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News - Somalian Pirates Release German Cargo Ship

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/af...tes/index.html

Quote:

Pirates have released a German cargo ship and its crew of 14 after holding them for nearly six weeks, the vessel's owner said Wednesday.

The "pirates have left the ship," Holger Lehmann of the shipping company Lehmann GmbH told CNN.

He said the pirates seized the MV Lehmann Timber and its crew -- comprised of a Russian captain, an Estonian, four Ukrainians and eight Burmese -- on May 28 in the Gulf of Aden.

The crew are all "well," Lehmann said. "We are very pleased that the crew came through this ordeal."

He would not comment on whether a ransom was paid, and it was not immediately clear when the ship and crew were released.

The Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, has become a treacherous stretch for ships, particularly along the Somali coast.

On April 4, suspected Somali pirates seized a French luxury yacht and held its crew of 30 for a week until getting a $2 million ransom. Later that month, pirates released a Spanish fishing boat after being paid a reported $1.2 million ransom.

The International Maritime Bureau, which monitors shipping crime, said in April that 49 pirate attacks on ships were reported in the first three months of 2008, compared with 41 for the same period last year. It recorded 263 pirates attacks last year, up from 239 the year before and the first increase in three years.

H. Lehmann...:o

Heinrich-Lehmann (Willenbrock)...:o

the home of that ship is my beloved city of Lübeck.

German media said that ransom was payed. Makes sure that it will happen again. I would prefer traffic avoiding the region and isolating the land, and when a hijacking takes place, eventually engaging in "robust negotiations" (=use military force to do more damage than their people are willing to accept). paying ransom or accepting conditons for me never is an option, because it encourages repetition of such events.

Perhaps they should send patrol boats with the cargo ships? Better yet, train security professionals to work aboard these cargo ships AND defend them...

Maybe they should travel in convoy with escort carriers.

Maybe we should reserve billions and dozens of billions in defense budgets to deal with a bunch of pirates armed with rubberboats, machine guns and panzerfausts. :doh:

Evading critical routes and areas would be the cheapest and simpliest solution. They do not behave kind in the world community? then throw them out and leave them behind. That will hurt them and their people much more than any of us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

Evading critical routes and areas would be the cheapest and simpliest solution. They do not behave kind in the world community? then throw them out and leave them behind. That will hurt them and their people much more than any of us.

That would not be in keeping with our government's traditon of extravagant spending to dubious effect.

I may be misreading you but I get the feeling you did not interpret my last post as being sarcastic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

Ouh, no, I took you for serious. Could happen. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

It's usually what we do. But sometime, you either have to go in for commercial reason (IE, the port's in the danger area) or the pirates go farther out than the IMB's recommanded distance from shore.

Last I heard, it was 200nm around Somalia. Those guys are getting more adventurous every year.

'tienne

Just have a couple of ships with hidden guns and a platoon of soldiers make a bunch of trips up and down this route, blast the pirates to bits as soon as they come close, that should reduce the attacks...

At the risk of bringing an old thread back to life (i didnt see the need for a new thread).....

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...-23109,00.html

Good to see!

Now, the UN as I understand it has approved naval action against the pirates. Why is it not being taken?? a couple of FFGs, maybe a cruiser if we want to really put the wind up them, at the first report of pirates, kaboom!

that'll get rid of them fairly quick i'd imagine..