US hijack ship 'sails for Kenya'

[cali]

Source: BBC



The ship's owners say securing Capt Phillips release is their priority
The hijacked US ship freed by its crew has reportedly set sail for Kenya, but its captain remains adrift in a lifeboat held by pirates.

Relatives of the US crew on board the Maersk Alabama cargo ship said it was sailing to Mombasa under armed guard.

FBI experts are helping in negotiations and a US warship remains near the scene where pirates continue to hold Capt Richard Phillips hostage.

The US crew retook the boat after a long struggle on Wednesday.

<snip>



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7992779.stm

[stray cat]

1. Best wishes for the safe return of the captain - sounds like a courageous individual

Capt Phillips' relatives say they have been told he offered himself as a hostage to save his crew.

[Mike Daniels]

2. Delete

[wisteria]

3. These hijackings are getting worse. 50 just this year alone.

Now they have become bold enough to try and seize an American ship. Senator Kerry has called attention to this growing problem in the past and just today again, he has commented on this in the Boston Globe.


"A rigorous policy debate "is long overdue," said Kerry, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement issued yesterday. "When Americans, including at least one from Massachusetts, are endangered, you’ve got a complicated and dangerous international situation brewing, and that includes questions about a hot pursuit policy on Somalia’s coastline."

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/04/kerry_lawmakers.html

[Mike Daniels]

5. The pirates have shown restraint but that's tied in with ship owners urging crews to step down

But had yesterday brought down violence on the crew as a result of their resistance the balance would have changed drastically.

Once someone gets hurt that's going to be the end of a relatively passive reaction to the situation and a more forceful approach is going to be put into effect.

[PJPhreak]

4. Somehow...

I don't give these "Pirates" much credit in the I.Q. Dept,They think that they will win in a standoff? They are in a 20' lifeboat with a 6hp inboard,AK-47's and a RPG or two...Looking down the Bow of this...



And they think they are gonna Win?? They have never dealt with our Navy,Obviously

[Mike Daniels]

6. Actually, pirates rarely cruise in waters with a heavy military presence.

The sea is a big place and most of the world's naval forces are committed elsewhere.

The pirates will either lay low for a while (hell, they have a ton of ships they can still expect payment for) or they'll move their operations elsewhere where the naval presence isn't as thick.

[Igel]

15. If there's a fight, they'll lose.

But that's the question:

Will there be pressure to compromise, to negotiate, and to value the captain's life at any cost? Key words: "At any cost". Often that's the pressure, and the "cost" is paying money, allowing the perps to go free and show that they can kidnap and hijack with impunity (in other words, one "cost" is more hijackings).

Or will the decision be to not negotiate except over trivialities--and to mount a raid to free the captain, even if it means that he might die, the pirates might die, etc.

Now, it's apparently escalated: There are apparently other ships tangentially involved, with other hostages. So the calculus may not be "Captain's for the pirates' freedom" but "the lives of all these hostages in exchange for being allowed to leave with the captain as hostage." Then the risk won't just involve the captain's life and safety, but that of numerous others. Will the military/Maersk/US politicians have a backbone and decide to risk their lives or let the pirates go?

Then there's the next question: The Barbary War was declared by the US when we finally couldn't afford the protection money. Will this get the Congress to declare war on the Somali pirates? The response was to sink many a ship and bombard Tripoli. I personally don't think we have the nerves to do something like that. (And if we do, will it end with such a weaselly document as the treaty ending the Barbary War did?)

[rvablue]

7. I've been wondering since the news reported on the lifeboat last night

is the lifeboat tethered to the main ship?

I would think so, I just haven't heard it for sure.

[hugo_from_TN]

9. No - see the OP. The lifeboat is adrift.

[guitar man]

8. This can't end well for them

They're adrift in a small boat, out of fuel, nose to nose with a destroyer.If it goes on long enough, I have a feeling they might get to meet one of our Navy Seal teams. They''ll never know they're coming.

[jwirr]

10. That does sound like the best way to rescue the Captain.

[guitar man]

13. yep

they pull a sub up underneath, deploy the SEALS from the sub in the middle of the night....it's all over in a matter of seconds

[cali]

11. The navy is sending two more ships to the site where the life boat is

located.

[christx30]

12. I heard about

an Israeli ship that defended against pirates by putting barbed wire around the ship, making it near impossible to climb. Maybe reinforcing each ship might be a cost effective way of defending them? Maybe that might make it easier to kill the pirates.

[ohio2007]

14. "pirate" boat dead in the water. Ran out of gas. ( most likely will accept "a lift" )

morons

snip
The lifeboat ran out of fuel shortly after the pirates left the Maersk Alabama with it on Wednesday following a struggle with the vessel’s 20-strong crew of US citizens.



snip
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