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Is it safe?


observer

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According to reports the Chandlers were advised not to sail anywhere near the coast of Somalia because of the obvious threat, so what do they do, typical!

 

Now they may be in line for a tasty payout out by people who want to publish/film their story, here?s an idea, the monies they receive should be paid back to the people who paid their ransom.

 

On another note, where ever you live or go, safety is a calculated risk, however, you don?t need to travel past your front door these days to be attacked.

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According to a report I saw, the Chandlers were more than aware of the pirate risk and went from the Med and stuck close to the coast of India and then right across the bottom to the Seychelles.

 

They were less than a 100 miles off the Seychelles when they were hijacked. If you look at the map, Somalia is a bloody long way from there so the question should be asked why the numerous warships patrolling the area didn't catch a glimpse of the pirates either on their way or on their way back with the Chandlers in tow.

 

Probably PC rules of engagement say you can't fight anyone while at sea, just like when the sailors were captured off Iran the other year. A big warship lets a gunboat take British sailors captive!

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Seems around 400 merchant mariners are being held hostage still - this is now an industry to replace fishing, and a lot more profitable. These Pirates must view the West as a complete joke - with all our fire power and technology - they continue to take hostages. And with the Defence cuts, we won't have a carrier full of aircraft to bomb them out of the water - even if we had the bottle. :roll:

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It's very easy to critisise from a distance, but the Indian Ocean is a vast area, very difficult to patrol. Merchant ships are required BY INTERNATIONAL LAW to advertise their position, course and speed by automatic information system (AIS) which the pirates, as well as everyone else in the world, can access. Until the problems in Somalia are sorted out in a sensible manner, and the world's maritime nations get their act together, the problem will not go away.

:cry:

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The Somalis transfered from fishing to piracy, cos the multi-nationals were depleting their fish stocks. However, no excuse as far as we're concerned, they present a threat to international commerce, and one would have thought that such powerfull interests would dictate draconian action? The Romans suffered from piracy throughout the Mediterrainian and charged Pompey the Great with the task of sorting it out; he divided the Sea into a series of zones, and cleared them systematically, until finally destroying the pirate's base in Cicilia. The Yanks sorted out the Barbary Pirates - "to the shores of Tripoli" etc. It merely requires political will, and not the kid gloves approach we have with the current NATO nonesense. The systematic sinking of every craft that can float. along the Somali coast, would sort it - no boats = no piracy. :roll:

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The Somalis transfered from fishing to piracy, cos the multi-nationals were depleting their fish stocks. However, no excuse as far as we're concerned, they present a threat to international commerce, and one would have thought that such powerfull interests would dictate draconian action? The Romans suffered from piracy throughout the Mediterrainian and charged Pompey the Great with the task of sorting it out; he divided the Sea into a series of zones, and cleared them systematically, until finally destroying the pirate's base in Cicilia. The Yanks sorted out the Barbary Pirates - "to the shores of Tripoli" etc. It merely requires political will, and not the kid gloves approach we have with the current NATO nonesense. The systematic sinking of every craft that can float. along the Somali coast, would sort it - no boats = no piracy. :roll:

 

Observer, your comment sounds good to me, you have my vote! :wink:

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Algy,

 

apparently a large amount of money was raised via the Somali community over here too...... now seeing as the Somalis are possibly the most unemployed bunch of foreign types we have over here, a lot of that cash could have feasably come from the UK Government after all!

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found this on the AIS page

 

Should IMO be worried about the implications of terrorists or criminals using AIS derived information to target vessels?

 

IMO has taken an action to cover this area of concern, i.e. that operation of AIS in certain sea areas would cause security concern because information broadcasted through AIS could be collected by pirates or terrorists. Because of this concern, the last Assembly in November 2003 adopted resolution A 956(23) Amendments to the Guidelines for the onboard operational use of shipborne automatic identification systems (AIS) resolution A.917(22) which allows ship masters to switch off the AIS in specific areas where threat of attack by pirates or terrorists are imminent.

 

 

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:lol: nice one Baz! :lol: Sid, perhaps they should just have the AIS om RN ships, or better still on "Q" ships, bristling with hidden guns; and instead of the current NATO nonesense of stop and search (with the pirates ditching their guns overboard) - just lure them into an attack - then BLOW THEM OUT OF THE WATER -SORTED. :wink:
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Don't think I said "all" Somalis were Peter; we've got 300,000 of them in the UK for starters - no just the ones who sail boats out into the Indian Ocean to take hostages. :roll:

 

By implication obs. :wink: But I know what you are saying. Trouble is the Brits don't do things like that. They follow the rules and get dumped on.

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