Danish ship and crew hijacked off SomaliaReuters | Monday, 4 June 2007

[me]

Somali hijackers have seized a Danish cargo ship and its five Danish crew in the latest case of piracy plaguing waters off the lawless Horn of Africa nation, a Kenyan maritime official said.

 

The Donica White was carrying building materials from Dubai to Kenya's Mombasa port when gunmen boarded it late on Friday, Andrew Mwangura, director of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said.

 

"We expect a ransom to be demanded in the next three to four days, and we expect it to be high because the crew were all Danish nationals this time," Mwangura said.

 

Four other ships – an Indian dhow and three fishing vessels from Taiwan and Tanzania – are currently being held by Somali pirates, who have made the Indian Ocean corridor off their homeland among the most dangerous waters in the world.

 

Experts have long speculated that the pirates are using a mysterious "mother ship" to reach their targets far out at sea, and then board them using smaller speedboats.

 

Mwangura said the hijacking of the Donica White, in heavy seas more than 210km off the coast, appeared to have been carried out that way.

 

"We have not seen it yet, but there has to be (a mother ship)," he said. "Small ships like those that attacked could not have made it so far from the coast in very rough seas."

 

Waters off the Somali coast, Africa's longest, are trade routes for key commodities like oil, grains and iron ore from the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea down to the Mozambique Channel.

 

Thousands of merchant ships snake past the Somali coastline to the Cape of Good Hope every year.

 

Pirate attacks in Somali waters have mushroomed since the Islamist movement that brought a semblance of law and order during its six-month rule was ousted from Mogadishu in January.

 

Some of the pirates claim to be "coastguards" protecting their waters against illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping.

 

But the United Nations has called for international action to combat Somalia's "plague of piracy", saying it threatened vital aid deliveries to some 1 million people.

[me]

I don get this, something doesn't add up. The US navy is on the Somali coast bombing ras kambooni ilaa bargaal, the country is under occupation and somehow these 'mysterious' pirates are hijacking ships left right and center. They also say they are operating from a 'mysterious' mother ship, could this mother ship be a US navy vessel?

 

Something doesn't add up.

[Xargaga]

Its realy mysterious i agree. This resembles the once historic menace of piracy in the carrebeans politicaly pepertuated by the British Against the spanish merchants. Could this be a US tactics to controll the indian acean trade?

[Allamagan]

How unbelievable that the US ships cant see the pirates operating places near to their warships, but yet their ships see "individual" foreign fighters & terrorists in land somewhere remote places in Somalia!

 

..you right Me, something doesnt add up here!

[NGONGE]

The US navy is probably turning a blind eye to these happenings. It's not under their jurisdiction and not part of their mission. I don't see what's the big conspiracy is all about here. Calm down.

 

Actually, if we're playing conspiracy then I reckon the pirates are not Somali. They're Germans and they're retaliating for what that Danish fan did to their fellow national in the game between Denmark and Sweden the other day.

[Jacaylbaro]

Originally posted by me:

I don get this, something doesn't add up. The US navy is on the Somali coast bombing ras kambooni ilaa bargaal, the country is under occupation and somehow these 'mysterious' pirates are hijacking ships left right and center. They also say they are operating from a 'mysterious' mother ship, could this mother ship be a US navy vessel?

 

Something doesn't add up.

AGREE ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Castro]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

The US navy is probably turning a blind eye to these happenings. It's not under their jurisdiction and not part of their mission. I don't see what's the big conspiracy is all about here. Calm down.

The whole world is under US jurisdiction. And would it really turn a blind eye if weapons were heading to "Islamic militiants"?

 

Something is fishy here but there's not much of a conspiracy, I agree. The piracy here may simply be a feud between the nations who have feasted on the riches of Somali waters for decades.

[NGONGE]

^^^ That America runs the world (or tries to) is not in dispute here. I'm just talking about the everyday administration of things. I seriously doubt that the US navy patrols the coasts of the Indian Ocean to catch pirates and wrongdoers. I doubt they even do that in the Caspian Gulf. These are military people and one would assume that they are given clear goals and specific assignments to carry out. It's not part of their terms of reference (I assume) to chase pirates or protect the Somali coastline from pirate attacks.

 

I may be wrong of course.

[Gordon Gekko]

I'm placing my bet on that the US wants the waters off Somalia to remain "dangerous" for a while so as to keep off the chinese oil companies or any other players from exploiting the offshore basins.