counter-piracy missions, including ship takedowns, have taken on a bit more gravity and somewhat greater focus as sailors and Marines continue to train and prepare for maritime interdiction missions, many which are so-called “compliant” boards – manifest, please? – at the lower end of the conflict spectrum. But the risk of a fight remains a possibility as pirates, drug-runners and human smugglers crisscross the seas in search of some easy money or fame.
It’s why senior commanders and seagoing expeditionary forces are rethinking and reshaping the tip of the spear. To stay sharp, ships and units train for potential non-compliant boardings and ship takedowns better known as VBSS – or visit, board, search and seize – missions. Just this month, a group of Force Reconnaissance Marines with the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit did this month supported by sailors and ships with Essex Amphibious Ready Group during “Cobra Gold” exercises. With snipers aloft on a Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopter and another warship shouldering the “captured” vessel, the maritime raid force slid down from helicopters and assaulted the combat cargo ship 1st Lt. Jack Lummus in the mock exercise.
With Americans now at the pointy end of the hijackers’ weapons, will U.S. sailors and Marines get the call from higher-ups to respond in this latest assault? And will there be a quick resolution? Stand by. The 13th MEU commander last year told a San Diego defense conference the “answer is perfectly simple: Kill the pirates,” although Col. David Coffman and other panelists at the conference agreed that such extreme missions would likely be driven by political will.
‘He sh** his pants’
September 10th, 2010 | Pirates The greenside | Posted by Phil Ewing
The cruiser Princeton and Marines from the 15th MEU approached the cargo vessel Magellan Star to rescue its crew this week. // MC1 David McKee / Navy
Sometimes, even when you encounter certain phrases for the first time, you can already hear them echoing down the corridors of history: “Axis of Evil;” “shock and awe;” and “quadrennial defense review,” are three examples. So too with the words of Marine Capt. Alexander Martin, commander of 2nd Platoon, Force Reconnaissance Company, who told reporters this week about what happened when he and his troops recaptured the cargo vessel Magellan Star in the Gulf of Aden:
“As soon as the first stack of [Marines] made our way into the bridge, their hands were up, their weapons were down, they moved to their knees and they were compliant,” Martin said. “At that point, they were pretty scared. One guy actually defecated himself. … He sh** his pants. I don’t know if that can go on the news or not, but that actually happened.”
Full coverage here, with great analysis here and the first of what will no doubt be a series of motivational posters here. Looks like this has started to pay off … and probably will come in handy again.
Unpleasantness merchants
August 20th, 2010 | Photos Pirates | Posted by Phil Ewing
Put yourself inside the head of a pirate hijacker in the Gulf of Aden. Would you want to encounter this boarding team from the cruiser Princeton, which includes Coast Guardsmen from Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment 404? Thought not. Outstanding images by MC1 Herbert Banks Jr.
Click for high-res
So how good is the pirate lobby?
August 18th, 2010 | Congress Pirates | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors from the cruiser San Jacinto paid a visit to some maritime risk-adjustment professionals this spring. // MC2 Ja'lon Rhinehart / Navy
Hate to say it, but the warning signs were there — as feared, a federal judge in Norfolk has thrown out piracy charges against the Somali Six, taking the teeth out of the case against the men who allegedly attacked the dock landing ship Ashland in April. U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that the government had “failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy as defined by the law of nations.” In other words, just because you shoot at another ship, even a U.S. Navy warship, you’re not a pirate.
People are peeved about this, but, as Eagle1 points out, Jackson has apparently kept to the letter of a very old law: “In the cases involving ignorant men shooting at warships apparently in the mistaken belief they were some other sort of prey and then getting their boats blown away by counter fire, you have . . . assault and very poor target selection. So, in the absence of a congressional act that defines piracy to include something more than ‘robbery upon the sea’ the result, based on this case — which, admittedly, has been buried under dust for some time — [is] not a surprise.”
So will grid-locked Congress act to amend this? The chances for that are better than they might seem: In 2008, after the Coast Guard had struggled to prosecute cocaine smugglers who’d been intercepted in semi-submersible drug subs, Congress made the very act of operating an unregistered semi-submersible illegal. It was a lightning turn-around, by Washington standards, and it gave the Coast Guard a new tool for use in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. The question now is whether lawmakers think it’s worth the energy to try the same thing for piracy statutes. Who knows? Maybe Congress will bow to pressure from the powerful ninja lobby.
Welcome home links
August 5th, 2010 | Historical Pirates Royal Navy Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC2 Gina Wollman / Navy
The destroyer Farragut pulled in to Naval Station Mayport, Fla. this week after a high-profile deployment that included fighting pirates, awesome high-speed runs, and even a time-traveling visit from its namesake. So today’s links are for DDG 99 baby, as Ice Cube might have said.
- Remember the mystery of what damaged the oil tanker M Star? Eagle1 reports that Al Qaeda has taken responsibility, but he has his doubts…
- A week after the world learned about the steering-system problems aboard the amphibious transport dock Green Bay, the Navy seems to be showing it has them licked: Green Bay is among the ships participating in Seattle’s SeaFair. Y’know what other ship is in town for that? None other than the recently rehabilitated cruiser Port Royal.
- Review roulette is not unique to the U.S. defense establishment: The Royal Navy is waiting on a U.K. defence review that could portend even more cutbacks to the fleet.
- We all knew that the littoral combat ship Freedom (with its hot-rod handling and full CODAG power) guzzles fuel like Kool-Aid, and blogger Craig Hooper has a sequence of photos showing just how often the ship needs to gas up. But c’mon, one commenter said: Cruisers and destroyers refuel all the time, too.
- Did you know that ONR researchers are hunting for a cure for blindness?
- Speaking of Rear Adm. David G. Farragut, today is the anniversary of his victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, best remembered for the timeless order that still rings in the ears of the surface Navy. What was it, again? “Disregard the hazards to our vessel; maintain present course; all engines ahead full.” Or something like that.
The pirates who might not be pirates
July 30th, 2010 | Pirates | Posted by Phil Ewing
The dock landing ship Ashland destroyed a suspected pirate skiff after its crew allegedly fired on the U.S. ship in April. The men aboard claim they were "ferrying refugees." // MC2 Jason Zalasky / Navy
There was a time, back before the oil spill and McChrystal’s firing and Ellen’s announcement that she’s leaving “Idol,” when we Americans almost had a national debate about maritime security. The nation was captivated by the pirates off the lawless coast of Somalia, and there was a palpable but unfocused call for the Navy to really lay the smack down out there — just shred all those guys because, hey, who cares, they’re pirates! Or at least start arresting them, instead of continually letting them go.
But U.S. and international commanders resisted, and when you’re done with this must-read story about the ongoing piracy trial in Norfolk, you’ll be reminded why. Defense attorneys for six Somali men accused of firing on the dock landing ship Ashland in April told a judge this week that the law says a “pirate” is someone who takes control of another vessel and robs from it. So even if their clients had attacked the Ashland — which they didn’t, they insist — there’s no grounds on which to charge them with piracy. (For the record, the Somali Six say they were “ferrying refugees” when Ashland’s crew opened up with a 25mm chain gun on their skiff, which burned to the waterline.)
The trial’s not over yet, but if the judge throws out the government’s piracy charge, that will certainly take the teeth out of its case. What would happen next isn’t clear — if the men were convicted on some of the other charges, they could still face some jail time, but nothing like the life sentences they would’ve gotten for piracy. And the world might have to think of some other way to get a handle on this problem.
Red Sea pirates make their debut
July 6th, 2010 | Pirates | Posted by Phil Ewing
Pirates have hijacked a large ship in the Red Sea. Should U.S. and international patrols -- like these sailors from the cruiser San Jacinto -- follow? // MC2 Ja'lon Rhinehart / Navy
Just as feared — and expected — the pirates of the Horn of Africa have broadened their area of operations into the Red Sea, according to reports, and added yet another patch of the ocean where merchant mariners must be on their guard. Eagle1 set it up and now knocks it down: after reporting on worries that pirates could move up into the Red Sea, he brings us the story of its first major hijacking.
Small boats surrounded and fired on the chemical carrier MT Motivator, Eagle1 reports, and then their crews presumably came aboard and took control of the ship. Unfortunately, this has become a pretty standard pirate routine. Here’s what does seem new: Even though seasonal wind and sea conditions off Somalia have made small boat operations more difficult, as happens every year, the pirates aren’t using those rougher seas to take an off-season — instead, they’ve just migrated north and continued their buccaneering.
Does does mean the U.S. and international anti-piracy patrols should shift their areas of operation too?
Are Somali pirates shifting their AOR?
June 22nd, 2010 | Pirates | Posted by Phil Ewing
A boarding team from the cruiser San Jacinto investigated a "suspected pirate vessel" in the Gulf of Aden last month. Pressure from teams like these may have driven pirates north into the Red Sea, according to a report. // MC2 Ja'lon Rhinehart / Navy
Eagle1, the Web’s top pirate maven, has an interesting post today that includes a report that the pirates off the lawless coast of Somalia could be moving north into the Bab-al-Mandab, the “Gate of Tears” that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
One reason, Eagle1 suggests, could be that monsoon conditions in the Indian Ocean have pushed pirates up into what could be more sheltered waters that make it easier to operate in their small, low-freeboard skiffs. Another reason could be that the international anti-piracy patrols might feel a little skittish operating in the narrow strait, and patrolling too far up into the Red Sea could dilute the effectiveness of having ships in the normal areas of pirate infestation.
So just as criminals want to be where cops aren’t, these pirates might see an area of low pressure, so to speak, up in the Red Sea.