# Can you imagine if Pirates had tanks? Imagine no longer and no, it is not cool. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503 "2008-09-27T22:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/41 "2008-09-29T08:24:05Z")
The unlucky bastard who they target next, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/42 "2008-09-29T08:57:26Z")
These pirates are able to remain at large based on three things. Firstly, the lawlessness of the region in which they operate. Secondly, when they have not captured anything they operate from speedboats, and with very basic weaponry (sometimes just knives). They are consequently too insignificant and anonymous to attract attention and/or for it to be provable that they are pirates at all. They don’t wear eyepatches, have parrots on their shoulder or say “aaargh” a lot. Thirdly, after the pirates attack they have valuable cargo and a vessel and hostages and they use this as a shield. Sure, any respectable military can probably watch their every move on satellite (you can’t hide a sizeable ship these days) and could take the pirates out at the flick of a switch, but only by destroying/killing what they are trying to protect. The pirates cannot use the tanks for piracy. If they did, they might as well put a big sign on themselves saying “I am a pirate, shoot me” and they’d be smoking flotsam shortly afterward. The recent attacks are notable precisely because they have been by pirates working further out and (so it is said) from motherships. This is much more big league than is traditional and is no doubt a reflection of being cashed up from recent ransomes. This is not sustainable. History shows that piracy is vulnerable to law enforcement action once it gets bold enough to become obvious. There are going to be some dead pirates shortly and the “industry” will contract back to the usual level of noise. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/43 "2008-09-29T22:13:20Z")
The plot thickens: [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world/africa/30pirate.html?ref=world](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world/africa/30pirate.html?ref=world) > [@](#): > > The ship, operated by a Ukrainian arms supplier, was hijacked on Thursday in Somalia’s pirate-infested waters. The American military, among others, fears the pirates could sell the dangerous cargo to Islamist insurgents battling Somalia’s weak government. > > Meanwhile, the controversy over where exactly the tanks were going has heated up again. > > Two Western diplomats in Nairobi, a maritime official and the pirates themselves said the arms were headed for Sudan or other neighboring countries, not Kenya, as the Kenya government has repeatedly claimed. > > One of the diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there may have been a secret arms deal in which Kenya would be a transit point for the weapons to be taken by train from the port of Mombasa and then out of the country. > > ``I can tell you these tanks were not for Kenya,” the diplomat said. > > The Kenyan government has denied this. On Monday, government spokesman Alfred Mutua said, ``we buy weapons all the time. I don’t see what the big deal is.” > > He also characterized the pirates, in a statement, as ``a rag-tag terrorism unit.” > > Ukrainian tanks, though, are a relative anomaly in Kenya, which has been a close ally of the United States and Britain for decades and has been equipped with Western-made weapons. > > Dr. Mutua acknowledged this, saying most of Kenya’s tanks were ``old British tanks.” > > But, he added, the Ukrainian tanks were cheaper. > > `We choose who we buy from,” he said. `And we buy equipment from all over the world.” > > Kenya recently bought several Chinese-made trucks to transport troops. > > The first news reports on Friday regarding the hijacked ship said the arms were headed for south Sudan, which is an autonomous region of Sudan that fought a long separatist war against the northern Sudanese government. There are currently American sanctions and a United Nations arms embargo against Sudan, though American officials said the application of these sanctions is complicated and that it may not be illegal for Kenya to provide tanks to south Sudan. United Nations officials said that in the past few years several large arms shipments have passed through Kenya en route to south Sudan. Often, the weapons are moved across the border at night. > > Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator for the Seafarers’ Assistance Program in Kenya, which tracks pirate attacks, called the Ukrainian ship ``a tricky vessel.” > > ``The tanks were for Sudan and the Kenya government doesn’t want to admit it because of the embargo,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/44 "2008-09-30T21:35:20Z")
And now, there may have been infighting among the pirates over what to do with the cargo, resulting in a couple of dead bad guys. > **[Somali pirates deny shootout, renew ransom demand](https://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE48T14Y20080930)** > > Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks reiterated their demands for a $20 million ransom on Tuesday and denied three of their number had died in a shootout. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/45 "2008-10-01T04:27:10Z")
What I’m curious about is what Russia’s stake in this is, why they want to get involved. Do they have something to loose in particular from these weapons getting to Africa, or are they just trying to tweak the US’s nose since we’re big on operating in that part of the world? I suppose they could be just out for the greater humanitarian good of ending piracy and keeping weapons out of terrorist hands, but I’m a cynic on some things. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/46 "2008-10-01T13:13:40Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > The answer is right on the tip of my tongue. Don’t they carry a large piece of wood on board Danish warships? Say something like a 2"X12"? What is the word I am looking for? You know a large piece of wood you could have the pirates walk on. Now what is that word? > Gaaah! I hate it when I can’t recall a word.😃 The word you are looking for is “ruler”. Did you ever work in set design for a British rock band? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/47 "2008-10-01T18:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > A spokesman for the armed group which seized the Ukranian ship and its 25 crew said that the Faina was surrounded by three foreign warships, but **he said his men were ready to fight to the death** to protect their catch. It seems like the solution to the problem is right there. All we need now is a suitable SEAL/RM Commando/Spetsnaz force. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503/48 "2008-10-01T23:42:21Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > It seems like the solution to the problem is right there. All we need now is a suitable SEAL/RM Commando/Spetsnaz force. The problem with your solution is also right there: the 25 crew. This is going to end very badly for the pirates, but I just hope it doesn’t end very badly for the crew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-imagine-if-pirates-had-tanks-imagine-no-longer-and-no-it-is-not-cool/465503.md?page=2)