ANIMAL » Somali Pirates

Somali Pirates Vow To Save Haiti

Bucky Turco — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:46:24 +0000

In addition to hijacking ships, the Somali Pirates are also very effective at PR and have vowed to help Haiti by distributing millions of dollars to the island nation using some of their recent spoils. |AOLNews|

Nicolas Cage Will Get to the Bottom of This Whole Somali Pirate Thing

Cajun Boy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:00:07 +0000

In case you missed it, Somali pirates yesterdays attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, only to be thwarted by armed gunmen on board the ship. Now, you’re probably wondering to yourself, “When will the vicious scourge of Somali piracy ever end?” Well, fear not Sparky, because Nicolas Cage is in Africa right now trying to put an end to all this. Yes, that Nicolas Cage!

How the hell Nicolas Cage got involved in all of this and what his motivations are is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it’s all a PR ploy to make people forget about his ridiculous financial collapse, maybe he’s researching a role for an upcoming flick involving pirates on the open seas, but the star of Knowing, Face Off, National Treasure, and Con Air is currently visiting pirates being held in a Kenyan prison, where they performed some nice African dances for him.

Inmates danced for the movie star and shook his hand as he toured the Shimo La Tewa prison in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa. The prison has become a model for other jails in the country because of the reform work of its chief warden, Wanini Kireri.

Cage, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime, told The Associated Press Television News on Tuesday that he wanted to meet with some of the suspected Somali pirates, hear their stories and understand what is fueling piracy off the Somali coast.

”Then I’m in a position where I can actually make some sense and talk about it when I go back to the States where I go talk to different U.N. councils and discuss the matter,” Cage said.

I have no words.

Somali Pirate Shuffle British Couple Aboard Another Hijacked Ship

Bucky Turco — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:24:24 +0000

So that British sailing couple that blogged their every move and were kidnapped by Somali sea criminals last week? According to CNN’s “pirate source,” they’ve been taken off their sailboat and “moved to a hijacked Spanish ship” that is equipped with more supplies and buccaneers. Fun. |CNN|

Oversharing British Sailing Couple Caught By Pirates

Bucky Turco — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:05:52 +0000

Somali pirates took responsibility for the hijacking of a British couple who were on a sailing tour in the Indian Ocean reports ITN. Paul and Rachel Chandler were reportedly on their way to Tanzania from the soon to be drone patrolled Seychelles when the “sea criminals” commandeered their 38-foot sailboat, the Lynn Rival. They often posted photos and details of their travels on this blog and the last entry eerily reads: “PLEASE RING SARAH.”

An online map also shows their last known position.

A family member described them as experienced travelers who were well aware about the danger of pirates:

“They are not naive. They are very experienced in these things. They are not the sort of people who would put themselves deliberately in danger.”

Although, moving forward, they might want to think twice about offering up their exact locations. I mean, even Twitter and Facebook has locked profiles.

US To Battle Pirates With Drones

Bucky Turco — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:15:42 +0000

The Republic of Seychelles announced that the U.S. is providing drones to help fight against the ever vigilant Somali pirates, who have been very busy as of late. Although the country’s foreign ministry won’t divulge when or how many UAVs they received, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said they’ll have the resources to fly at least one sortie daily over the more than 100 islands that make up the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean. But unlike their super deadly counterparts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., these Skynet-style robopilots won’t be armed. |MSN|

Marine Conservationists Capture Fishing Vessel

Bucky Turco — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:39:35 +0000

The Somali pirates have struck again, hijacking a Spanish tuna ship on Friday. While some would argue they’re heroes and protectors of fish, others don’t see it quite the same way and authorities have decided to make matters much much worse. Two pirates allegedly involved in the raid are being extradited to Spain and charged, all while there’s still 36 crew members on board, quite possibly making this the worst hostage negotiation strategy ever. |AP|

North Korean Ship Fends Off Somali Pirates With Old School IEDs

Bucky Turco — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:20:14 +0000

A ship from North Korean wasn’t having any of that Somali buccaneer shit and repelled an attempted hijacking by pirates earlier this month. But they didn’t use guns, instead, “crew members fought back with molotov cocktails and sped away,” which was probably smart a move since the pirates started firing back with “rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.” |AP|

Somali Pirates Fail to Shoot Down US Helicopter

Will Sherman — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:54:38 +0000

Pirates off the coast of Somalia attacked US military aircraft for the first time yesterday. The Somali pirates opened fire, missing completely, as a Navy helicopter surveyed their hijacked Taiwanese ship being used to launch attacks on other vessels. Watch the “large caliber weapon” shootout after the jump.

Company Sues Anti-Piracy Firm for Incompetence

Bucky Turco — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:16:16 +0000

Tyco Telecommunications recently filed a suit in Manhattan federal court against K&M Global Security Solutions, for being morons, but specifically for failing to protect their cable-laying ships. The vessels were operating off the Horn of Africa and headed for the coast of Somalia. Worried about events surrounding the Maersk Alabama, and promises by Somali pirates to take revenge on ships flying the American flag, the company hired the anti-piracy firm for $1 million. Bad idea. According to the complaint they were total amateurs. What went wrong? Everything!

No show: They company couldn’t arrange visas for its international crew of mercenaries leaving them “stranded in Istanbul, 1,000 miles” away.
No gear: The anti-piracy team “failed to procure weapons, safety gear, night vision goggles and other equipment…”
No boat: Unable to secure an “adequate escort vessel,” these guys were so assed out they tried to hire a tugboat. When that failed, they went for their next best alternative, a ship from Iran, which “would have violated the U.S. embargo unless a special temporary license were secured from the U.S. Treasury Department.”

|CourtHouseNews|

Photo by Pierre Verdy/AFP/Getty Images

Pirate Season Is So On

Bucky Turco — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:12:15 +0000

Judging by the amount of ships they’ve been steadily commandeering and the dozen or so they’re still holding, it’s hard to believe that Somali pirates are deterred by weather. Still, the U.S. Navy is concerned there could be increased attacks now that monsoon season is ending and issued a warning. |AP|