Economic hardship of global proportions has struck again, and criminals have become more brazen. This target is again oil and other commodities in transport. The technology used by the modern Pirates enables them to out maneuver law enforcement. Consider the Somali Pirates caper in progress. Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia seized a large oil tanker, approximately three times the size of a US Aircraft Carrier. The Oil tanker was seized approximately 450 miles off shore and was carrying 3 million barrels of oil.
Somali pirates also hijacked a 26,000-ton Iranian cargo carrier on Tuesday. A US Navy officer operating in the theatre of the piracy has commented, "It is suspected that these Pirate gangs have become more sophisticated, operating large "mother ships," often former Russian trawlers, which follow their targeted ship with GPS devices. When they are close enough, they offload smaller dinghies or speedboats that move in for the capture. "
"They just come up to the stern, throw up their hook and ladder, and once you are on board, the ship is yours, because no one is going to mess with a man with an RPG [rocket propelled grenade launcher]," says Richard Cornwell, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies in Tshwane, as Pretoria is now called. "Once [they're on board], it's over in 10 to 15 minutes. Unless you have a warship in the immediate area, and crucially, with a helicopter, you've got no chance of stopping them."The great take away is that criminals are becoming more brazen, they are using technology to their great advantage. And through overwhelming incidents perpetrated by many, they operate with impunity.
Whether off shore on within our borders, brazen crime is on the rise.
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Read two articles on this incident for greater detail.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/17/kenya.tanker.pirates/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1119/p01s03-woaf.html
12/01/08. Lawlessness continues. "Somali pirates boarded a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 28, taking 27 crew members hostage. Helicopters from a nearby German warship responded to a distress call from the ship's master but did not arrive until after the pirates had control of the ship. Three unarmed security guards employed by Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions escaped from the pirates by jumping into the water, where they were rescued by a helicopter. Approximately 40 ships have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia this year, including a Saudi supertanker that held $100 million worth of crude oil. Pirates are currently in control of 15 ships and are demanding millions of dollars in ransom to release the ships and an estimated 300 crew members. A NATO fleet is patrolling the Gulf of Aden, escorting some merchant ships and responding to stress calls made to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center." as reported by
ReplyDelete"British Guards Escape as Tanker Is Boarded by Somali Pirates", Scotsman (UK) (11/29/08); Houreld, Katharine: http://news.scotsman.com/world/British--guards-escape-as.4744804.jp