Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Pirates attempt to hijack another U.S. Flag vessel

It's all over the news that the pirates tried to hijack another U.S. Flag vessel.
It's not a Maersk ship. It was the M/V Liberty Sun, owned by Liberty Maritime.

Just a few comments regarding the report from CNN.

"The pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the vessel, which sustained damage,"

The pirates never made it onto the ship and the vessel is now being escorted by a coalition ship, still bound for Mombasa, officials said.


No mention of why the Pirates were not able to board the vessel. This will be interesting to know for other vessels to deter attacks.

We have had several drills to prepare ourselves to secure ourselves in the engine room. [W]e can do it pretty quick by now."


Comment by one of the crewmen in e-mail home.
Just goes to show, some preparation can pay off.

Pirates on Monday hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats carrying a total of between 18 and 24 people, the Egyptian Information Ministry told CNN.


The comment regarding this is straight from the same article.

Egyptian boats are known to use Somali waters illegally for fishing, taking advantage of the lawless state of the country and the lack of enforcement of its maritime boundaries.

Those who have tracked pirate activity in Somalia say it started in the 1980s, when the pirates claimed they were trying to stop the rampant illegal fishing and dumping that continues to this day off the Somali coast.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

re avoiding piracy there are three guidelines, preparation , preparation and preparation, not provision of gunmen . this from ex captive in Somalia in 2008.