Featured Books
True Colours by Alaric Bond
Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha's Vineyard by Dunlop & Shaw
Live Yankees: The Sewalls and Their Ships by W. H. Bunting
His Majesty's Ship by Alaric Bond
Galveston's the Elissa: The Tall Ship of Texas by Kurt Voss
My River Chronicles - Rediscovering the America on the Hudson by Jessica DuLong
The Frigate Surprise: The Complete Story of the Ship Made Famous in the Novels of Patrick O'Brian by by Geoff Hunt and Brian Lavery
James Nelson's George Washington's Secret Navy
Defying Empire:Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York by Thomas Truxes
Deadly Shoals, a Wiki Coffin Mystery by Joan Druett
Star Crossedby Linda Collison
The Privateer's Revenge: A Kydd Sea Adventure (Kydd Sea Adventures)
Peter Wicked: A Matty Graves Novel (The Matty Graves Novels)
The Jackass Frigate byAlaric Bond
Steady As She Goesby John Molloy
Voyages, the Age of Sail: Documents in American Maritime History, Volume I, 1492-1865
Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge
The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
MV Moscow University – Why Anti-Piracy Efforts off Somalia Are Doomed to Fail
Two news stories, days apart demonstrate, at least to me, why the current efforts to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia are doomed to fail. We posted previously how the tanker MV Moscow University was recaptured from pirates by Russian special forces involving the close cooperation of the ship’s crew and military personnel. Read more
NATO Destroyer Sinks Pirate Mother Ship off Somalia but Lets Pirates Go
In the ongoing somewhat surreal operation against piracy off Somalia, the HDMS Absalon, a Danish destroyer, sank a pirate “mother ship” but allowed the pirates to return to shore. The official goal appears to be to “disrupt” rather than stop pirate activities. Thus far the naval flotilla has proven itself a significant inconvenience to the Somali pirates but little more. It appears that the nation states involved continue to lack the will to arrest and charge the pirates under international law. A policy of ”catch and release” works well for stocking trout streams but does little in stopping piracy in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
NATO warship sinks pirate ship off Somalia
UK Government says “Don’t Pay Ransom and Don’t Arm your Ships”
Last week we posted about the International Chamber of Shipping’s concern that governments are not doing enough to combat piracy. Now the British government, after long opposing the payment of ransoms to free hijacked ships is also trying to discourage the use of armed guards on UK merchant ships. British government policy appears to be to not provide adequate naval defenses against piracy, to oppose the shipowner’s use of onboard guards and then to oppose the ship owner’s payment of ransom to free hijacked ships and crews.
Read more
Live Piracy Map 2008
An intriguing if sobering map of piracy this year from the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. Click on the map to learn more.
Talking Like a Somali and Update on the MV Faina
An update on the MV Faina – still being held hostage by Somali pirates.
Somali pirates hold whip hand in standoff
And a comment by my 12 year old son, Ted. He suggested that he would like to learn some Somali so that next year when “Talk Like a Pirate Day” rolls around, he will really be able to talk like a pirate.
Can I Get an Arrgh?
More Disnified pirates, as reported by the New York Times. It seems the pirate reenactors who pay attention to the history can get annoyed by the new armada of faux Captain Jack Sparrows.
““Why do some of them feel like they can wear blank spandex pants and a puffy shirt and be allowed to call themselves pirates?” said John Macek, a member of the Pirate Brethren, a re-enactment group formed in the 1990s in Columbia, Md.
Old Salt in The Huffington Post
I was recently published in The Huffington Post. An excerpt:
“The Golden Age of Piracy” or Long John Silver in a Tank
This morning I was struck by the odd juxtaposition of an announcement for a festival and a news item. Not long after reading about the upcoming Saint Augustine Pirate Gathering, (November 14th -16th), I also read in this morning’s New York Times that a band of Somali pirates who have seized a ship carrying $30 million worth of grenade launchers, tons of ammunition, and yes, even 33 refurbished T-72 battle tanks. The ship was taken over 200 mile offshore. Naval ships from both the US and Russia subsequently intercepted the pirates and a week-long standoff has ensued.
Pirate Stand-off in the Indian Ocean
FAINA with Somali pirate boats alongside
The real life pirate saga, which began Thursday night when Somali pirates seized the Faina, a Ukrainian ship loaded with a cargo of ammunition, grenade launchers and 33 refurbished Russian T-72 battle tanks, has turned into a stand-off between the pirates holding the crew hostage and US and Russian navy vessels and aircraft. One crew member has died reported of hypertension. The pirates are now demanding a ransom of $20 million dollars.
Somali pirates want $20M ship ransom; crewman dies
Thank You for Not Talking Like A Pirate
If by good fortune you missed the “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”, just as well. If you managed to pass the day without a single “Aargh” or “Shiver Me Timbers” congratulations.
I have a rather good sense of humor and some might say a quick wit. (And some say half-wit, but be that as it may.) Nevertheless, I am revolted by those who confuse piracy with cute colloquialisms, funny hats and the occasional parrot. Piracy is about murder and theft. Not too unlike terrorism, though in most cases with less justification. Read more
