Hijacked tanker.....

[R1Geezer]

Ok looks like the badies have got all the aces. Is paying the ransom the only acceptable way out of this? Ie presumably dead hostages/ environmental disaster really must be avoided. How can we riegn these pirates in going forward? It seems they are getting ever more ambitious.

[youngmafbog]

Paying the ransom is not the answer. If you do that then it only encourages it, hence the Israli stance over aircraft etc.

The only option is to SAS style board the boat. OK I couldn't do it but I'm sure there are many that could. Teach the b***ds a lesson, so long as all are shot dead.

Failing that get the French to limpit mine it aka rainbow warrior or whatever it was called. Its only the Somalian coasrt

[Gromit]

The cargo is worth $100 million, so the ransom demand will huge. Although awash with money, this will annoy the Saudis, and interfering with the free flow of gasoline will anger the US.

The problem is, besides the people on the tanker, there are over 200 hostages already in Somalia waiting for their ransoms to be paid. Any military action against the Sirius Star could put them in peril. So in the short term, paying the ramson might be the safest option.

Predictably, it is all George Bush's fault...

"Two years ago piracy in the Horn of Africa was almost stamped out. The Islamists who took over Mogadishu and parts of Somalia in 2006 defeated several militias involved in piracy and warned others that they'd face punishment under a harsh version of Sharia. This tactic worked: "During the summer of 2006 there were no attacks [on ships] at all," says Pottengal Mukundan, director of the IMB.

But the Bush administration - which had tried to block the Islamists' rise by supporting a rival warlord faction - suspected Somalia's new leaders of sheltering Qaeda operatives. So Washington backed neighboring Ethiopia when it invaded in December 2006. The Ethiopians ousted the Islamists in short order and installed a U.N.-backed transitional government. But this only plunged Somalia into anarchy once more."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/154930

[R1Geezer]

I just knew it'd be Dubya's fault!

Ok Gromit so the introduction of "harsh Sharia" is the best way to stamp out piracy! Right oh!

[sp1814]

R1Geezer

Islamists stopped piracy.

Bush stopped Islamists.

Piracy back.

I can't see how this one isn't partially Bush's fault. I mean, he may not have started the housefire, but he was the one who smashed the smoke alarm to bits.

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

I'm sure you have a solution to Piracy of the high seas which is equally as harsh as Sharia.

[keyplus90]

Its same as Taliban banned poppy and Bush did not like Taliban because they were bringing Sharia Law into Afghanistan. Bush Banned or ousted Taliban. Poppy cultivation back in Afghanistan.

Call me whatever, but behind every single problem in the world is America and we all know who run America.

[Gromit]

The Jews?

Do you think they are behind anti semitism then Keyplus 90?

[keyplus90]

And I have no doubt about this either that all these pirates are being supplied weapons by CIA.

[ludwig]

"Call me whatever, but behind every single problem in the world is America.."

Ok then, you're a tw@t.

Seriously though, if Steven Seagal had only been the cook on that ship, this problem wouldn't exist.

[keyplus90]

Could be, I am not saying that all the Jews are bad or all the Muslims are good. All are never good, never bad any where. But there is a lobby who is using American govt to occupy world resources. And of course USA benefit out of this with the sale of weapons which is the biggest source of revenue. I am sure as I said earlier You go to Congo, Somalia, Sudan or any country where there is problem. Chances are that both parties will be using �Made in USA� weapons.

[keyplus90]

Ludwig � I can�t agree with you more on the second part, Surely no one can defeat Americans in movies. One American can handle the biggest disasters in the world. Your first part call me tw@t or whatever. By other people calling people do not become that automatically. Its just the frustration few people show and that�s fine.

[youngmafbog]

OK, lets have the Muslims in then :

No Homosexulas
No womens vote
No Booze


Anyone still siding with them then?

[tara20]

Something is not quite clear to me. How do they manage to get on board without being noticed? I mean a ship that size isn't boarded with just a grappling hook. These tankers have all sorts of hi-tech on board and it's as high as a multi-storey building.
Have they no defence mechanism or was it an inside job?
They could be blown out of the water before they get near enough.
Or is that just wishful thinking?!

[tara20]

I meant of course the pirates could be blown up!

[youngmafbog]

tara20

It will come to that. Mount a few gatlings and rocket launchers around each boat and blast the scum to whateve kingdom they believe in.

Sorry Gromit thats life - survival of the fittest. Chomp on that.

[sp1814]

Steven Segal?

Old hat.

Call in Chuck Norris.

"Chuck doesn't have a chin under his beard...he has another fist"

[Gromit]

tara20 and youngmafbog

I am sure that military escorts will be stepped up from now on.

In this case, when you are sat on top of 2 million barrels of an highly explosive liquid, you are easy prey to any attacker with machine guns and artillery. The Pirates would fire a few warning shots to get the crews attention. The tankers would let themselves be boarded rather than risk the tanker and its valuable cargo being attacked with shells. The Pirates are after ransom money, they do not want to sink ships or kill anyone.

[Gromit]

From last week
http://insidesomalia.org/News/Politics-%7C-Wor ld/EU-to-Deploy-Naval-Ships-off-Somalia-Coast- to-Fight-Piracy.html

Zap them with ray gun to avoid gunfights
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/afri caandindianocean/somalia/3447181/US-Navy-seeks -to-zap-pirates.html

[youngmafbog]

Is crude highly explosive ?

[keyplus90]

Chuck Norris?

I would rather get Johny English in.