A US vessel seized by pirates has been recaptured by its crew, according to reports cited by the LA Times. The Maersk Alabama’s crew, though unarmed, were somehow able to recover control of their vessel, although they are not armed by the owners.
The 20-member crew – which was unarmed, according to the ship’s owner — managed to overpower the pirates and regain control, according to U.S. officials.
But the ship’s captain was reportedly being held captive by some of the pirates, who have been driven into the ship’s lifeboat, according to an American defense official. … Maersk Chief Executive John Reinhart said the company’s seafarers were well-trained to deal with the risks of piracy. “We have ways to push back, but we don’t carry arms,” he said.
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Readers will recall that the British Navy has been advised not to engage pirates on the grounds that if captured, the buccaneers can claim asylum in Europe. The Times Online reported that “the Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights. Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain. The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.”
More details have emerged suggesting that the pirates were lured by the ship’s captain into a situation where they lost control of the ship to the crew. ”
Second mate Quinn said the four pirates sank their own boat when they boarded the container ship. However, the captain talked them into getting off the freighter and into the ship’s lifeboat with him.
The crew then overpowered one of the pirates and sought to exchange him for the captain, Quinn told CNN. “We kept him for 12 hours. We tied him up,” Quinn said. The crew released their captive to the other pirates, but the exchange did not work and the captain was still being held by the pirates on the lifeboat, he told CNN.
“They are not aboard. We are controlling” the ship, he said. Maersk Line president and chief executive John Reinhart told reporters he had received a cell phone call from the crew at about 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) saying they were all safe. He said company protocol advised the U.S. sailors not to attempt to retake the ship once hijackers were on board. “Once boarded, the crew has safe rooms and they are not to take on active engagement because they have no weapons. It would be a risk to their lives,” Reinhart said.
Arming crews has been discouraged. The Huffington Post quotes sources saying that weapons aboard ship is “not the answer” and that “a culture of awareness” is the best defense.
It is illegal for crews to carry weapons in the territorial waters of many nations, and ship captains are wary of arming crew members for fear of mutinies, Nincic said. Also, some worry that arming crew members would only cause the violence to escalate.
Instead, the best defense is vigilance, [Professor Donna] Nincic [of California Maritime Academy in Vallejo] tells students.
“If you demonstrate a culture of awareness, that you look like you know you’re in pirate waters and are clearly standing watch, patrolling, etc., the pirates know you’re going to be more difficult to board and are possibly going to wait for the next ship and board the one that’s easier,” she said.
It is unclear what the tactical situation aboard the Alabama Maersk is. The Guardian reports that
A US warship, the USS destroyer Bainbridge, was on its way to the area this evening. “We are trying to hold them off until the US ship arrives,” said Ken Quinn, second mate on the ship. … Obama and the White House team had only arrived back in Washington at about 3am (EST) after a week-long tour of Europe and Iraq, but they monitored the crisis, facing the prospect of paying millions in ransom money, as other countries have done, or ordering military action.
Captain Joe Murphy, father of the ship’s second-in-command, Shane, and a lecturer at the Massacusetts Maritime Academy, said today that his son and other crew members had turned the tables on the captors. His son had recently talked to a class at the academy about the dangers of piracy. …
Until now, only France has taken firm action against pirates that kidnapped its citizens. In April last year French commandos arrested six gunmen on Somali soil after they had released 30 French hostages aboard a luxury yacht following a ransom payment.
Personally, I am somewhat skeptical of the power of “international law” and “culture of awareness” and “safe rooms” to keep out pirates. Sometimes I think these are nothing but games international lawyers play so that they can impose fines and sue the people who fail to abide by their chickenshit rules. It’s a racket aimed at the potential victims which does nothing whatsoever to stop the actual perpetrators, who will actually be represented for asylum by other international lawyers in the unlikely event they are taken into custody. In the meantime, millions of dollars are paid to these cut-throats, who not only run roughshod over the law abiding members of their own communities, but terrorize international shipping.The problem is that civilization is fighting the wrong pirates. The real ones wear suits.
Here’s the obligatory link to a video, but in this case it should be played when the crew of the Maersk make port. They are the true successors to the spirit of the tune.
Joe Murphy alive or Raisuli dead.
My apologies: I should have written “Richard Phillips alive or Raisuli dead.”
Wretchard:
“Readers will recall that the British Navy has been advised not to engage pirates on the grounds that if captured, the buccaneers can claim asylum in Europe.”
I know this is the obvious response (pardon me).
Why capture them? Toss the pirates overboard, preferably with a chain wrapped around them. Problem solved.
It looks like there was a “culture of awareness” here and yet it didn’t save the captain from being taken hostage. I suspect a gun might’ve helped prevent that.
Regarding the British concerns about the pirates getting asylum in Europe, when and how does an act of piracy cross the line and become an act of war? In which case, what happens if you kill them on the spot? What’s the difference between a pirate and an unlawful combatant anyway? I’m thinking of the Geneva rules so beloved of the Left that state unlawful combatants may be shot on sight (and undoubtedly will be more often in the future).
Sorry for so many questions but I’m frankly baffled at the world-wide reluctance to do anything about these vultures. Isn’t piracy considered the worst of all maritime crimes?
I just dont believe things can keep careening along towards a world chaos aided and abetted by people on the left that rewards the mooches, looters and destructors and purposely hamstrings and punishes the decent people of the world.
nothing lasts for ever and this state of afairs wont either.
You just know that if the situation isn’t resolved by the crew by the time the Navy arrives, Obama will feel constrained to have the Navy surrender to the pirates to salve their hurted little feelings.
I do *not* want to pay ransom to these idjuts. We’re already paying too damned much ransom to Russia, EU, North Korea and Iran, trying to buy their friendship.
USS Bainbridge…not sure if that is a good omen or a bad one. Captain Bainbridge ran his frigate Philadelphia aground at Tripoli in 1803 while blockading the harbor. One the plus side, that did lead to one of the great exploits of the early US Navy…
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/barb-war/capt-phl.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/barb-war/burn-phl.htm
I was troubled by the same thing, as I wrote here: http://jasonholliston.com/2009/04/08/why-unarmed/. I’m betting it all comes down to fear of lawsuits more than any thing else. I don’t buy that it’s too dangerous to have the crew armed. More dangerous than being hijacked? It’s lawsuit paranoia masquerading as anti-gun rhetoric.
Why not just allow all legally registered commercial vessels to be armed? A couple inexpensive .30 caliber medium machine guns would do the trick. Crew members could be armed with sidearms and 12 gauge pump action shotguns. Simple, dependable, cheap and safe to handle with a minimum of training.
The professional mariners of many nations who captain, navigate and crew large and medium commercial vessels are some of the most competent individuals on the planet, why not trust them to defend themselves and their multi-million dollar vessels? All the arms could be secured in a suitable steel vault when coming into port once the local pilot had come aboard and his credentials verified.
This is yet another artificial crisis resulting from government sticking it’s big fat hairy nose in where it doesn’t belong.
Right now the spin pouring out of this piracy is astounding.
Nothing is adding up.
It sounds like a commercial version of the Liberty fiasco.
Exactly who is feeding these pirates accurate location intel?
How in hell can you board such a large ship from a skiff in open ocean and at speed?
Will we have to resort to convoys? We sure have enough idle capacity to go that way.
NahnCee,
You left off AIG, Bank of America, GM, etc., etc. in your buyoff list. When are we going to “just say no?”
Arming ships against pirates can work. In September, 2008 the USNS John Lenthall, a fleet replenishment oiler with a largely civilian crew, was pursued by Somali pirates who turned back after the Navy security team on board fired warning shots:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/pirates-choose-wrong-ship-to-mess-with/
You want a culture of awareness? How about every time that the pirates approached a ship they were aware that they will likely get their heads blown off. That is the only awareness that will have an effect on those cutthroats. Historically, piracy was concidered the most heinous of crimes and pirates were always dealt with in the harshest possible way. Deal with them the way pirates have always been dealt with and the problem will end.
We could upset the calculus of the pirates by Q-shipping:
Just place marines and the occasional SEAL team on such a bait ship as the Maersk Alabama. It’s not as if such a vessel isn’t an obvious target.
I’m sure the SEALs or Marines would love the R&R.
Right now the economics of the situation means that ever more piracy pays off big.
BTW am I the only one who notices that Yemen and Somalia blew up AFTER the death of OBL in Pashtunistan and the departure of his Yemeni Black Guard to their home turf?
Interesting, no?
This is going to be a huge issue for shipping and other firms. Right now, shipping is down, way down, and expenses cut to the bone. Shipping firms cannot afford to pay ransom, and even with avoiding the Suez Canal (now a big thing because of the piracy and the fees) the pirates can reach out and grab ships still.
Somalia’s only money that comes in is from Piracy, so they won’t stop.
The various “safe room and awareness” crowds, which fear fighting back because it takes power away from the feminine and gives it to the masculine, face a crunch:
MONEY.
Money, and the likeliness of crews being unwilling to serve in unarmed vessels, means that either shipping firms simply arm themselves in defiance of “international law” and avoid capture of ship and crew, or face ruin as both are held hostage and there is no more money to pay out.
That however, the arming of the ships crews, is only a stop-gap. Ending the piracy requires punitive expeditions to Somalia, something likely China will do if provoked enough. Not the least of which is that it gives the Chinese navy a reason to create a base, exert power, and create it’s own colony. Somalia DOES have some resources, China is land hungry, with lots of ambitious men without wives or places, and if the nation of Somalia was merely cleared of Somalis and settled with ambitious young Chinese men, well so much the better would be Beijing’s thinking.
What? Obama will not bow so deeply to Hu Jintao?
Weakness invites attack, both from Somali pirates and people in Beijing and elsewhere seeing an opportunity.
I like bombarding the pirate ports with canons. What’s wrong with that?
It’s easy to see how China would love an ‘Aden’ of their very own even if it is in Africa.
Betcha H doesn’t have any problem with that, either.
Arming ships can certainly be effective. In September, 2008 the USNS John Lenthall, a US Navy fleet replenishment oiler crewed largely by American civilian mariners, was followed by two boats off the coast of Somalia. The boats turned back after a Navy security team on board fired warning shots.
Not certain about this, but I believe that some of the European navies have also placed marines and similar forces aboard some food aid ships bound for the region.
Why are these crews unarmed in these waters?
How can they be boarded underway when their freeboard is well over the height of a Somali boat?
Vigilance my butt. Asylum my butt. “International lawyers” to the kennel with the other dogs. Blow pirate vessels out of the water, summarily execute any pirates captured, and conduct punitive raids on the Somali ports which offer any harbor or refuge or support to the pirates.
And meanwhile, the Obama Administration ponders shooting crap into space: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123920773503201665.html
I suppose this means that any coastal dwellers with poor economic prospects can look forward to a healthy and happy future.
It’s funny. With the demise of newspapers, we are hearing how important newspapers are to the functioning of democracy, all the while they cheerlead for whoever or whatever attracts their fancy.
Recently a farmer in Alberta chased a thief with his vehicle and a shotgun, the thief was set free with no bail, the farmer was charged with 7 counts. Comments by thinking people were that people were not to take the law into their own hands, even if the nearest cop is an hour away and your means of livelihood is being stolen.
Listen to this conversation. It is strange and almost unreal, the argument about how political opposition helped win the war in Iraq. It’s all Washington all the time, even if real people are shooting real people somewhere else.
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17957
It seems that in this world, the consequences of anything we do are so far removed from us personally that nothing matters. Write up a deal that brings down an insurance company, investment bank and possibly a country, and claim your bonus. Borrow over a trillion a year with the express design to buy votes. Lose a war, encourage piracy, ignore open threats, and life goes on.
Until it doesn’t.
Derek
Q-ship the occasional Apache…
No pirate = no problem.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun’s pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey’s throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o’day in a boozing ken
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
We should re-introduce the blimp, especially as a UAV.
Talk about persistence!
High enough up, they’d ruin the ‘economics’ of piracy.
Can Muslim pirates drink rum?
Can Muslim pirates drink rum?
Of course they drink rum, and whiskey and gin and anything else on offer. People are always surprised to discover how the real-life behavior of people differs from what they’ve been taught in those fantasy teach-ins about happy people in the Third World. If you go to Jolo, look for the pirate in the bar, not the mosque. I remember how a busload of tourists were wondering why the villagers were using plastic buckets instead of the wicker ones they sold to tourists. The answer supplied by one villager is “have you ever tried to draw water in a wicker basket?” Score one for plastic.
The fantasy of political correctness creates absurd situations. There was a story told some time back, about how the UN hired a “Muslim” interpreter for Kosovo, where all the real Muslim girls go around in regular dresses like any other European woman. Headquarters found them one in London with a burka and they shipped the interpreter to Kosovo where, to the astonishment of the locals, the UN people went around with their shrouded “Muslim” interpreter who looked nothing the real Kosovars had ever seen …
It reminds me of one of those Herge comic books where an Indian maharajah wants a “real British” detective and won’t believe anyone unless he wears a deerstalker and smokes a meerschaum pipe. That’s a genuine British detective,. If the UN operated in a non-racist way they’d be recruiting people in leprechaun hats and vests when filling positions with Irishmen. If political correctness weren’t so sad, it would be funny.
How sad I am for Captain Kidd
Regardless of the things he did
For though his name rings for all time
He had to pay for pirate crime
They strung him up and let him hang
With not a quiver nor a pang
For piracy in days of olde
Resulted in a body colde
On other hand one Edward Teach
Died while fighting on a beach
The hangman’s rope was not for him
The sudden drop, the long slow swim
No, he was cornered in good time
By the good sloops Pearl and Lyme
The Royal Navy in those days
Did not take kindly to the ways
Of men like Teach and others who
Preyed on ships and murdered crew
Not like today when Whitehall prays
That nothing harms their tenured stays
In office where they play at war
And piracy’s a big fat snore
But not all pirates bite the dust
Some, like Morgan, die from rust
His exploits led to England’s gain
With blows upon the Spanish Main
Old Henry died as we shall see
In bed with friends for company
Somali pirates know full well
That their good times will last a spell
Until someone with guts will cope
With piracy with a stout rope
Reason says that an Owner with several million dollars of ship and 8-10 crew at risk would be willing to pay somebody (Blackwater?) a fair fee to ride along thru the risk area. If the pirates show up, raise the price of boarding. Its simple economics.
If I was a Lloyds Name, I wouldn’t write any maritime policy for a transit of this area unless armed guards were aboard. After a couple of encounters with automatic weapons, the pirates would retire.
Its a sad commentary that these piss pot hooligans can create an international crisis.
With respect to the issues raised about the “human rights” of the pirates, ‘scuse me, but the law of the sea is biased in favor of safe and peaceful passage. Dead men tell no tales.
Really the word would get around.
Latest word is that they got the ship’s pilot hostage, not the captain. And since it is not an airliner, that is not the same person.
And I understand that last year this was a $60M business in that part of the world?
….“weapons aboard ship is “not the answer” and that “a culture of awareness” is the best defense.”
Uh Huh. This sounds like the case where the ACLU went to court to stop the searching of bags and parcels in the NY subways. As an alternative to this they said “Have more officers around.”
“And what,” the judge asked, “would these extra officers do if they could not search bags?”
ACLU response: “Uhhhhhh…..”
Actually, they could change the name of the ship to the CSS Alabama, haul down the Stars and Stripes and put up the Stars and Bars. Them darkies would not go near it…
“I like bombarding the pirate ports with canons.”
Prohibited by canon law.
The problem of dealing with these rats is not one of tactics ,but one of will. An Arclight from Diego Garcia over the pirate port of call would definitely ruin their whole day. How much is the world going to weep for a bunch of lowlife khat smoking whackjobs anyways? The Apologizer-in-Chief could grovel before the world for a couple months after. He might be too busy to shred the Constitution for a while.
We have allowed the lawyers to create a series of conditions in which people in combat situations will have strong incentives not to take prisoners. The taking of prisoners is something to encourage for several obvious reasons. Taking them provides intelligence, it encourage others to surrender, it strengthens the chain of command, and it permits Justice to be exercised in public by the formal organs that are vested with a dignity and formality that can be displayed to good effect.
Obama’s magical mystery tour was an exercise in assuring the entire planet, formally our Nato allies but effectively everyone who can find a microphone, that they get a vote now on any use or threat of force by the United States. That is in fact nonsense on stilts. Obama had the bad taste when in England to ridicule the memory our alliance with the old empire again when he disparaged the time when Roosevelt and Churchill could solve the world’s problems over a brandy. There were good reasons for the special relationship and they had little to do with Jenny Churchill’s parentage. First the world is an essentially lawless and violent place and no act of will can over-ride the basic differences between law within a sovereign civil society, and the use of force by a state or states in response to actions by players where there is no legal remedy available, and finally the use of precepts and codes to regulate conduct between states in the larger world. Specifically there is not a level playing field in the international arena, not all players are in fat fully in possession of a monopoly on the use of force within their territories and not all actors are equally legitimate or can be considered reliably as subscribing to the basic principles that any legal order depends on. Therefor there is no good reason to give free riders a veto over the use of power by those actors who both subscribe to the legal and moral principles desired and who have the physical capacity to act. There are still, indeed there may be growing, places on this planet that are simply not covered by a functioning legal and moral structure that would permit violence to be responded to by domestic forces.
This means that despite all the post modern preening and conferencing and shuffling of papers by well groomed advocates of inclusiveness the old system existed for good reasons in response to real world conditions and we have not improved on it. Pirates are “Against All Flags” and once their status is confirmed they should be executed. “Unlawful Combatants” are not the same as Prisoners of War and can be treated more peremptorily. Bush and Cheney were correct.
“I like bombarding the pirate ports with canons.”
Prohibited by canon law.
Unless it’s Pachelbel’s Canon.
Right–canon in D major ’cause it’s de major canon dat shoots de biggest shell.
The Obamassiah administration is not going to do anything about piracy as a problem in and of itself. He may address it peripherally as part of a U.S. taxpayer funded, multi-billion dollar Somalia relief program….
We, as a planet, stand a better chance of letting the companies who own and crew these vessels fix the problem.
If the ship, cargo and crew were not FedGov property and employees respectively, why would FedGov become involved in what is effectively a car jacking writ large? The vessels owners knew there was a piracy risk. The captain and crew knew they were planning to pass through those waters.
I say let them arm themselves to the teeth. This doesn’t add much cost, and sending the crew to a couple weeks of training at Front Sight Firearms Training or something similar would be much cheaper than hiring Blackwater or putting a squad of US Marines on the ships transiting those waters.
I’m not familiar with maritime law. Can someone identify and quote the pertinent international regulation that makes it illegal for crew to carry “light” arms for personal defense aboard their own ship with the owners and captains permission?
A M249 Squad Automatic Weapon is technically a light arm! Mount one on the bow and one on the stern. I think most of the pirate problems would evaporate overnight.
I thought that a flagged vessel was the sovereign territory of the nation whose flag they flew. If so, wouldn’t those national laws apply to the crew when in international waters?
I’m really missing something here. The problem shouldn’t be this intractable unless government is screwing everything up, as usual.
International law or not, I would bet that some of these crews do have weapons and have used them.
Could be there’s more than a few dead Somali pirates at the bottom of the ocean.
Who would know? Only the crews of the ships and they’re not likely to confess.
Article I, Section 8, paragraph 11 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.”
Perhaps we could issue issue some general Letters of Marque and Reprisal to US flagged vessels? Or put cleaning out the pirates out for bid under the same mechanism – surely there are some organizations (Blackwater?) that would be interested for the right price? The TV and movie rights ought to be worth a fair amount – think Cops! meets Victory at Sea
Merchant vessels used to carry naval cannon. There doesn’t seem to be any good reason to limit them to small arms now.
Why capture them? Toss the pirates overboard, preferably with a chain wrapped around them. Problem solved.
The Coast of Barbary
A broadside a broadside along them we did lay
Till at length the Queen of Russia shot the pirate’s mast away.
O, quarter, o quarter, the pirate he did cry
Here is the quarter I will give you, I will sink you in the tide.
So we tied ‘em one by one, and we tied ‘em two by two.
And we tied ‘em three by three, then we chucked ‘em in the sea.
Down along the coast of Barbary.
To hell with international lawyers.
International law is not that crazy–in fact, whatever denialist whinings the Euro-wimps are giving us, it authorizes (nay, compels) nations to KILL pirates. If you want any clear principles of international law, that one’s as clear as not messing with diplomats.
From (shudder) Wikipedia, but if anyone objects, I’ll get a more authoritative source:
The crime of piracy is considered a breach of jus cogens, a conventional peremptory international norm that states must uphold. Those committing thefts on the high seas, inhibiting trade, and endangering maritime communication are considered by sovereign states to be hostis humani generis (enemies of humanity).
A typical ship’s log report after meeting one of the pirate boats ought to include the words “and the pirate ship was sunk with all hands”. A little difficult to commit piracy with no ship!
Obama having curtsied to the Saudi Royal Pain now must feel obligated to tippy toe in his ballet slippers over to Somali to render aid and comfort to the poor misunderstood Muslim Marsh Mellow Boat Marauders.
Why doesn’t some Republican Congressman draw up a bill that authorizes our flag ships to defend themselves with crew or contractor automatic weapons, and Denmark be Damned and Belgium be Barfed? Heck, sniper rifles would do the job.
I have served on US flag merchant vessels. Weapons are allowed, though not required. Lack of weapons is a company decision created by lawyers. Fear of mutiny is crap.
In the 70′s the Straits of Malacca and S.A.areas, some merchant vessels mounted machine guns on platforms to protect teh sides.
What individual countries do in home waters is up for grabs.
If they captain is OK I can see them making a film of this.
If he isn’t I can still see them doing it – just changing the ending.
outa my league #43:
I’m afraid you’re suffering from landlubberitis. A low rate of fire sniper rifle would not be an effective weapon from one bobbing ship to a possibly jumping and bucking RIB or other small boat. A pintel mounted machinegun with tracer ammunition is the most practical tool to solve this problem. You wouldn’t even need to target the pirates. Just shoot up their boat’s engine and leave them adrift a few hundred kilometers off the coast…
A couple of sting operations with Q ships would do the job…
When you ruin the pirates calculus the problem goes away.
Right now the Captain courageous is bobbing with the four stooges in the Indian Ocean.
This is ready for TV… Total Farce or Tragi-Comedy?
Armeggedon Rex #46: I like it! “I was firing across their bows to warn them to stand off and da**ed if I didn’t hit their engine!”
Somewhere on http://www.informationdessemination.blogspot.com by way of Ace of Spades I read that most ports take exception to ships’ having arms aboard, and deny docking rights. Dunno if that’s true but I wouldn’t be surprised. If you make like a carpet, you get walked all over.
Oh, bother: “…I read that most ports take exception to ships’ having arms aboard, and deny docking rights.”
OK so how about this?
Blackwater or similar company operate in international waters, avoiding the coastal waters of nations that don’t permit their weapons or expertise. They rendezvous with their client in international waters and deposit a team of defenders on the client vessel, or run an escort through dodgy areas. Once they have fulfilled their contract (reached safe waters or arrived in waters that they are not permitted to operate in), they wave goodbye to their charges and return to base.
Teams could operate for months shuttling back and forth and refueling from a mother ship or ships. If they want a break, they simply hand over their weapons when they arrive in national waters, and stay aboard the client vessel till it makes landfall. Others could be picked up the same way and handed weapons by the supply ship once they hit international waters.
No-one gets their feelings hurt except the pirates.
Gun control doesn’t work on land… and it doesn’t work on the high seas.
By making it illegal to have guns… only the criminals will be armed.
If the “pirates” (ie terrorists) know for damn sure that there are many automatic weapons aboard every cargo ship, they’d think twice about trying to storm aboard.
Instead they know the crew has nothing more than firehoses (in this case) to use as weapons, and it’s easy pickins’.
Arm the crews and the $120 Million per year Pirate Industry, Inc. will go bankrup.