Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Face to face with a Somali pirate!!



These Somali pirates have been creating havoc to the shipping industries worldwide because the gulf of Aden where the rampant pirates attack took place is one of the key shipping route.

These pirates only want money for themselves, not knowing how their piracy acts, have greatly jeopardise our living and the economy.

From international media reports, millions of dollars had been paid out as ransom to these pirates, and yet they are still not satisfied, still greedy and still attacking.

The international shipping laws forbid ships from carrying arms or armed guards, thus making it easier to this pirates to subdue the crews.

Pirates also used long poles or ropes to manouver their way up to ships from their small boats.

My say, why not shipping agencies all around the world meet and change the laws that forbid them to carry arms or armed guards.

Why not sacrifice a few thousands in the form of payments for armed professional escorts to keep guard and ensure safe journey to your ships??

Instead of letting your sailors and crews cross the gulf of Aden without any means of defending themselves?? and incur million of dollar losses when the ship and the crews are being kidnapped?? what if they died as had happened to one crew member of a hijacked Malaysian tanker, MISC last year??

Why not equip those commercial ships with big guns such as a 50 calibre Heavy Machine Guns or a Phalanx weapon system or even Anti Aircraft guns? or at least a GPMG - general purpose machine gun?? these kinds of armaments will scare the hell out of the pirates!!!!

The sea around gulf of Aden is monstroulsy vast and not even the biggest navy armada in the world can escort and watch each and every one ship out there, isn't it?

Below is a newsreport by the BBC on a "SMILING" young Somali pirate captured by the US Navy and extradited to the US.

BBC News
A Somali teenager captured by the US during the rescue of an American sea captain from pirates is due to appear in a federal court in New York.

Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse will be the first person to face piracy charges in the US in over a century, US media reports say.

He was held over the seizure of Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips off Somalia and flown to the US on Monday.

Earlier, his mother appealed to US President Barack Obama to free him.

Adar Abdurahman Hassan told the BBC her son was innocent and just 16 years old.

The teenager is accused of being a member of the pirate gang which boarded the Maersk Alabama container ship on 8 April and took Capt Phillips hostage in a lifeboat.

The stand-off ended on the fifth day when US Navy marksmen killed three of the pirates while Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse was aboard a US warship allegedly demanding a ransom.

The teenage suspect arrived in the US late on Monday, under heavy guard.

On Monday his mother said she wanted to be present in court if the case went ahead.

She said her son had been missing for two weeks prior to the hijacking and she only realised he had been implicated when she heard his name in a radio report.

She told the BBC's Somali service: "I am requesting the American government, I am requesting President Obama to release my child. He has got nothing to do with the pirates' crime.

"He is a minor. He is under-age and he has been used for this crime. I also request from the US, if they choose to put him on trial, I want them to invite me there."

On Sunday, the internationally-recognised but fragile Somali government said captured pirates could face the death penalty.

But the Horn of Africa nation has been without an effective administration since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed piracy to thrive.

Shipping companies last year handed over about $80m (£54m) in ransom payments to the gangs.

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