Peter F Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 (edited) The taking of the Sirius Star has the stink of an 'inside' job about it. The vessel could not be boarded, in normal circumstance, if it was underway at 12 or 13 or 14 knots. The vessel could, in normal circumstance, not be located 300 to 400 nm offshore by a small vessel with typical navigation radar - unless they knew where to look. With modern satellite comms there is no reason for a Distress to not be sent within seconds of the bridge becoming aware of the boarding attempt. Which is to say: They 'pirates' new wher the Sirius Star would be and when it would be there and the Sirius Star conveniently stopped for the 'pirates' It was an inside job, I think. Something along the lines of the Salem incident of 1980 where the tanker stops in Durban and discharges its cargo to the embargoed SA govt who then sells it to an embargoed Rhodesia. Think big or go home, as they say. Edited November 21, 2008 by Peter F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 The Ticonderoga's are almost too high tech for pirate boats, plus they are needed elsewhere with credible naval threats ie china, iran, russia, etc. Let the obsolete battleships go after the pirates, they have low hours, and guns that fire cheap ammo. A cruise missile takes a cool million bucks to fire. Even though the USS Missouri is fitted with them. Against which they would survive more than a few hours at most, so really wouldn't these be ideal targets? It's every naval commanders wet dream to sink the enemy with impunity, and it doesn't get easier than this... Nothing like a ship with 16 inch guns conducting battery drills off the coast of Eyl to garner some attention... Nothing like blowing away a bunch of Third World thugs with overwhelming firepower to show how civilized we are, eh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 The taking of the Sirius Star has the stink of an 'inside' job about it. The vessel could not be boarded, in normal circumstance, if it was underway at 12 or 13 or 14 knots. The vessel could, in normal circumstance, not be located 300 to 400 nm offshore by a small vessel with typical navigation radar - unless they knew where to look.With modern satellite comms there is no reason for a Distress to not be sent within seconds of the bridge becoming aware of the boarding attempt. Which is to say: They 'pirates' new wher the Sirius Star would be and when it would be there and the Sirius Star conveniently stopped for the 'pirates' It was an inside job, I think. Something along the lines of the Salem incident of 1980 where the tanker stops in Durban and discharges its cargo to the embargoed SA govt who then sells it to an embargoed Rhodesia. Think big or go home, as they say. This pure speculation--to put it politely--and I think much of your willingness to entertain such fanciful notions has to do with a problem that afflicts many: the inability to accept the fact that a bunch of impoverished, lanky jet black Africans could pull of something of this magnitude... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Its hard to argue with this but I would have one caveat - that the countries these pirated ships are registered in pay the costs of dealing with the piracy going on in their shipping routes. Now where doth one register one's pirate ship? Do you know if there are certain minimum specifications for prospective pirate ships? Seeing the way the economy is going, I was thinking that I'd supplement my income by cruising up and down the Grand in my canoe raiding and pilfering unsuspecting landlubbers--I may as well make it official but actually registering as a pirate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeyhands Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Yeah, that's right... let's draw on the Allie's solution to a problem that eventually led to unrestricted submarine warfare... Not sure we have to worry about these 'pirates' obtaining submarines... Their goal isn't to destroy, it's to hold the ship and its cargo for ransom... I for one would be less willing to try to hijack a ship if I knew that there was the possibility of heavily armed soldier/crews that would repel any attempts with deadly force. For the cost of a few hand held rocket launchers.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Doors Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 I don't make "personal attacks"--that's M.Dancer's schtick... what I do is simply make whimsical factually-based ad hominem observations...There's really not much to this topic... piracy has been going on for millenia, and just because a bunch of black Africans really pulled a big one against modern western European society doesn't suddenly make it newsworthy... Except they aren't black, they are Arab. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Except they aren't black, they are Arab. lol Somalis aren't black? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddSox Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Now where doth one register one's pirate ship? Do you know if there are certain minimum specifications for prospective pirate ships? Seeing the way the economy is going, I was thinking that I'd supplement my income by cruising up and down the Grand in my canoe raiding and pilfering unsuspecting landlubbers--I may as well make it official but actually registering as a pirate... Um maybe you should re-read that? It was in reference to the ships being pirated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Dancer Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 The Ticonderoga's are almost too high tech for pirate boats.... Not the boats...the bases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Um maybe you should re-read that? It was in reference to the ships being pirated... Well, let's see, that was written at about 4 am so either I wasn't paying much attention or some cantankerous army man has been hacking into my account again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueblood Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Not the boats...the bases Those old battleships are fitted with some missiles, plus their big guns. That should be sufficient to deal with the pirates and their bases. In WW2, the most massive battleships were used to deal with light shipping. The Ticonderogas are far more suited to conventional warfare and shouldn't be wasted dealing with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Wow, what a fascinating discussion... and the relevance to the topic is what exactly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyser Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Wow, what a fascinating discussion... and the relevance to the topic is what exactly? Shhh...adults are talking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Wow, what a fascinating discussion... and the relevance to the topic is what exactly? For one that does not care much about that part of the world, you sure are active in this thread. I mean a good deal of your posts are yours. There is one other spot that is more active with pirates. The passage of water between Indonesia, Malaysia .. the Malacca Straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 For one that does not care much about that part of the world, you sure are active in this thread. I mean a good deal of your posts are yours. Interesting observation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueblood Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Shhh...adults are talking. Zing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderateamericain Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 seems to me the simplest thing to do would be sink the pirates ships in harbor. Kinda of hard to Pirate when you don't have a boat. And we wont even have to kill many people to do it. Just pull into harbor, tell them they have two minutes to get off the boat and then open up the gates of hell and scuttle them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 How would you tell the pirate ships from everyone else, are they flying Jolly Rogers or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Doors Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 How would you tell the pirate ships from everyone else, are they flying Jolly Rogers or something? uhhh... the skull and cross bones flag silly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oleg Bach Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 uhhh... the skull and cross bones flag silly It's hard to capture a Somali pirate because they are impossible to identify - Somali is the huges extended tribal family in the world - they all look totaly the same as if they are cast from one mold - Talk about dealing with a mafia FAMILY - and they are taking advantage of the bound hands of America - was a time when 50 strike choppers would have been sent in and sunk those dumb oar oar boats with the 20 house Johnston on the back.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Not quite... I'm simply implying that I don't care much for what goes on in that part of the world, nor am I partial to a media that only makes issue out of something when it has an economic impact on the West...If we could actually create a society that is energy self-sufficient, we wouldn't have to worry about these kinds or things or engage in needless wars in farflung dustbowls. Simply put, our wasteful lifestyle creates and sustains Third World thugs and terrorists... So put on a hairshirt and live in a cave if that'll keep you happy. I'm more than willing to kill a few thousand pirates if that's what's necessary to maintain my wasteful lifestyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Those old battleships are fitted with some missiles, plus their big guns. That should be sufficient to deal with the pirates and their bases. In WW2, the most massive battleships were used to deal with light shipping. The Ticonderogas are far more suited to conventional warfare and shouldn't be wasted dealing with that. If you started shelling the pirate town every news station in the world would be filled with pictures of sobbing women and dead children, and all the politicians would be running for cover. Likely the pirates would then sue them before the international court, and be awarded even more money than they got through pirating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 So put on a hairshirt and live in a cave if that'll keep you happy. I'm more than willing to kill a few thousand pirates if that's what's necessary to maintain my wasteful lifestyle. Why would I want to adopt your lifestyle? I prefer living as a civilized human being--self-sufficiently, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 If you started shelling the pirate town every news station in the world would be filled with pictures of sobbing women and dead children, and all the politicians would be running for cover. Likely the pirates would then sue them before the international court, and be awarded even more money than they got through pirating. And that bothers you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kengs333 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Zing!! you've been watching too much Power Rangers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.9a49e1b2f22a6d34a345152c50044aa9.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.