More Pirate News

This just got real folks.

I wrote earlier about how the perception of "pirate" has changed rather dramatically from its Treasure Island/Pirates of the Caribbean perception recently, and that now piracy is firmly situated once again in the realm of villainy. Recently, the largest ship ever to be hijacked was boarded by Somali pirates and the crew is now being held for ransom, including two Britons.
Despite the 100m in oil aboard, the pirates are apparently only interested in the ransom money. This seems logical, because how would a salt-sea pirate move thousands of oil barrels onto the market anyway?

Similarly, a tanker bound from Hong Kong to Saudi Arabia was taken over by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, which seems to be the hunting ground for these vermin, because a few days later another Hong Kong vessel bearing wheat to Iran was captured. The Saudi's are likening these pirates to terrorists, and I would have to partly agree with that assessment since no doubt many are themselves Muslim extremists. Yet, it is hard to get worked up about the Iranians not getting their Chinese wheat as both of those countries are hostile to America and Iran especially is an enemy. Also, the goal in these hijackings seems purely financial, making piracy the more fitting term in any event.

It seems to me that the USA is not terribly concerned about these pirates as they are localizing their attacks in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden, mostly targeting Chinese or Saudi vessels, and not really effecting our interests. Remember, dear readers, that America was welled served by foreign nationals attacking the British Empire at sea during our earlier troubles with our good cousins. However, the taking of a ship with Britons aboard cannot be excused by our government in today's age. Though, as cited in my earlier post, the Royal Navy don't seem to have a problem killing pirates themselves and taking care of business when the opportunity arises.

Our own Navy is responding rather cryptically: (from Breitbart)
The top US military officer said Monday he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.

But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world's navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.

"I'm stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size," Mullen said of the seizure of the Sirius Star Sunday by armed men.

The huge, oil laden prize, which is three times the size of a US aircraft carrier, was some 450 miles east of Kenya when it was boarded, he said.

That is the farthest out at sea that a ship has been seized in the latest surge of piracies, according to Mullen.

The pirates, he said, are "very good at what they do. They're very well armed. Tactically, they are very good."

"And so, once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages.

"The question then becomes, well, what do you do about the hostages? And that's where the standoff is.

"That's a national question to ask based on the flag of the vessel. And the countries by and large have been paying the ransom that the pirates have asked," he said.

Mullen said the number of successful piracies have gone down, but the incidence of ship seizures were way up.

"It's got a lot of people's attention and is starting to have impact on the commercial side, which I know countries raise as a concern," he said.

"And so there's a lot more focus on this. It's a very serious issue. It's a growing issue. And we're going to continue to have to deal with it," he said.

To add to everything, apparently a Danish vessel was seized by armed pirates, but allowed to go free without ransom. Interesting to say the least.