Had to chuckle at the Somali pirates hijacking an oil tanker. At least someone is stealing the old fashioned way again and not using lies, deceit, puppet media and 'bailouts'.
As an ex-tankerman I don't share your sense of humour.
Split
Tankermen do not like strangers wandering around the ship with guns, who are likely to be attacked by others with guns. They are sitting on top of thousands of tons of explosive product. If that lot goes up, apart from the lives lost, the whole ecology of that part of Africa's coastline will be destroyed.
Mr. Charts
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Spot on.
I don't find piracy funny and I'm sure those who are captured, threatened and held don't find it funny either.
I was watching an Indian news channel on Sky a couple of nights ago and there was a package about an Indian warship that day which went after a pirate mother ship and shelled it, leaving it burning in the water. That was in response to an Indian freighter being attacked.
The Royal Navy used to be able to deal with pirates, now all it can do is stand by and have its personnel captured by Iranians and moan about losing an iPod.
Maybe we should beg the Iranian Republican Guard to do our fighting for us and deal with the pirates.
As well as the Indians, the French don't mess around either.
How great the Royal Navy used to be.........
Not funny.
Richard
I'd like to make a point here, if I may, which should be taken in to consideration.
We used to have one of, if not the largest, merchant fleet in the world. The reason that it is not today is due to the fact that British shipowners registered their ships under flags of convenience so as to avoid tax. A lot of this tax went to the upkeep of the RN.
This has meant that the British MN is no longer the largest, not by a long way.
I am an ex-tanker sailor, with a Master Mariner's Certificate and I always sailed under the Red Ensign, but I would suggest that it is very difficult to do so, these days.
Anyway, I mention this because I doubt whether The Panamanian and Liberian navies are about send anything to East African waters. The Indians have always done their bit and I am glad that they are not standing for any nonsense.
Split
We used to have one of, if not the largest, merchant fleet in the world. The reason that it is not today is due to the fact that British shipowners registered their ships under flags of convenience so as to avoid tax. A lot of this tax went to the upkeep of the RN.
This has meant that the British MN is no longer the largest, not by a long way.
I am an ex-tanker sailor, with a Master Mariner's Certificate and I always sailed under the Red Ensign, but I would suggest that it is very difficult to do so, these days.
Anyway, I mention this because I doubt whether The Panamanian and Liberian navies are about send anything to East African waters. The Indians have always done their bit and I am glad that they are not standing for any nonsense.
Split
Mr. Charts
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Agreed, but since a lot of this cargo is destined for us, regardless of the flag carried, we should intervene rather more effectively.
Although many countries are equivocal over terrorism, piracy at least should unite the maritime powers. The next thing will be terrorists taking cruise ships with thousands of hostages on board.
If I were Putin, I would use my navy once that arms shipment has been recovered. Now that would be a way of projecting power and creating prestige and influence.
Richard
Although many countries are equivocal over terrorism, piracy at least should unite the maritime powers. The next thing will be terrorists taking cruise ships with thousands of hostages on board.
If I were Putin, I would use my navy once that arms shipment has been recovered. Now that would be a way of projecting power and creating prestige and influence.
Richard
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Piracy is and always has been a problem, but comparatively the biggest threat by far are rogue waves that are not only far more common than previously believed, but that are also a major cause behind the on average one ship that sinks per week:
YouTube - Freak Wave (1 of 5)
BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - Freak Wave
Once dismissed as a nautical myth, freakish ocean waves that rise as tall as ten-storey apartment blocks have been accepted as a leading cause of large ship sinkings. Results from ESA's ERS satellites helped establish the widespread existence of these 'rogue' waves and are now being used to study their origins.
Severe weather has sunk more than 200 supertankers and container ships exceeding 200 metres in length during the last two decades. Rogue waves are believed to be the major cause in many such cases.
Mariners who survived similar encounters have had remarkable stories to tell. In February 1995 the cruiser liner Queen Elizabeth II met a 29-metre high rogue wave during a hurricane in the North Atlantic that Captain Ronald Warwick described as "a great wall of water… it looked as if we were going into the White Cliffs of Dover."
:-0
YouTube - Freak Wave (1 of 5)
BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - Freak Wave
Once dismissed as a nautical myth, freakish ocean waves that rise as tall as ten-storey apartment blocks have been accepted as a leading cause of large ship sinkings. Results from ESA's ERS satellites helped establish the widespread existence of these 'rogue' waves and are now being used to study their origins.
Severe weather has sunk more than 200 supertankers and container ships exceeding 200 metres in length during the last two decades. Rogue waves are believed to be the major cause in many such cases.
Mariners who survived similar encounters have had remarkable stories to tell. In February 1995 the cruiser liner Queen Elizabeth II met a 29-metre high rogue wave during a hurricane in the North Atlantic that Captain Ronald Warwick described as "a great wall of water… it looked as if we were going into the White Cliffs of Dover."
:-0
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0007
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That just about sums up the RN - In the old days we would have done the same as the French and Indians are doing now.
Maybe we should get Jack Sparrow in?
I agree piracy's a serious threat: no doubt the terrorists will see it as an easier methodology than hijacking planes. It needs to be sorted our asap by our weak, gutless world politicians.
I think Putin has said that he is sending ships out. The more the merrier. You are right about keeping the trade routes open, regardless of flag but the whole piracy problem is worldwide and resources are stretched.
There has been a problem with overfishing in that area for years and that has been linked to this piracy business. Trawlers have been ripping up the sea bed for decades and the Canadians, who are a wealthy, influential nation, put a stop to that on the Grand Banks with the Spanish.. Somalia and Kenya haven't the resources to put a stop to that but now that hi-jacking has spread to larger ships everyone is getting concerned.
There's a reason for everything. Any country that has a fishing industry will find foreigners moving in, unless they are powerful enough to stop them.
Split
Agulhas Current, South Africa and approaching Chesapeake Bay have been bad experiences for me.
I've never experienced a "hole in the sea" as sailors call them but in bad weather off SA, I've known that they are around there and they appear so suddenly that they make one feel uncomfortable when there is bad weather.
Chesapeake Bay is an experience that I shall never forget!
Split
I've never experienced a "hole in the sea" as sailors call them but in bad weather off SA, I've known that they are around there and they appear so suddenly that they make one feel uncomfortable when there is bad weather.
Chesapeake Bay is an experience that I shall never forget!
Split
