At first this sounded like a joke. Pirates like to tweet, have blogs and are on Facebook. Really? According to security expert, Jessica Lincoln, director of intelligence at Rubicon Resolution, “Somalia is a very sophisticated economy, it has one of the best mobile phone communication systems … Continue reading
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This Sunday at noon, CBCs “Land and Sea” has another very interesting documentary scheduled – Pirates and Privateers. (We recently posted about “Rum Running,” a excellent documentary which is now available on-line.) The Pirates and Privateers trailer, below, looks interesting. I will be watching … Continue reading
Armed guards, reported to be Italian naval personnel, on the tanker, Enrica Lexie, fired on and killed two Tamil Nadu fishermen off Kochi on Wednesday, believing the fishermen to be pirates. Indian authorities said the Italian guards fired without warning in violation … Continue reading
Pirate attacks are escalating in the Gulf of Guinea, with tragic consequences. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre posted on its website that eight armed pirates boarded a drifting bulk carrier, awaiting berthing instructions, on Monday in the Gulf of Guinea, 110 … Continue reading
If a single fact can explain why an armada of high tech naval ships from around the world has failed to control, much less to eradicate, gangs of Somali pirates operating from hijacked fishing trawlers and open boats, this is … Continue reading
In a pre-dawn raid, US Navy SEAL commandos freed two hostages; an American, Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a Dane, Poul Thisted, 60; being held for ransom in a pirate compound 12 miles north of the Somali town of Adado. Members of SEAL Team … Continue reading
On the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, half the fleet traveled to Cape Town on the deck of cargo ships following rigging or hull failures. Now in the second leg of the race, the entire fleet was loaded … Continue reading
Recently, divers from Cleveland Underwater Explorers, Inc. discovered the wreck of the brigantine Sultan, which sank in September 1864 in Lake Erie in 45 feet of water. The ship is in quite good shape. Beyond the discovery itself being interesting, I can’t help … Continue reading
In August, we posted about an experimental unmanned “roboship” being developed as a coastal patrol craft. Recently there have been proposals to use USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) to fight pirates. USVs also known as autonomous surface vehicles (ASV), are any surface … Continue reading
The Italian owned bulk carrier, MV Montecristo, was hijacked by pirates off Somalia on Monday. The ship’s crew retreated to a protective citadel “safe room” ahead of the pirates. Today RFA Fort Victoria and USS De Wert, acting as part of … Continue reading
Today is “International Talk Like A Pirate Day.” Many use it as an excuse to dress up in bad costumes and shout “Aaargh, Matie” and “Shiver me Timbers,” in some sort of odd homage to Johnny Depp and the Disney … Continue reading
British tourists, David and Judith Tebbutt, arrived at Kiwayu Safari Village, an exclusive Kenyan resort, at 4PM, Saturday. Between midnight and 4AM, a gang of armed men arrived by speedboat and stormed their beachfront villa. David Tebbutt, 58, was killed and his wife … Continue reading
Last February we posted that Somali pirates had hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard. Yesterday, the Danish Foreign Ministry announced seven Danish citizens, including a family with three children had been released. It has been reported that the pirates were … Continue reading
It has long been predicted and now it has happened – a pirate attack has set fire to a loaded oil tanker. On Wednesday morning, pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Suezmax tanker, Brillante Virtuoso, firing a rocket propelled grenade into the deck … Continue reading
Recently we posted about joint-operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard which since last Novemeber have succeeded in capturing 120 pirates in the Indian Ocean as well as taking several pirate “mother ships” and freeing the hostage held aboard. On reader commented: Good on … Continue reading
On Sunday the MV Maersk Kensington reported an attempted boarding by pirates while underway off the southern coast of India. The Indian navy ship Suvarna and Coast Guard ship Sangram responded, intercepting the Iranian fishing trawler Morteza which had been hijacked and was … Continue reading
On April 1st, last year, fittingly enough, April Fool’s Day, a group of Somali pirates in open boats decided to attack the 445-foot guided-missile frigate, USS Nicholas. The outcome was predictable. Five pirates were captured and their boats were sunk. At the … Continue reading
Last Friday, the Indian Navy picked up as distress call from the container ship MV Vancouver Bridge, which was under attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean, about 600 nautical miles off the Indian coast. When spotted by an Indian patrol … Continue reading
The battle against piracy in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea may be changing. This week Japan announced that it would try four suspected pirates being held by the US Navy after they were captured attempting to hijack the Japanese owned tanker MV … Continue reading
Commandos from the USS Bulkeley boarded the Japanese owned tanker MV Guanabara on Sunday after the crew reported that the ship was under attack by pirates. The commandos captured four pirates aboard the ship without firing a shot. The crew had withdrawn … Continue reading