Harrrrrrrggg Pirates and morrrreeee Pirates
 

If I win the lottery I'm going to buy an armored boat and cruise the Somali coast and toast some of these clowns.....paybacks are a *****.


Piracy 'on the rise' off Somalia
The Seabourne Sprint, which escaped an attack off the Somali coast on Saturday
A luxury cruise liner outran pirates off the Somali coast on Saturday
Serious pirate attacks off the Somali coast have jumped dramatically after a two-year lull, says a report.

The problem was highlighted over the weekend, when a luxury cruise liner was attacked and pursued by pirates.

The greatest number of attacks overall were off Indonesia, with 61 of a total of 205 attacks reported worldwide.

Gloabally, though, attacks fell 18% in the first nine months of 2005 on the same period of 2004, said the report from the International Maritime Bureau.

Somali spike

The IBM says in the nine-month period of 2005, 141 ships were boarded, 15 fired upon and 11 were hijacked. Of the 259 crewmembers taken hostage, 12 are still missing.

The most alarming rise in attacks was off the eastern and north-eastern coast of Somalia, where attacks shot up from one in 2004 to 19 in 2005. In one incident, the report says, a vessel was lured closer to the shore by pirates who set off distress flares.

Attacks have continued apace since the end of the period in question, the IMB told the BBC News website, with an additional nine attacks since 1 October.

The IMB was "still trying to figure out" the reasons for the dramatic increase, a spokesman said. In the last five years, the number of attacks has never exceeded six.

The report says daily warnings are transmitted to ships sailing close to Somalia advising them to keep as far away as possible.

Once inside the waters, ships targeted by pirates have very little chance of a redress to the law, because, as the report points out, "there is no national law enforcement infrastructure in Somalia".

Piracy hotspots

Indonesian waters remain far and away the most vulnerable to pirate attacks.

This is mainly attributed to the high level of commercial maritime activity in the area, along with high levels of lawlessness and organised crime.

Other piracy hotspots include Bangladesh and Nigeria, both with 14 attacks, India with 12 and Jamaica with seven.

Ten separate attacks were recorded in the Malacca Straits - which divide Malaysia and the large Indonesian island of Sumatra - despite a period of relative quiet following December's tsunami. Seven took place in the Singapore Straits.

And an additional eight attacks were reported in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

The report flags up a "new and worrying trend" off Iraq. Six attacks have been reported off the Basra oil terminal since 22 April, despite the close proximity of coalition naval ships.

Pirates never now attempt attacks unarmed, the report says. Guns and knives are pirates' weapons of choice, with roughly equal usage of both.

Dude;

12 ships in the last 2 weeks....

Might be time to study up on Jefferson and crew's innoculation against Barbary pirates. Oh, here's a snippet from Wikpedia:

Barbary pirates and the U.S. Navy

When the U.S. became a country it had little in the way of a navy to protect its merchant ships, so in 1784, Congress appropriated $80,000 as tribute, or bribe, to the Barbary states. But continued attacks prompted the building of the United States Navy, including one of America's most famous ships, the USS Constitution, leading to a series of wars along the North African coast, starting in 1801. It was not until 1815 that naval victories ended tribute payments by the U.S., although some European nations continued annual payments until the 1830s.

The United States Marine Corps actions in these wars led to the line, "to the shores of Tripoli" in the opening of the "Marine Hymn".

Howdy All,
Predator is loitering in the skies as we speak ;-)

I'm thinking a nice 45' sport fish with 4 25mm chain guns. Draw em in nice and close and let er rip.

That would do it and you can fish while your waiting.

Please tell me you are joking??? You want to pay these people in Somalia to not attack innocent passing ships????

Ya know I think that would be a dream vacation for me, what could be better than bobbing around in a luxury yatch, fishing and shooting Somali pirtates............The only thing that could top it is if I added a few strippers to the crew.

LMAO :D

I can see it now. You and Ted Nugent kickin' a$$ and takin' names :rifle:

You can go to, we can take a skeet thrower for you. I would throw Ted overboard, I can't handle 2 hours in a car with him let alone a week on a boat.

...and make chum when the pirates arrive.

I don'
t know...I think Ted would be a blast to be around. But then I never have met him.

He seems pretty intense. Maybe give him another boat or spike his fruit juice with 'luudes.

He's fun for about one hour, I've spent many days and trips with him and as a youngster is was pretty cool but as I grow up it gets more and more annoying everyday.

Vernors.