Somali pirates take a ship full of T-72 tanks

[birdstrike]

That's because of the chocolate you guys make. Everybody likes chocolate.

[Michael Emrys]

I just love our good reputation abroad! we get away with all kinds off stuff, and still the world likes us!

Well, there was that business a few years back about accepting stolen Nazi gold and then keeping quiet about it all those years.

Michael

[FAI]

I just love our good reputation abroad! we get away with all kinds off stuff, and still the world likes us!

KFCs and McDonalds promote your reputation far better than your State Department and military combined.

[purpheart23]

Sure that's the perception in.......Buitenzorgistan? I'd like to think that our military promotes our reputation very well abroad. Just following orders ya know.

[Michael Emrys]

KFCs and McDonalds promote your reputation far better than your State Department and military combined.

KFCs and McDonalds in Switzerland?

Michael

[purpheart23]

Not just in switzerland, but apparently that's where it originates from?

[Secondbrooks]

The Indian navy apparently nailed one pirate boat:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,454506,00.html

Michael

Yeah. Is this the same boat which Indian navy nailed and then they discovered that it's infact ship full of innocent (Asian) civilians, fishermen to be exact. Ugly.

[Splinty]

Yeah. Is this the same boat which Indian navy nailed and then they discovered that it's infact ship full of innocent (Asian) civilians, fishermen to be exact. Ugly.

Which had been taken over by pirates with RPGs if you read the whole story.

[Secondbrooks]

Which had been taken over by pirates with RPGs if you read the whole story.

So it seems.

[Bigduke6]

Here's the wire service report, not a great day for the Indian Navy.

NEW DELHI – The pirate "mother ship" sunk last week by the Indian navy was actually a Thai fishing trawler seized hours earlier by pirates, a maritime agency said Wednesday. The Indian navy defended its actions, saying it fired in self-defense.

One Thai crew member died when the Indian frigate INS Tabar fired on the boat in the Gulf of Aden last week, according to Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

One Cambodian crew member was rescued four days later by passing fishermen, but 14 other sailors remain missing, Choong said. The maritime bureau received a report on the apparent mistake late Tuesday from Bangkok-based Sirichai Fisheries, which owned the trawler, the Ekawat Nava5, he said.

"The Indian navy assumed it was a pirate vessel because they may have seen armed pirates on board the boat which had been hijacked earlier," Choong said.

India's navy said last week that the INS Tabar, which began patrolling the gulf on Nov. 2, battled a pirate "mother ship" on Nov. 18, setting the vessel ablaze.

In New Delhi, Indian navy spokesman Commander Nirad Sinha said Wednesday that the INS Tabar was responding to threats to attack from pirates on board the ship.

"Insofar as we are concerned, both its description and its intent were that of a pirate ship," he said. "Only after we were fired upon did we fire. We fired in self-defense. There were gun-toting guys with RPGs on it."

Sirichai Fisheries said its information about the battle came from the Cambodian sailor, who is now recuperating at a hospital in Yemen, said Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, the company's managing director.

"We are saddened with what has happened. It's an unfortunate tragedy. We hope that this incident won't affect the anti-piracy operation by the multi-coalition navies there," Choong added.

Warships from Denmark, India, Malaysia, Russia, the U.S. and NATO patrol the vast international maritime corridor, escorting some merchant ships and responding to distress calls in the area.

The Thai foreign ministry said it was investigating whether the Indian ship correctly followed the rules of engagement and was reviewing reports from the Thai Embassy in New Delhi, the International Maritime Bureau and coalition forces patrolling the waters.

The ministry was also seeking more information on the missing sailors, it said in a statement.

Sirichaiekawat said his company had contacted the International Maritime Bureau after getting messages from other boats in the region that the Ekawat Nava5 had been attacked by pirates.

Sirichai Fisheries asked if any naval ships were close enough to help the stricken boat. The British navy responded, asking for more information, but later said pirates had already boarded the ship and that any sort of naval action would risk harming the crew.

"The British navy instructed us to wait until the pirates contacted us," he said.

Meanwhile, the International Maritime Bureau alerted coalition forces patrolling the region and other military agencies in the area, sending them photos of the vessel, Choong said.

It was unclear if the Indian navy had received the information because it has no direct communication links to the maritime bureau, he said.

"We hope that individual navy warships that are patrolling the gulf would coordinate with the coalition forces or request information from us" to avoid such incidents, Choong added.

It was unclear whether darkness played a role in what happened. The Indian navy said earlier that the final showdown occurred after nightfall.

Somalia, an impoverished nation caught up in an Islamic insurgency, has not had a functioning government since 1991. Somali pirates have become increasingly brazen recently, seizing eight vessels in the past two weeks, including a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.

There have been 96 pirate attacks this year in Somali waters, with 39 ships hijacked. Fifteen ships with nearly 300 crew are still in the hands of pirates, who have demanded multimillion dollar ransoms.

Shippers worldwide have called for a military blockade of the waters off Somalia's coast to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea, but NATO officials said there were no such plans.

___

Associated Press Writers Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok contributed to this repor

[John Kettler]

Some new Somali pirate developments. Seems they're now involved, per DEBKA, at any rate, in smuggling weapons to Hamas. Also, the tiny Russian CVBG (Admiral Kuznetsov, a guided missile destroyer and a seagoing salvage tug (for breakdowns)) is now moored at the reactivated Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria.

http://earthboppin.net/talkshop/international/messages/48273.html

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sivodsi]

An update.

The tanks have apparently arrived for the South Sudanese (largely Christian & black, aided by Israel) to bolster their defense against several hundred chinese made tanks that the North Sudanese (largely Muslim & Arabic, aided by Iran) have on hand.

After several more shipments, the South are estimated to have 100 or so T72.

Add into this mix a recent discovery of large deposits of oil on the border of these two regions and the fuze has been lit for a local confrontation.

The piracy bringing these shipments to world attention certainly had the potential to embarrass some Western govts. I'm sure the Israelis would have kept the US informed as to what was going on. No wonder its been quietly shoved to one side since then. Imagine if these shipments had come from Nth Korea...

Um, not to make light of a potentially desperate situation, but Red on Red scenario, anyone?

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Gonna drag this fascinating discussion out of its crypt, as it's a damned fine read and, let's be honest, the piracy and general squabbling in the region is still ticking over nicely.....Here's another new angle (and another potential Red vs. Red scenario):

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sudan-warns-of-all-out-war-with-neighboring-ethiopia/?utm_campaign=steempress&utm=dailybrief