Oil supertanker hijacked? By pirates? In 2008?

[mckitterick]

Seriously.

This ginormous thing - the size of an aircraft carrier -

Click the image to see the story.

has been hijacked by Somali pirates. This supertanker belongs to Saudi Arabia, carries 2 million barrels of oil headed to the US, and is currently held by pirates.

WTF? C'mon, people, why are rinky-dink pirates getting away with this sort of thing? Where are the high-seas police and military? And why aren't shipping companies mounting long-range guns and hiring merchant marines to man them? All they'd have to do is blow away any approaching vessels after firing warning shots. It'll be like the good ol' days of high-seas piracy, when every merchant vessel mounted big guns to keep away the riff-raff when the navy couldn't take care of it.

Jack Sparrow is seeming less a romantic figure every day.

In seemingly unrelated news, the Australian Navy is taking eight weeks off for Christmas. Seriously. They can't keep their ships staffed, and oil is expensive, y'know.

WTF?!

On a brighter note, Shiba-Inu Puppy Cam!

Best,
Chris

Comments

[emessar.livejournal.com]

... One step closer to making Waterworld a reality ...


Why does Australia need a navy? Are they defending their vast reserves of dessert and poisonous creatures? I mean, New Zealand sure ... they've got sheep ... and WETA ...

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Hahaha!

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

To paraphrase Jay Leno's reaction:

Somali pirates are holding a Saudi ship for ransom? Who are we supposed to cheer for when both are villains?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

!!!

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

In seemingly unrelated news, the Australian Navy is taking eight weeks off for Christmas. Seriously. They can't keep their ships staffed, and oil is expensive, y'know.

A peace settled on all the nations of the Earth in 2010, although it was less through the actions and policies of any nation, but more through the fact that oil had become so expensive that no nation could afford to spend the money to go to war. This peace was shattered in 2011, however, when nations realized that could be destructive in archaic ways by using horses instead of tanks. This did, however, decrease the range and size of battles.
A History of the Obama Administration, Eric Heindl, University of Oklahoma Press, Tulsa, 2027.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I love it!

[affreca.livejournal.com]

C'mon, people, why are rinky-dink pirates getting away with this sort of thing? Where are the high-seas police and military?

The ocean is huge. Not as big as space, but three times as large as land. On a long transit, you can spend days without seeing anyone. That coast of Africa doesn't have governments capable of providing coast guards, plus the ship was not anywhere close to coast waters.

Everyone is cutting margins. A ship like that has a crew of 25. To defend a ship like that, you'd need at least three positions to cover all directions. Pirate speedboats are small and zippy, so more would be nice. And they're farking hard to spot on radar, so you need to have your gun positions manned 24-7.

[chernobylred.livejournal.com]

Yes, this.

Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for something this big to happen, not that it happened at all.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

True. Hm. Something needs fixin'.

[solan-t.livejournal.com]

My dad tells a story of pirates in the Med. mistaking a submarine (it was night and the sub was at the surface to go through the canal) for a private boat. He said it was unfortunate, but the pirates realized their mistake and got away before the jets (on the aircraft carrier that was the first thing though the canal) could get back there.

It amuses me to think of the pirates' chagrin.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Wow!

I can imagine how irrated the military was that they didn't have fast boats nearby.

[roya-spirit.livejournal.com]

Piracy is alive and well all over the world.

Amazing to fathom, isn't it? (Pun intended).

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, lions!

[arian1.livejournal.com]

Not that this makes you feel any better but it's about three times the size of a Navy carrier. It's a BIG ASS MOFO

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Whoah.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

The puppies really are cute. This time they were all awake and busy fighting each other and ripping up their puppy pad. Papa caught them and straightened out the pad. Then he climbed into the cage and brought them a squeaky toy.

Bet it is nap time soon.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

You're the only one to notice that link. Yay!

*ded* from teh cute

[edichka2.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, merchant vessels aren't permitted to carry arms. As I've heard it from some foreign crew, pirates (at least in Asia) will often use remarkably simple techniques, like stringing a line on a moonless night across a narrow lane. The ship's bow picks up the line, swinging a small boat full of baddies to each side of her stern. Boarding may be accomplished by a pair of bamboo ladders.

What, you don't hear stories like this in Kansas?

- E

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Huh. Right there's the problem, I'd say.

I love that example! That'd be something to watch.

[terriblyfamous.livejournal.com]

yah, i always wanted to write a story about this. maritime law is pretty clear about not stealing boats, but it's extremely vague on enforcement. there literally aren't police that have jurisdiction out on the high seas. so, what if oil companies had navies to protect their shipping interests? what if countries had to compete for natural resource development with big oil companies? what if the bp navy had a run-in at sea with the navy of, say, india?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Great idea! I can just see it now... actually, I'd not be surprised at all to see it very soon.

[amjhawk.livejournal.com]

Obviously, to take out pirates, you need...

NINJAS!

Flip out and kill somebody!

[sarahbrand.livejournal.com]

Is it bad if I think this is kind of awesome?

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha!

(Yeah, it does, but in a good way. You might have noticed that I shared it, after all, so I must have found it interesting, too *g*)

[bobhowe.livejournal.com]

Dude, there is no such thing as "merchant marines." There are "merchant mariners" and "the merchant marine," meaning seagoing merchants, not merchant assault troops.

Most merchant ships have a handgun or shotgun or both aboard, which the captain keeps under lock and key. More for holding off mutineers than pirates. As far as arming merchant ships, the laws vary. Aside from manning at least four positions 24/7, you need to hire gunners who can maintain and accurately shoot at least a .30 caliber machine gun, and preferably a .50, since you need to maintain a standoff distance about as far as the range of an RPG.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I knew that; just being lazy in my language, sort of creating a new job position.

You're right, of course, that adding long-range weapons to ships would mean installing serious equipment that requires training to effectively operate. I expect arming merchant vessels as you suggest would also lead to a bit of an arms race with the serious pirates, and things could get ugly.

On the other hand, what if only a few ships armed themselves? Fleet owners could move gun positions from ship to ship, so pirates would never know which ones were prepared to defend themselves? Wouldn't the threat of a gun battle stop most pirates? No guaranteed easy pickin's?