Swine Flu

Had a physical yesterday. "Thought about flu shots?" the doctor asked.

Maybe I will, starting now:

Swine Flu News:

MSNBC Reports Outbreak in Mexico, U.S. Tied To New Swine Flu The unique strain of swine flu found in seven people in California and Texas has been connected to the deadly flu that has broken out in Mexico, killing as many as 60 people, NBC News has confirmed.

The strain has never been seen before and is raising fears of a possible pandemic across North America.

The World Health Organization said it was concerned at what it called hundreds of “influenza-like” cases in Mexico, and also about the confirmed outbreak of the new strain of swine flu in the United States.

Pandemics are bad:

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster.

Latest ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report (to 22 April 09)

The latest ONI Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report (to 22 April 09)can be found
here. Highlights:

1. NIGERIA: Bulk carrier robbed 19 Apr 09 at 0245 local time while at berth in Tin Can Islands, Lagos. Two motor boats with eleven robbers armed with long knives boarded the vessel by using hooks and ropes. They broke into the store room and stole ship’s stores. The duty officer raised the alarm, crew mustered and rushed to the location. On sighting the crew, the robbers threatened with long knives and escaped in their boats (IMB).

2. GULF OF ADEN: Vessel fired upon 20 Apr 09 at 1115 UTC while underway in position 12:43N – 047:48E. Two speed boats with five or six armed men onboard chased the vessel with gun shots being fired. The vessel conducted evasive maneuvers and increased speed. Coalition forces were informed and a helicopter was deployed to the location. Upon sighting the helicopter, the men in the speed boats aborted their attempt (Operator, IMB).
.
3. GULF OF ADEN: Bulk carrier fired upon 20 Apr 09 at 0520 UTC while underway in position 13:15N – 047:40E. Twelve men armed with automatic weapons in two white speed boats chased and fired upon the vessel. The captain conducted evasive maneuvers and enforced anti-piracy measures to prevent the boarding (IMB).
.
4. GULF OF ADEN: Tanker (FRONT ARDENNE) reported attempted hijacking 18 Apr 09 at 1530 local time while underway in position 12:18N – 046:29E. Seven armed men in a blue skiff approached the tanker from the starboard quarter. No shots were fired, but the armed men made aggressive maneuvers in an attempt to board. The officer on watch notified nearby coalition warships. The captain increased speed and activated fire hoses. The vessel conducted evasive maneuvers as advised by the warship. A Canadian warship arrived, intercepting the skiff and thwarting the attack (Operator, CNN).
.
5. GULF OF ADEN: Chemical tanker fired upon 18 Apr 09 at 0745 UTC while underway in position 12:14N – 045:45E. A 20 meter black hull boat with a black sail was spotted. Once the boat was astern, it launched a white hull skiff which proceeded towards the tanker. Men in the skiff prepared a ladder to board the tanker. The tanker increased speed and enforced anti-piracy preventive measures. An RPG was fired at the tanker, which fell on the deck but did not explode. The men in the skiff aborted the attack and returned to the mother ship (IMB).
.
6. GULF OF ADEN: General cargo ship reported suspicious approach 17 Apr 09 at 0500 UTC while underway in position 12:51N – 048:11E. The vessel detected a speed boat approaching at a distance of 7NM. Warships were contacted and informed of the speed boat and a mother ship nearby. The speed boat approached the vessel on the starboard side at a speed of 15 knots. When the speed boat was about 2NM away, three armed men were sighted. The vessel fired rocket flares, activated fire hoses, and sounded the alarm. The speed boat came as close as 40-50 meters from the vessel before eventually aborting its pursuit and returning to the mother ship (IMB).

Weather and the Somali Pirates

Weather to cut Somali pirate attacks

"The sea is calm now, but it will be terrible to sail especially in the Indian Ocean by May," pirate Farah Hussein told Reuters by telephone. Pirates have made millions of dollars seizing ships and taking crews hostage. After a brief lull earlier this year, gunmen continued their onslaught.

"Once we go into June, the south west monsoons will come in and that affects the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, and we may see a reduction in attacks," said Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Weather analysts say the June-July-August season has the worst weather for pirates while December-January-February is less extreme, but still bad.

I wonder where they got the idea to look into the weather/pirate link?

Map is of the Seychelles vicinity from here.

Somali Pirates Seize German Ship

Somali Pirates Seize German Ship:

A report out of Kenya says Somali pirates have hijacked a German ship with 24 crew members on board.

Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, says pirates seized the 20,000 ton container vessel Saturday in the Indian Ocean.

He says the hijacking occurred about 740 kilometers off the coast of Kismayo, between Kenya and the Seychelles.

UPDATE: More info:

Hijackers seized a German-owned ship in the pirate-infested waters between Somalia and Yemen on Saturday, a U.S. Navy spokesman said.

Pirates captured the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot in the Gulf of Aden about 150 nautical miles (280 kilometers) southeast of the Yemeni coastal city of Muqalla, said U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen.

An official from the German Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm the ship's capture.

UPDATE2: Revised map with circle giving general indication of are of capture.

Photo of M/V Patriot by Marcelo Lopes from ShipSpotting.com and used in accord with its terms of use.

Could Somali-type Piracy Spread?

Lloyds List asks the question in Fears over growth in Somalia style attacks:

The taking of hostages from a tanker by Nigerian pirates earlier in the week has sparked concerns that the wave kidnappings for ransom by Somali pirates is being copied.

On Monday Nigerian gunmen took the Turkish master and chief engineer of the product tanker Aleyna Mercan hostage and while they were released two days later it has raised fears that kidnapping by pirates is spreading.

“The models that are developing for piracy do have the potential to develop worldwide,” Intertanko managing director Peter Swift warned delegates at a conference on piracy in Singapore.

“If we don’t stop this, the incentive for others in other parts of the world increases,” he said.

Actually, pirates in the Malacca Strait used to regularly kidnap ship captains (see here (2006) and here(2004), here and many more). So it is an old game . . .all over the world.

Somali Pirates: "I'm the saviour of the sea' - Times Online

Nice article in the London Times 'I'm not a pirate, I'm the saviour of the sea'. The pirate king the reporter met with has gotten rich off catching ships and crews. There is always the background noise over the damage done to Somali fishing ground by foreign, environmentally unsound fishing boats:

Fourteen years ago, he was still working as a lobster diver in Eyl - “one of the best”, he says. Since then, according to Boyah, these reefs off Eyl have been devastated by foreign fishing fleets - mostly Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean - using steel-pronged dragnets. He says that there are no longer lobsters to be found locally, a claim partially corroborated by a 2005 UN Development Project report into the depletion of local stocks.

From 1995 to 1997, Boyah and others captured three foreign fishing vessels, keeping the catch and ransoming the crew. He boasts that he received an $800,000 bounty for one ship. When the foreign fishing fleets entered into protection contracts with local warlords, making armed guards and anti-aircraft guns fixtures on ships, Boyah and his men went after commercial shipping vessels instead.
***
When it comes to targets, Boyah's standards are not very exacting. He says that his men go after any ship that wanders into their sights. He separates his prey into “commercial” and “tourist” ships. The commercial ships, identifiable by the cranes on their decks, are slower and easier to capture. Boyah has gone after too many of these to remember. He claims to employ different tactics for different ships, but the basic strategy is that several skiffs will approach from all sides, swarming like a waterborne wolfpack. If brandishing their weapons fails to frighten the ship's crew into stopping, they fire into the air. If that doesn't do it, and if the target ship is incapable of outperforming the 85 to 150 horsepower engines on their skiffs, they pull alongside their target, toss hooked rope ladders on to the decks and board the ship. Resistance is rare.

Boyah guesses that 20 to 30 per cent of attempted hijackings succeed. Speedy prey, technical problems, and foreign naval or domestic coastguard intervention account for the high rate of failure.

Captured ships are steered to Eyl, where guards and interpreters are brought to look after the hostages during the ransom negotiation. Once secured, the money - often routed through banks in London and Dubai and parachuted directly on to the deck of the ship - is split: half goes to the hijackers, a third to the investors who fronted cash for the ships and weapons, and 20 per cent to everyone else, from the guards to the translators (occasionally high school students on a summer break).
***
If there is a solution to the problem, it lies in economic principles: the cost-benefit analysis for these men must be shifted from piracy to more legitimate pursuits. Naval battle fleets can do their part to boost the “cost” side, but without the “benefit” of meaningful occupations on land, there will be no permanent resolution.

Read the whole thing.

Threats to Shipping Reports and Winds off Somalia

Click on images to enlarge.

NATO report showing activity dated 21 April 09:


A look at winds off Somalia (from here. Note that they are picking up in the area to 10 to 15 knots. Based on history, expect reduced pirate attacks during times winds exceed 10 knots.



Winds affect the waves, which are also up (heights in meters):


U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 17 April 09) here:

1. INDIAN OCEAN: French Navy thwarts pirate attack, 15 Apr 09. French naval forces launched an early-morning raid on a suspected pirate "mother ship" 550 miles east of Mombasa and seized 11 men, thwarting an attack on the Liberian cargo ship (SAFMARINE ASIA), the French Defense Ministry said. No one was injured. The ministry said the vessel was a larger boat that pirates use to allow their tiny skiffs to operate hundreds of miles off the coast. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Prazuck said a French helicopter in the area heard a distress call from the Safmarine Asia. He described the seized ship as a small, noncommercial vessel carrying fuel, water and food supplies. The 11 pirates, believed to be Somalis, were being held on the Nivose, a French frigate among the international fleet trying to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden (Bloomberg, AP).
.
2. INDIAN OCEAN: US Navy frees captain of the container ship (MAERSK ALABAMA),
13 Apr 09. The life of container ship captain Richard Phillips was in danger when Navy snipers aboard a U.S. destroyer shot at his Somali captors on Sunday, freeing him unharmed and killing three of four pirates who had held him after trying to seize his vessel, the Navy said. The fourth pirate was in custody. A US Navy commander made a split-second decision to fire on the pirates because he believed that Phillips, who tried to escape on Friday, faced imminent danger amid tense hostage talks with his captors and deteriorating sea conditions. "They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain," Vice Admiral William Gortney, head of the U.S. Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain. "The on-scene commander took it as the captain was in imminent danger and then made that decision (to kill the pirates) and he had the authorities to make that decision and he had seconds to make that decision." President Barack Obama granted the Pentagon's request for standing authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain, Gortney said. The U.S. Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the rescue took place at 12:19 p.m. EDT (1619 GMT) and the lifeboat had drifted to about 20 miles (32 km) from lawless Somalia's coast. Phillips, captain of the U.S.-flagged (MAERSK ALABAMA), contacted his family after the rescue, received a routine medical evaluation, and was resting comfortably aboard the amphibious assault ship (USS BOXER) (Reuters).
.
3. INDIAN OCEAN: French Navy frees hostages in rescue operation off Somalia, 10 Apr 09. Four hostages, including a child, were freed from the hijacked yacht (TANIT) after almost a week of captivity, the French president's office in Paris said Friday. The four adults and a child had been held aboard their yacht since it was seized in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, the president's statement said. The military made its move after the pirates refused their offers, including one to swap an officer for the mother and child held aboard, and threatened to execute the hostages one-by-one -- and because the (TANIT) was drifting closer to the Somali coast, the
defense ministry said. The possibility that the pirates could take their hostages ashore was a red line that prompted the mission. The same red line triggered two successful rescue missions by the French military last year, the ministry said. According to French media reports, a special forces unit attacked the hijacked vessel from different directions in two motor-powered rubber boats. The pirates opened fire and the special forces team fired back. Two of the five pirates were killed, along with Florent Lemacon, the owner of the (TANIT), French media said. The military rescued Lemacon's wife and 3-year-old child along with two friends of the Lemacons
(CNN).
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4. INDIAN OCEAN: Attacks prompt new piracy advisory, 7 Apr 09. Following a series of attacks off the eastern coast of Somalia, Combined Maritime Forces issued an updated special maritime advisory message. The message highlights several recent attacks that occurred hundreds of miles off the Somali coast and states that merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in those waters. "We continue to highlight the importance of preparation by the merchant mariners and the maritime industry in this message," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, Combined Maritime Forces. "We synchronize the efforts of the naval forces deployed to the region. However as we have often stated, international naval forces alone will not be able to solve the problem of piracy at sea. "Piracy is a problem that starts ashore." The notice also reiterates the fact that despite an increased naval presence in the region, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack. The scope and magnitude of problem can not be understated. The area involved off the coast of Somalia and Kenya as well as the Gulf of Aden equals more than 1.1 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), roughly four times the size of Texas or the size of the Mediterranean and Red Seas combined. The length of the Somali coastline is roughly the same length as the entire Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Ships and aircraft of Combined Task Force 151, the European Union, NATO and a number of international navies continue to patrol the region, but the closest military ship could be days away from a merchant vessel sailing hundreds of miles off the coast. While maritime patrol aircraft from a number of nations fly counter-piracy missions, the same aircraft are also providing critical support to coalition forces operating throughout the region. Despite the recent successful attacks, merchant mariners have proven successes as first-line defenders against pirates. A number of merchant vessels have employed evasive maneuvering and other defensive measures to protect their ships and their cargoes (Marinelog).

Emphasis added.

Somali Pirates: Why do we do it? Because it's better than our other options

Why are there Somali pirates? For the same reason there are bank robbers and drug dealers. It's relatively easy money and some people only have poor career options, or anyway, that's how I read this somewhat sympathetic report:

A group of our villagers, mainly fishermen I knew, were arming themselves.

One of them told me that they wanted to hijack ships, which he said were looting our sea resources.

He told me it was a national service with a lot of money in the end. Then I took my gun and joined them.

Who knew that World Food Program ships were looting Somali sea resources. Or oil tankers. Or cargo ships. Or yachts. Or tug boats. Or wood carriers. Or ...

I have said many times that Somali fishing waters ought to be protected. Attacking ship that have nothing to do with fishing or pollution 300 miles at sea is not protecting Somali waters and points out what a flimsy excuse this innocent "coast guard" lie is.

The First Thing We'll Do Is Prosecute the Lawyers

Dick the Butcher had a vision of a Utopia without lawyers. President Obama now has created an environment in which the leftist mobs clamor for a Utopia where the heads of Bush administration lawyers are on pikes. As set out in Obama Open to Prosecution of Officials Who Cleared Interrogation Tactics:

President Obama left open the door Tuesday for charges to be brought against Bush administration lawyers who justified harsh interrogation techniques, though he continued to argue that CIA agents who used those tactics should not be prosecuted.

The president showed wiggle room on the issue as he faces calls from Democratic lawmakers and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union to support such charges. Asked about the possibility of prosecution related to the interrogation program, the president deferred to Attorney General Eric Holder.

"With respect to those who formulate those legal decisions, I would say that that is going to be more of a decision for the attorney general within the parameters of various laws," Obama said . . .

I would call that statement pure "chicken shit" except that would demean both chickens and shit.

I cannot imagine the mindset of the alleged "liberals" who want so badly to impose their world view on everyone else - even at the point of gun - and then claim they are protecting liberty.

Not that I feel there is any merit to pursuing such claims. I am not alone in my view, as seen here:

"It would really be a very, very difficult case to make," said Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and former official in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy.

Not impossible, though. Fein said the prosecutor in the case would have to prove that the Bush attorneys essentially fabricated the legal justification in their memos.

"You would have to show that the legal arguments were just totally concocted," he said. "It's a very, very narrow path."

He said the prosecutor could try to bring charges of aiding and abetting torture, or conspiracy, to do so.

But Fein, who said there is enough evidence to warrant an investigation into top Bush administration officials over the interrogations, questioned the logic of targeting lawyers who did not by themselves order any interrogations.

David Rivkin, an attorney and member of the Council on Foreign Relations who has argued that the memos prove the Bush administration did not torture, gave a similar opinion. He said the prosecution would have to prove the memos' authors acted as part of a conspiracy to authorize what they all knew to be torture. But Rivkin said that would make all the non-lawyers culpable too.

He predicted any prosecution against the memos' authors would fail.

"In our legal system you cannot prosecute lawyers for offering legal opinions, even if you disagree with them," he said. "There are no precedents for prosecuting government lawyers for giving legal advice, none whatsoever."

Senate Democrats praised Obama on Tuesday for leaving the door open to prosecutions.

"I don't think they should be given ... a sort of carte blanche, sort of reprieve for those who designed the policies, who supervised the policy," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.

But Republicans slammed the administration for floating the possibility that lawyers could be punished for doing their jobs.

"Prosecute them for what?" said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. "Last time I checked, as a lawyer, when you give legal advice to your client, you're not responsible for whether or not that advice is going to be disagreed with in some future administration. ... If we get to the point where a lawyer cannot give, even if later people believe it to be incorrect, legal advice, then no administration is going to be safe in the future."

So the battle lines get drawn.

Justice may be blind, but she ain't dead. With the idea of prosecuting lawyers for advice, though, she's looking a little pale.

UPDATE: Yankee Sailor notes another part of the matter involving the legal memos that would form the basis of the case against the lawyers:

For the uninitiated, the memos that were released were previously classified as “top secret”, which means in the opinion of the government prior to the administration’s decision, the release of the documents would cause “exceptionally grave harm” to the national security of the United States.

If such highly classified documents can be easily obtained just by filing a lawsuit, how can Americans be sure any secrets can’t be politicized and obtained with no more than a lawsuit from a political activist?

The sad answer is that it seems to depend on what political party you belong to. Which may be the point. And that's really scary...

UPDATE2: Why am I so concerned? Let's suppose you are an attorney for the President and an issue comes up about, oh, say, what might constitute an "act of war" against the United States - in an area not touched on before -perhaps over something like a foreign nation using computer hackers to take over the U.S. power grid.

Now, sit down and write your memo, knowing that not only might war or peace hang in the balance, but also if some politician or the ACLU later feels that you are wrong in your analysis that you could be brought to trial for the memo in which you honestly set out a legal opinion.

Now, suppose that you write a memo that affirms, or reaffirms, that there is a "wall" to be kept between criminal investigators and intelligence agencies. Suppose later that politicians point to that "memo" and assert that you are responsible, in part, for a successful act of terror that kills 3000 people because of the "wall" you found in your memo was required . . .

I may not like the opinion or the result, but I'll defend the right of the lawyer to write the memo without fear of prosecution.

Somali Pirate Gets Full Media Sympathy Treatment

He might have been a Boy Scout or a Key Club member. In fact, given the glow of this AP piece, he might go straight to sainthood - see here:

Muse grew up poor in a one-room home, the eldest child of a divorced mother, in one of the most impoverished, violent countries in the world. A nation of around 8 million people, Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5 and nearly every public institution has collapsed.

Muse's mother sells milk at a small market every day, saving around $6 every month for school fees for her oldest son. She pays 15 dollars a month in rent.

"I cried when I saw the picture of him," Hassan said, referring to the photo of her son being led in handcuffs in New York. "Relatives brought a copy of the picture to me. Surely he is telling himself now, 'My mother's heart is broken.'"

She said the last time she saw her son in person, she was pushing him out the door so he would not be late for school.

Since that day weeks ago, he simply disappeared. Asked why she believed he left, Hassan was at a loss.

Well, I can tell you why he left. All the cool kids are out capturing ships for ransom, holding crews hostage at gun point while robbing them of their personal belongings, shooting at ships with AK-47s and RPGs, and driving big cars. And getting all the pretty girls.

Sorry about your poverty, ma'am, but that hardly makes your family unique in this world nor does it provide an excuse for piracy - which, as we keep hearing, is really all about being like being the Coast Guard for Somalia, which is how Muse ended up being involved in an attack on a large ship several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia -way beyond where coast guards work.

But we saw this coming, didn't we?

You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.

UPDATE: Charged, as reported here:

The decision to treat him as an adult led to the unsealing of a criminal complaint by FBI Agent Steven E. Sorrells that provided dramatic new details about the ship's seizure and what transpired before U.S. snipers shot three Somali pirates and Muse was captured.

Sorrells wrote that the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, told him he fired multiple warning flares at the pirates' boat to try to chase them away.

The agent said Muse was the first pirate to board the boat, armed with a gun, as it was about 280 miles off the Somali coast.

"From the deck of the Maersk Alabama, Muse fired his gun at the captain who was still in the bridge," Sorrells said.

The agent said Muse entered the bridge, told the captain to stop the ship and "conducted himself as the leader of the pirates."

After the other pirates boarded, three of them accompanied the captain to a safe where he took out about $30,000 in cash, which the pirates then took, Sorrells said.

Sorrells said the pirates held Phillips on a life boat for four days, with Muse telling the captain at one point that he had hijacked other ships before.

After Phillips tried to escape by jumping in the water, the pirates fired a gun at him and later tied him up and hit him, Sorrells said.
***
Muse was charged with several counts, including piracy under the law of nations. That charge carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison.
***
In addition to piracy, he was charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force; discharging a firearm; aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a conspiracy to seize a ship by force; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and brandishing a firearm.

And, even in jail, he may better off than on the streets of Somalia or in a small boat chasing ships...

From the United States Code:

Title 18, Chapter 81, § 1651. Piracy under law of nations

Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.

and/or


TITLE 18, CHAPTER 111 - SHIPPING
Sec. 2280. Violence against maritime navigation

STATUTE

(a) Offenses. -

(1) In general. - A person who unlawfully and intentionally -

(A) seizes or exercises control over a ship by force or threat thereof or any other form of intimidation;

(B) performs an act of violence against a person on board a ship if that act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(C) destroys a ship or causes damage to a ship or to its cargo which is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(D) places or causes to be placed on a ship, by any means whatsoever, a device or substance which is likely to destroy that ship, or cause damage to that ship or its cargo which endangers or is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(E) destroys or seriously damages maritime navigational facilities or seriously interferes with their operation, if such act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of a ship;

(F) communicates information, knowing the information to be false and under circumstances in which such information may reasonably be believed, thereby endangering the safe navigation of a ship;

(G) injures or kills any person in connection with the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (F); or

(H) attempts or conspires to do any act prohibited under subparagraphs (A) through (G), shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and if the death of any person results from conduct prohibited by this paragraph, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

Somali Pirates: When Canadians Attack

From here.

Canada releases video of night attack on Somali pirates who were trying to hijack a Norwegian cargo ship.

Canadian sailors apprehended a band of Somali pirates at gunpoint early yesterday morning after a seven-hour pursuit across the Gulf of Aden, much of it under the cover of night.

HMCS Winnipeg, sailing off the Horn of Africa as part of a NATO-led anti-piracy mission, was escort More..ing a United Nations food shipment when it happened on a skiff carrying seven bandits attempting to hijack the MV Front Ardenne, an 80,000-tonne tanker from Norway.

The Somalis ignored warning shots fired by a Canadian naval helicopter and fled the scene. HMCS Winnipeg, led by Commander Craig Baines, left the food shipment to other NATO vessels and gave chase.

An American ship also joined the pursuit. It was the Canadians who got to the pirates first.

As darkness fell, Cdr. Baines cut the lights and caught up with the smaller vessel by stealth. After firing another flurry of warning shots, sailors boarded the pirate craft, recovering a rocket-propelled grenade round.

"We blocked their path," Michael McWhinnie, a spokesman for HMCS Winnipeg, told the Reuters news agency.

"We were faster and surprisingly more manoeuvrable than the pirate skiff."

Tuesday Maritime Reading

Tuesday. Not "hump day." Not "blue Monday." Just Tuesday. Enjoy.

For a week's worth of reading in one post, there's Maritime Monday 158. Fred has photos of some South African Marine Corporation vessels and even has coverage of a "stink" ship. And maybe 100 or so other links.

Admiral Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard discusses the Coast Guard role in fighting pirates. More than you might have thought...

A little aircraft carrier flight deck warning.

Where is 5th Fleet? a shipbuilding message. After you read it, you might note my comment that sometimes a whole lotta cheaper is better.

And, of course, Lex is a great read any day of the week.

Sri Lanka:Terrorist/Pirate "Sea Tigers" Sunk?

The Sri Lankan government and it military have the Tamil Tigers on the ropes, it appears:

The Sri Lankan military gave an ultimatum to Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender or face annihilation in the eight square mile sliver of coast where they were pinned down along with thousands of civilians.

The army, which claims to have killed more than 500 rebels over the weekend, set up loudspeakers on the edge of the “no-fire zone” and broadcast the ultimatum.

“We have given them the truth,” said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman. “This is the last time they have to come and surrender.”

While the fighting and accusations of brutality on land continue, some are writing of the death of the world's best known terrorist navy. For example, the Asian Tribune's "LTTE’s Era of Sea Piracy Has Ended", which includes a partial recounting of the "Sea Tigers" attacks on merchant and fishing fleets:

Operating the most comprehensive naval networks among the designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S., the LTTE’s Sea Tigers were considered, until recently, as "untouchable" pirates who feared no nation. They were one of the leading pirates in the world, though little known, because of their unfortunate targets were often Malaysian, Jordanian, Philippine, Maldivian Chinese and Sri Lankan ships and the crew often disappeared.
***
Indian Ocean is a hunting ground for two of the world’s notorious sea criminals: LTTE and Somali pirates. Both these groups are operating in lawless, semi-autonomous pieces of land conducive to their unlawful acts. However, Somali pirates usually take crew members hostage to obtain ransom, but the LTTE, more interested in the goods—to feed its cadres—and the ship—to use for smuggling— than ransom, often got rid of them to cover up its trails.

On May 23, 1997, Greek registered freighter "Stillus Limassul" left Mozambique port of Beria for Sri Lanka carrying 32,400 81mm mortar bombs intended for Sri Lanka's army. The Sri Lankan armed forces never received this U.S. $ 3 million consignment of arms. The LTTE off-loaded the military supplies from this ship and transported it by small speed boats to LTTE jungle bases off Mullaitivu coast. These weapons, a month later, were used by the LTTE with a devastating effect to control the A9 Highway.

When the LTTE captured MV Cordiality near the port of Trincomalee, they killed all five Chinese crew members on board. On May 25, 1999, LTTE hijacked the MV Sik Yang, a 2818-ton Malaysian cargo ship with a cargo of bagged salt, which was sailing from Tuticorin, India and used it as a phantom vessel (Salt, sodium chloride can be changed to sodium chlorate easily, which when mixed with aluminum can make very powerful explosive powder). The fate of its 63-member crew is still unknown.

In December 2006, LTTE forced a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III carrying 14,000 tons of Indian rice to run aground. LTTE robbed the rice and removed all radio communication equipment, radar, lights and generators from the vessel. Asian Tribune reports on December 24, "Jordan Transport Ministry told the Jordanian news Agency, Petra that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) seized one of the Jordanian ships off Sri Lanka North East coast and burgled it."

In March 2007, LTTE hijacked an Indian fishing trawler “Sri Krishna” off the Moldavian waters and kept its crew hostage in Vanni. The Maldivian Coast Guard intercepted the vessel, reported missing since March 4, with a large consignment of artillery shells after LTTE cadres commandeered it and fired at the Maldivians. An Indian captain and four LTTE operatives were taken into custody by the Maldivian Coast Guard.

According to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from October 1994 to January 2007, ships LTTE attacked also include MV Ocean Trader, MV Sea Dancer, MV Lanka Muditha, MV Irish Mona, MV Princess Wave, MV Athena, MV Mission, MV Morang Bong, MV Princess Kash, MV Newco Endurance, MV Julia, MV Mercs Uhana, MV Pride, MV Dunhinda, MV Fu-Yuan and MV Liverpool.

In addition, there were several sea battles with Sri Lankan naval forces, often marked by the use of Tiger "suicide boats." See here.

The Sea Tigers were known for their innovative boats and tactics, including the use of divers to attack ships in port. Other weapons included the alleged manned suicide torpedo. Attacks on merchant ships were not limited to divers. See here for a report on Tiger boats attacking a ship in port.

The "Sea Tigers" would assert, in part of their media campaign, to be live savers, as set out in their version of the Farah III episode:

The Tigers deny it is piracy and report the "rescue" of the crew see here:

Tamil Tiger rebels say they have rescued 25 sailors from a crippled Jordanian ship off Sri Lanka's north-eastern coast, dismissing government accusations that they staged a "pirate attack".

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan says the seamen are being taken to safety despite rough seas.

"We noticed a ship drifting in our waters and we also saw suspicious activity of the Sri Lankan Navy [and] we boarded the ship to rescue the crew," he said.

But Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry says a distress message indicating that the vessel was "under armed pirate attack" was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre in Britain, which conveyed it to the Sri Lankan naval authorities.

If reports of their end are true, not much time should be spent mourning their departure from the stage.

Somali Pirate in U.S. Court

The U.S. captured Somali pirate will be going to court in New York. According to the Voice of America, the pirate, previously reported as being 16 is 19 (never trust first reports and doubt second reports) as set out here:

The last surviving Somali pirate captured during a botched seizure of a United States ship captain is expected to appear in a Manhattan Federal Court today (Tuesday). The 19 year-old pirate, Abduhl Wal-i-Musi is reportedly charged with hostage taking and piracy. Abdullahi Ali is a political analyst. He told VOA that Tuesday's trial would serve as a deterrent to other pirates who have been harassing ships off the Somali coasts.
***
The pirate was reported to have gone aboard a U.S navy vessel before Navy Seal snipers shot and killed three of colleagues who had been holding Captain Richard Philips hostage for at least five days in a life boat. Meanwhile, during the recent hostage standoff off the Somali coast, FBI agents from New York were assigned to investigate the pirate attack on the U. S cargo ship Maersk Alabama and the abduction of its captain, and continued to develop a case for trial.

The pirates had demanded two million dollars before releasing Captain Richard Philips who they had been holding hostage hours after the captain attempted a daring escape from his captors.

According to some research, this may be the first piracy trial in the U.S. since 1861. That trial was also held in New York City.

UPDATE: Young pirate arrives in U.S..

Somali Pirates: "My pirate son is just misunderstood"

A plea from the alleged Somali mother of the alleged young Somali pirate being held by the U.S. in connection with the attempted hijacking of the Maersk Alabama here. Not surprisingly, she wants her child turned loose:

The mother of a teenage alleged pirate held over the hostage-taking of a US sea captain this month has appealed to US President Barack Obama to free him.

Adar Abdurahman Hassan told the BBC her son, Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse, was innocent and just 16 years old.
***
Mrs Hassan told the BBC's Somali service: "I am requesting the American government, I am requesting President Obama to release my child. He has got nothing to do with the pirates' crime.

"He is a minor; he is under-age and he has been used for this crime. I also request from the US, if they choose to put him on trial, I want them to invite me there."

YHGTBFKM. And that's not even considering the issue of "innocence."

Why am I reminded of this?

Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.
Our mothers all are junkies,
Our fathers all are drunks.
Golly Moses, natcherly we're punks!

Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;
We never had the love that ev'ry child oughta get.
We ain't no delinquents,
We're misunderstood.
Deep down inside us there is good!

There is good!

There is good, there is good,
There is untapped good!
Like inside, the worst of us is good!

Somali Pirates: Belated Humanitarian Gesture and More Attacks

Reported as Ship fights off attack; Pirates free food aid ship:

Somali pirates attacked a Maltese flagged-ship before dawn Monday with rocket-propelled grenades, but the ship escaped unharmed, a NATO spokesman said.

And in a rare case of good news, Somali pirates released a Lebanese-owned cargo ship after only a few days after they found out it was headed to pick up food aid for hungry Somalis.

Monday's attack on the MV Atlantica took place 30 miles (48 kilometers) off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, said Lt.-Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, a spokesman for the NATO alliance.

Two boats with about six pirates each attacked the ship and one skiff attempted to board it. The ship took evasive maneuvers and escaped without damages or injury to its crew, Fernandes said.

Meanwhile, U.N. World Food Program spokesman Peter Smerdon said pirates released the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse on Friday. He had no more details and it was not known if a ransom was paid.

Different tribes involved in the piracy have different views on the food ships. Doesn't make them any less pirates.

Who do you belong to?

First, you should know that I may be a Terrorist:



Which, of course, since I am a Western-born, Southern-living veteran and a gun owner, you may have already thought.

On the other hand, you may not be aware that I am, more or less (labels are so confining), a Gand. Though the work that word comes from has been accused of giving libertarians a bad name.

Now, go out and be free.

Words

Foreign Affairs" "No clue on what ’model partnership’ means"

From a Turkish newspaper: No clue on what ’model partnership’ means:

Turkey is uncertain what the U.S. president referred to when describing the relationship as a ’model partnership.’ The Foreign Ministry penned a wide-ranging memo on the outcomes of Obama’s visit that stated ’no information on the substance of a model partnership’

No clue on what ’model partnership’ means Turkey is still uncertain to what U.S. President Barack Obama referred to when he described relations between Turkey and the United States as a "model partnership."

The Foreign Ministry has just completed a broad memo on the outcomes of Obama’s visit to Turkey on April 6 and 7, after analyzing the full records of his meetings with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. One interesting point is that Obama did not actually use "model partnership" during the talks but mentioned it in the joint press conference with Gül. American diplomats both in Ankara and Washington prefer to use the concept of "strategic partnership," according to the memo. It also noted "there was no information on the substance of a model partnership."

Well,it sounds so cool who cares what what it means...sort of like “A New Foundation.”...


Well, tell me what'd I say, yeah
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say yeah

Somali Pirates Capture a Belgian Ship

Pirates Seize Belgian Ship:

Somali pirates attacked two ships off the Horn of Africa on Saturday, capturing a Belgian dredger and its 10-man crew. NATO forces intervened in the other assault, chasing the pirates down and freeing 20 fisherman on a Yemeni dhow.

As pirates forced the Belgian ship to slowly head north toward Somalia, 430 miles (700 kilometers) away, a Spanish military ship, a French frigate and a French scout ship all steamed toward the area to try to intercept it.

In Brussels, government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and possible intervention.

The high-seas drama underscored the dangers off the coasts of Somalia and east Africa despite the best efforts of an international flotilla that includes warships from the United States and the European Union.

Ship photo by Colin Sellars from Shipspotting.com and used in accord with its protocols.