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Subject: Piracy.
gf0012-aust    5/3/2009 4:45:28 PM
I thought I'd start one here to get away from the heat in the other threads on this subject
 
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gf0012-aust       5/23/2009 1:15:12 AM

Pensioners on MSC Melody fought off pirates

May 23, 2009 05:44am

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FEISTY pensioners from Britain used deck chairs to fight off Somali pirates who tried to hijack their cruise ship on the Indian Ocean, passengers and the vessel's owners say.

 They sprang into action when pirates tried to board the MSC Melody off the Seychelles on April 25. 

"Some passengers saw the pirates approaching and sounded the alarm. But the security guard had seen them already. The passengers were taken to their cabins, with lights off," Sarah Longbottom of MSC Cruises said.

"Mr and Mrs Rowlands were on the deck. Beryl Rowlands threw deck chairs at them," she said, adding that the ship had about 1000 passengers and 500 crew on board.

There were 74 Australians on the ship at the time.

No-one was injured in the incident, which came amid a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia, where ransom-seeking pirates attacked more than 100 ship in 2008 and another 114 so far this year.

The owner of MSC Cruises, Gianluigi Aponte, praised the way the ship's crew and passengers dealt with the attack. "We are very proud that our crew proved to be able to promptly tackle the emergency," he said.

"At the moment of the attack, the ship was 600 nautical miles (1111 km) from the Somalian coast, in an area that is not considered dangerous, and 180 nautical miles (333 km) from Seychelles." 

Ian and Jessie Moakes from Mansfield, central England, were on the MSC Melody to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

"Some holidaymakers threw tables and chairs to repel the pirates," Moakes, 62, a retired police officer, told the Sunnewspaper.

"It could have been much nastier. There were bullet holes in the ship." 

Aust
 
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AMTP10F       5/23/2009 9:19:02 PM

they'd need to be marinised or they'd start to get a bit wobbly after a few days at sea.

as it is, the Tiger project is another red-faced problem child.   
As is the MRH-90...
 
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BLUIE006       5/24/2009 3:19:23 AM
1. It is only a matter of time before a terror group conducts a major maritime piracy operation. Until now they have been relatively rare, part of the reason for this, is the challenges posed by the maritime environment i.e.: Tides, currents, wind, sea state, visibility, cover, surveillance and proximity to land. 
   However the relative success of the Somali pirates; surely must trigger some ambitions in the minds of Terror leaders; especially when considering that suicide terror operations (capture and destroy), would pose less challenges than traditional piracy operations (capture /hold & loot/ransom).

 2. Also when you look at his past patterns prior & post 9-11, it is feasible that Bin Laden has returned to relative calm of Africa and is the puppet master behind some!!! of these attacks, rather than hiding in the generally accepted, Pakistani & Afghan border region which would be dangerous for him. Baring in mind that Somalia has; a large Sunni Muslim population; lacks effective national governance; and, the economic conditions are ideal for terrorism recruitment.

 3. It is also a remote possibility that the increased frequency of piracy operations is a form of penetration testing; response analysis or some sort of diversionary campaign and the pirate interviews/statments, ransom demands and media manipulation etc is part of an associated Al-Qaeda disinformation campaign. 
   Remembering that pre 9-11 Al-Qaeda successfully conducted a Psy-op/disinformation campaigns, that lead US Intelligence into believing that the next attack would be on overseas interests, not domestic soil. Perhaps they are trying something similar here, tying up maritime forces off the coast of Africa; wanting western liberal democracies to think this is the likely target area, when the real attack is going to be in Straights of Malacca or Mediterranean.

 Worth a look?.IMHO!

 
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BLUIE006       5/31/2009 8:51:02 AM
Since Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia earlier this year, al Shabab has taken control of important towns inland and along the coast, including the port towns of Kismayo and Marka. The group has also reportedly entered into financial arrangements with pirates operating from port cities under al Shabab's control.
 
****
To this day, al Shabab's leadership is closely linked to al Qaeda. Many in the current leadership cadre are graduates of al Qaeda training camps. Al Shabab leader Ibrahim Haji Jama trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan (his nom de guerre in Somalia is al-Afghani). Another leader, Abu Taha al-Sudani, known also as Tariq Abdullah, was al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and is believed to be the main financier of its African operations.
Veteran al Qaeda terrorists help make up al Shabab's ranks.
*****
Bin Laden himself has described al-Shabab as "one of the most important armies in the Mujahid Islamic battalion." And in a recording last February, bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, devoted the bulk of his message to praising al Shabab in Somalia, calling their recent activities "a step on the path of the victory of Islam."
 
 
 
Wall Street Journal
 
Hmmm... ( what's that thing you turn on, before you turn a corner)
 
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Aussie Diggermark 2       5/31/2009 10:18:59 AM

I wonder if they would consider embarking one of the Aussie Tigers on the HMAS Sydney or one of the other FFG's in the Gulf? They have two spots and the Tiger would be a much better choice than the second Seahawk IMHO as it would be far less vulnerable during the initial armed recon and is far better armed. Would they need to make any mods to the Tigers to do this?

Modding the Seahawks to carry and employ Hellfire/DAGR would be easier than modding the Tigers for sustained maritime ops.
 
Plus they're in-service, RAN pilots are trained and comfortable with ops from RAN frigate flightdecks etc.
 
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BLUIE006       8/4/2009 9:15:24 AM

Since Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia earlier this year, al Shabab has taken control of important towns inland and along the coast, including the port towns of Kismayo and Marka. The group has also reportedly entered into financial arrangements with pirates operating from port cities under al Shabab's control.
 

****

To this day, al Shabab's leadership is closely linked to al Qaeda. Many in the current leadership cadre are graduates of al Qaeda training camps. Al Shabab leader Ibrahim Haji Jama trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan (his nom de guerre in Somalia is al-Afghani). Another leader, Abu Taha al-Sudani, known also as Tariq Abdullah, was al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and is believed to be the main financier of its African operations.


Veteran al Qaeda terrorists help make up al Shabab's ranks.

*****

Bin Laden himself has described al-Shabab as "one of the most important armies in the Mujahid Islamic battalion." And in a recording last February, bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, devoted the bulk of his message to praising al Shabab in Somalia, calling their recent activities "a step on the path of the victory of Islam."
 

 


 

Wall Street Journal


 

Hmmm... ( what's that thing you turn on, before you turn a corner)


 Now we discover al Shabab on Australian soil ......
 
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Volkodav       8/4/2009 9:53:00 AM
Through out history the Western Worlds reaction to both genuine and perceived threats to its existence has been genocide. Ironically it is this genocidal reaction that destroyed the golden age of Islam leading to much of the hatred exhibited by the extremist today.
 
The more successful the terrorists are in their war against western civilisation the more they erode the very reluctance of democratic, egalitarian societies to sanction total war against a specific group or culture.
 
The day the average westerner believes it is "them or us", is the day we turn back towards the bad old days where is was perfectly acceptable to kill people for their race, religion or culture.  
 
 
 
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Arty Farty       8/4/2009 10:39:11 AM
 Highly recommendy this NY Times article a few week back:
 

A Call to Jihad, Answered in America

nytimes.com/2009/07/12/us/12somalis.html
 
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