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This makes me proud! American Crew Regains Control of Hijacked Ship

Decoligny

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J XD wrote:
Sadly.......they willmost likelybe fired when they get into port. (liability issues).

They might have injureda pirate or two.

No, they safely landed in the nice soft water.

The sharks however could be in for a personal injury case.
 

Sonora Rebel

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John Reinhart, president of Maersk Line Co., cautiously declined to confirm that the crew had taken the ship back.

abc_pirate_hijacking_090408_mn.jpg


A crew of American sailors turned the tables on Somali pirates today who hijacked their ship after a...
A crew of American sailors turned the tables on Somali pirates today who hijacked their ship after a high seas chase - and then were overpowered by the U.S. crew. The ship is crewed by 20 Americans under the command of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vt. Also on board is Capt. Shane Murphy, 34,(pictured in the bottom right) the ship's chief officer, according to the Cape Cod Times. (ABC Photo Illustration)
"We had a communication about an hour and a half ago from the vessel that said the crew was safe," he said about 12:15 p.m.

"He did not say they had taken back the vessel," Reinhart said. "Called to let you know we are all safe right now and then the call was cut off."

He also said that the crew was unarmed and he did not expect them to battle pirates.

"Once boarded, the crew has safe rooms and they're not to take on active engagement because they have no weapons, it would be a risk to their lives," Reinhart said. "They'd be outgunned."

'It would be inappropriate for them to try to be heros," he added. "We want them to come home safely."

Before the ship was recaptured, the hijacking caused international alarm.

The White House issued a statement saying, "The White House is closely monitoring the apparent hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and assessing a course of action to resolve this situation. Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board."



"It would be inappropriate for them to try to be heros" Reinhart is a typical corporate wimp. "did not expect them to battle pirates." These are American seamen... SAILORS by God! They WILL fight the ship with whatever means.
 

KansasMustang

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All the more reason why the Merchant Marine should be allowed to Keep and Bear Arms. Wonder if they ever will be. They call them "Able Seamen?
 

darthmord

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My solution would be to assign a detachment of 10-20 Marines on-board for security. Those are US Flagged ships. Shouldn't be an issue protecting our turf underway with military forces.

Glad to hear those sailors took a captive and regained their ship.
 

Deanimator

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darthmord wrote:
My solution would be to assign a detachment of 10-20 Marines on-board for security. Those are US Flagged ships. Shouldn't be an issue protecting our turf underway with military forces.

Glad to hear those sailors took a captive and regained their ship.
Sounds like good annual training for Marine reservists.
 

Sonora Rebel

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Blackwater could provide required private security. Five man unit... with appropriate point defense weapons.Fourheavy machinegun (MA2 .50) mounts prepositioned. Guns mounted when required. Several M60 7.62's and 5.56 M4's/.45acp sidearms for all. RPG's are inaccurate past 25 yards at small targets... but a dozen LAW's or so would prob'ly provide some stand off capability.

Blackwater could also go into the Privateer business and provide armed escort patrols in that area for the shipping companies.
 

Legba

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Have Congress bring back letters of marque and reprisal - I bet there are a bunch of good ol' boys here who would love doing privateer duty. The Treaty of Paris be damned.

-ljp
 

Sonora Rebel

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Legba wrote:
Have Congress bring back letters of marque and reprisal - I bet there are a bunch of good ol' boys here who would love doing privateer duty. The Treaty of Paris be damned.

-ljp

I wrote several letters to that effect regarding the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean drugsmugglers interdiction in that area about 15-20years ago. This was prompted by the presence of pirates in the St Thomas/St. Croix area preying upon pleasure craft to sieze and use for these operations. The occupants and captainsof course 'dissapear'. The boats are used as a convienience and sunk. The media ignores this problem.

The response was one of typical limp-wrist shock to say the least.

What should be done... NOW...(should have been done already)is attack the pirate bases and 'mother ships' in their ports... Destroy them. Then... invade these pirate havens and rescue the seaman held in captivity. The ships these pirates have siezed can be sorted out thereafter.

I put 20+ years in the US Navy... I think I'm savvy in these types of operations. All the Congress has to do is grow a pair. Blackstone termed Pirates 'Hostis Genaris Humani' (General Enemies of Humanity) in the 18th century. There is no difference now.
 

MuellerBadener

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Though not a viable option for the Caribean, Q-ships would work great against the Somalis. (Merchant ship with disquised guns and marines. Let 'em get in close and blast them back to Allah!)
 

Alexcabbie

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Sonora Rebel wrote:
John Reinhart, president of Maersk Line Co., cautiously declined to confirm that the crew had taken the ship back.

abc_pirate_hijacking_090408_mn.jpg


A crew of American sailors turned the tables on Somali pirates today who hijacked their ship after a...
A crew of American sailors turned the tables on Somali pirates today who hijacked their ship after a high seas chase - and then were overpowered by the U.S. crew. The ship is crewed by 20 Americans under the command of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vt. Also on board is Capt. Shane Murphy, 34,(pictured in the bottom right) the ship's chief officer, according to the Cape Cod Times. (ABC Photo Illustration)
"We had a communication about an hour and a half ago from the vessel that said the crew was safe," he said about 12:15 p.m.

"He did not say they had taken back the vessel," Reinhart said. "Called to let you know we are all safe right now and then the call was cut off."

He also said that the crew was unarmed and he did not expect them to battle pirates.

"Once boarded, the crew has safe rooms and they're not to take on active engagement because they have no weapons, it would be a risk to their lives," Reinhart said. "They'd be outgunned."

'It would be inappropriate for them to try to be heros," he added. "We want them to come home safely."

Before the ship was recaptured, the hijacking caused international alarm.

The White House issued a statement saying, "The White House is closely monitoring the apparent hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and assessing a course of action to resolve this situation. Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board."



"It would be inappropriate for them to try to be heros" Reinhart is a typical corporate wimp. "did not expect them to battle pirates." These are American seamen... SAILORS by God! They WILL fight the ship with whatever means.
SAFE ROOMS!!??? You can build a fire against the door and cook them inside if they don't open up. THAT'S their employers recommendation if attacked?? Go hide in the closet?? American crews should be armed. Period. And that goes double for passenger cruise ships where there is more at stake than a cargo of Purina Famine Chow. "Safe room" my ass.
 

Alexcabbie

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Legba wrote:
Have Congress bring back letters of marque and reprisal - I bet there are a bunch of good ol' boys here who would love doing privateer duty. The Treaty of Paris be damned.

-ljp
GREAT IDEA LEGS. "cep'n for one little detail. See, Privateers get paid out of whaat they sieze from the target vessels, which in this case are mostly crappy little wooden skiffs with worn out outboard motors. The most valuable things on board these skiffs are the weapons, which are like as not hommade copies of full-auto AKs made in the tribal wilds of Pakistan with sheet metal, pipe, and boiled in paint to simularte a Parkerized finish. Maybe one of them has some gum and a valid bus pass, but I am not gonna go halfway around the world for a free ride on the Mogadishu Main Street lunch loop.
 

Sonora Rebel

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Yeah... the safe room thing is a joke. Actually... it's an embarrassment. Whatever happened to 'Stand by to repel boarders!'?

Too many metro-centric panty waist limp-willy corporate wimps runnin' stuff. 'Heard one of 'em yesterday: (to this effect) "These are merchant crews... They have no training in weapons to defend the ship."

These are Americans, who do not live in a vacuum of their occupation. They prob'ly own more personal firearms than most of us. They are American seaman with a long history of defending ships... or has that been forgotten? I doubt it.
 

Tomahawk

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Alexcabbie wrote:
Legba wrote:
Have Congress bring back letters of marque and reprisal - I bet there are a bunch of good ol' boys here who would love doing privateer duty. The Treaty of Paris be damned.

-ljp
GREAT IDEA LEGS. "cep'n for one little detail. See, Privateers get paid out of whaat they sieze from the target vessels, which in this case are mostly crappy little wooden skiffs with worn out outboard motors. The most valuable things on board these skiffs are the weapons, which are like as not hommade copies of full-auto AKs made in the tribal wilds of Pakistan with sheet metal, pipe, and boiled in paint to simularte a Parkerized finish. Maybe one of them has some gum and a valid bus pass, but I am not gonna go halfway around the world for a free ride on the Mogadishu Main Street lunch loop.

Issue the letters to the merchant crewmen themselves, and specify that they are to be used only for purpose of defending their own ships from piracy.

The idea about embarking Marines on these ships is a step in the right direction, but unecessary. American sailors should simply be allowed to arm themselves.

Insurance companies and liability and international law makes that problematic, but if America is going to have any kind of sensible foreign policy, it should be to protect the right of self defense for sailors at sea.

BTW: last word I got was that Capt. Phillips tried to escape and was shot at. I certainly hope he's not harmed. I know that the crew of the USS Bainbridge is likely itching to let those pirate bastards have it.

Hisotrical note on the name "Bainbridge": http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/the-namesake-of.html

Tip of the hat to the crew of the Maersk Alabama. Nice to see how an American crew deals with pirates. Now let's arm them.
 

grishnav

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What are the laws and rules governing firearms on the ocean, anyway? I understand that, if you're in waters claimed by a government, you follow their rules, so my questions become:

1. Are there any treaties governing possession on the high seas that you might run afoul of?
2. What laws, if any, does the US have governing possession on US seas?
 

Alexcabbie

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Whatever comes of this, the big news - actually not news to anyone who has grown up in the American culture as she used to be - is that after all these pirate attacks, it was AN AMERICAN CREW who manned up and resisted, and won. Thus affirming (American) Jeff Cooper's dictum: Resist and you might win. Do not resist, and you lose, every time.

Well, these pirates just found out what happens when you eff with Americans. Listen closely to the news reports and you will hear argle-bargling as the reporters try to minimize the heroism of this brave crew who refused to relinquish their ship to a barbarian rabble. I detect a concerted effort in the media to find a way to disparage the efforts of the crew.

Carry no weapon, but always have $20 cash to give as a sop to your mugger. Don't go after terrorists as killing them only makes them angry (!). And if your ship is boarded, go hide in the closet until they go away.

Neville Chamberlain must have fathered a lot of bastard children who somehow made their way over here.....
 

Tomahawk

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Alexcabbie wrote:
Well, these pirates just found out what happens when you eff with Americans.
Hopefully, they haven't really found out yet, and are still waiting for the crew of the USS Bainbridge to explain it to them. An example needs to be made.
 
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