Yes it was , but I dont see anything different , as you just want to find where the money is and then freeze it. So far the UN does not seem to want to use force of any kind and the nato forces seem to be going along with that.
Unless you impose a govt or accept a warlord or what not in somolia this problem is going to continue. Reading on that tanker that the pirates grabbed , one of the news articles said that they were getting help from mercs , technical assistance in boarding and taking ships further out than their fishing boats can range.
Freezing their accounts might be the last soft step that we can take , before some old fashioned rules have to be applied.
While they do operate in a lawless zone… I gotta ask… How do they eventually get off the ship? Even if they have all their millions in unmarked bills of different denominations, guaranteed to be safe from tricks like sleeping gas or ink explosions or mini-tracking devices etc… etc…
They’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean.
How, in practice, could they set up a plan where they disappear back into lawless city slums without being sniped at a port? I mean… the escape boat comes from the big ship… Its not hard to track where its going to.
Do they take hostages with them? What happens when they get to wherever they’re going, eventually they’re going to have to make a run for it. I’m sure the offended parties will have a few (hundred probably) henchmen around to try and stop them when they make it ashore. Millions are at stake…
How would they get away with it even if they get their big $?
Uh, perhaps there is a misunderstanding in what is going on here. The pirates first board a ship in the open ocean. Then they order the crew to sail the ship to a Somila port where they pick up the satellite phone on the ship and call the owners. Negociations ensue. The ship’s crew is well taken care of during this time. There are caterers on shore who provide western/eastern meals to the crew while everyone waits. As long as there is no rescue operations, no one gets hurt. Taking care of the crew is important to the pirate’s reputation. They don’t want to get into a situation where the shipping companies and crews conclude that defending the ships with guns is a better option. When the money, presumably in cash, is delivered the ship is let go. But it isn’t like the ships are bobbing around the open ocean for 24 hours while the the owners frantically wire the money to a swiss bank account. These hijackings take months to complete. Once the pirates have the cash, they turn around and buy new cars and new houses and spread the money around in the local economy. Everyone wins. In the unlikely event that some ship owner figures out a way to renege on the payment, there are lots more ships out there.
As for defending the ships on the high seas. Besides the fact that people on the ships could get hurt, think about the ship. If it sustains any significant damage-say bullet holes in the bridge windows, it will take several days in the next port to fix. At $30-50K/day to keep the ship in port, that damage is very expensive. Not as expensive as losing the use of the ship for six months, but still it is a cost that the shippers don’t want to pay.
Not to mention that whilst pirate attacks are numerous, most cargo ships make it through the Gulf of Aden unscathed. The volume of traffic in the area is pretty high, making any sort of onboard active security unlikely to make much of a difference. Better to deal with the pirates as and when the various navies encounter them, and in the mean time the companies pay the ransoms and keep the flow of cargo moving. The situation will only improve when the political situation in Somalia stabilises, and that won’t happen until there’s a concerted international effort.
What obstacles are there against transporting cargo on some giant submarines instead of surface vessels? I believe this was tried by the germans during WW1, but I haven’t seen any more recent developments. Is that unfeasible? Personally I think that would be neat, and would make piracy quite difficult. As a bonus, such boats can go under the arctic icecap.
The cost of a sub ton for ton has to be much larger than for a freighter/oiler. You need a well-trained specialized crew. The icecap thing is an interesting factor, but if the ice cap completely melts…
Even if it is in port… What is the plan by which they get off the ship without being sniped by someone who wants to make it known stealing millions of dollars won’t be accepted? They step off the ship and just wave town a taxi?
I know the country has no real government, but that would be where bounty hunters would thrive, right? And if you know what boat they’re on and that they will be getting off that ship to go home after their little party is over… Why not wait somewhere in the vicinity of the boat and kill them when he gets off?