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The Pompei is a Belgian Dedger. The Dutch strike back:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8005730.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8005730.stm
Pirates Take Pompei
- Thread starter Higgins
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As I've said before, I don't consider them pirates; I consider them kidnappers. I think we'll see an end to these attacks before too long, because the entire international community is on board. . . no pun intended.
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The Dutch don't seem to have applied the standard law-of-the-sea type laws that used to apply to piracy either.
This is unfortunate since it would complicate any salvage.
For example, if I come by in a ship and see that another ship is not being controlled by its rightful master (from what I can see) and I signal asking if they are in distress and they answer that they are just kidnapping the crew but they are allowing the crew to control the ship...I'm likely to think this is just a way of canceling my salvage rights, because if I restore the crew to non-kidnapped status I can't claim salvage if the crew says they were just kidnapped.
It seems any maritime court would let me have salvage rights over the ship if I took it from the pirates (note how often the crew in the US ship incident say "The pirates were at no time in control"...even though they took the captain...and where does a crew take refuge? In the engine room...the pirates don't control the ship in the view of salvage law if they don't control the engines) no matter how many times the crew swore they were just kidnapped. The maritime courts would rightly argue that kidnapping is irrelevent since the pirates would have had control of the ship and I would have salvage rights if I took the ship from the pirates.
Do I understand you, Higgins? Are you suggesting that salvage rights should be a factor or a reasonable motivation for reclaiming a ship taken by force?
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Interesting thoughts, Higgins.
And while it might not be "reasonable" to you or I, I can certainly see how it would make for an interesting financial opportunity for a mercenary group.
hmm, now there's a story idea.
And while it might not be "reasonable" to you or I, I can certainly see how it would make for an interesting financial opportunity for a mercenary group.
hmm, now there's a story idea.
It's actually similar to one I'm writing, with several twists of course.
As for the pirates, really, who knew they would make such a huge come back? Though as they say, history always repeats itself, though with new faces.
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I'm suggesting that under salvage law, the concept of "kidnapping" a crew, as distinct from taking control of a ship, is not defined as far as I know. I think anyone who took a ship from pirates by force would invariably be able to claim salvage (yes, the US Navy or Coast Guard can claim salvage too)
SALVAGE, maritime law. This term originally meant the thing or goods saved from shipwreck or other loss; and in that sense it is generally to be understood in our old books. But it is at present more frequently understood to mean the compensation made to those by whose means the ship or goods have been saved from the effects of shipwreck, fire, pirates, enemies, or any other loss or misfortune.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Salvage
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During the "Tanker War" in the mid-1980s in the Persian gulf, Iraq and Iran fired hundreds of antiship missiles and sophisticated whatnot (including possibly kamakazi jets) at hundreds of merchant ships. Since this was a legitimate war between legitmate states (run by a random selection of secular and religious nuts) apparently it was not the sort of thing that triggers the primordial internet instinct to get upset about things. Anyway, as I recall, there were salvage tugs waiting for the missiles to hit so that they could claim salvage if they towed the ship or put out a fire or just offered some acceptible assistance.
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/9005lessonsiraniraqii-chap14.pdf
http://countrystudies.us/iraq/105.htm
http://www.sheridanhouse.com/reviews/salvage.html
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Indeed, with my MC being a space pirate, this has boundless story potential for me.
Italian cruise ship foils pirates
A captain of an Italian cruise ship has given the BBC a dramatic account of how his crew fended off a pirate attack near the coast of Somalia.
Capt Ciro Pinto said six pirates in a speedboat approached his Melody ship and opened fire, but then fled after security men fired in the air.
He said his crew also sprayed water on the gunmen when they tried to climb aboard using a ladder.
No-one was hurt in Saturday's incident. Some 1,500 people were on the vessel.
Somali pirates have also seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker and clashed with coast guards on Sunday, a Yemeni official said.
Two pirates were killed in the action as the Yemeni coast guard tried to free the vessel, a Yemeni government official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The official said three pirates and two Yemeni coast guards were also wounded in the exchange.
See map of how piracy is affecting the region and countries around the world
Last year, pirates attacked more than 100 ships in the region, demanding huge ransom for their release. Their attacks have intensified recently.
'Throwing chairs'
Capt Pinto told the BBC that the pirates tried to hijack his ship late on Saturday, about 290km (180 miles) north of Victoria in the Seychelles.
"One white small boat with six people on board approached the port
A captain of an Italian cruise ship has given the BBC a dramatic account of how his crew fended off a pirate attack near the coast of Somalia.
Capt Ciro Pinto said six pirates in a speedboat approached his Melody ship and opened fire, but then fled after security men fired in the air.
He said his crew also sprayed water on the gunmen when they tried to climb aboard using a ladder.
No-one was hurt in Saturday's incident. Some 1,500 people were on the vessel.
Somali pirates have also seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker and clashed with coast guards on Sunday, a Yemeni official said.
Two pirates were killed in the action as the Yemeni coast guard tried to free the vessel, a Yemeni government official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The official said three pirates and two Yemeni coast guards were also wounded in the exchange.
See map of how piracy is affecting the region and countries around the world
Last year, pirates attacked more than 100 ships in the region, demanding huge ransom for their release. Their attacks have intensified recently.
'Throwing chairs'
Capt Pinto told the BBC that the pirates tried to hijack his ship late on Saturday, about 290km (180 miles) north of Victoria in the Seychelles.
"One white small boat with six people on board approached the port
side of the ship and started shooting."
The captain said the pirates fired some 200 rounds of shots on the vessel.
His said "our security started shooting in the air... and also we started spraying some water" to beat off the attackers.
Capt Pinto said the pirates were forced to give up after about five minutes of shooting and a high-speed chase.
Samantha Hendey from Durban, South Africa, told the BBC that her sister Tabitha Nicholson was on board the ship during the attack and the situation was "pretty dramatic".
"She said that there were lots of passengers on deck watching it unfold and they even took action themselves by throwing chairs overboard, trying to hit the pirates," Samantha said.
"She said there were lots of bullet holes in the ship but that they were not serious enough to force it to return to port."
The head of the Italy's MSC Cruises, which owns the Meloday, credited the captain for his "cool-headed" handling of the incident, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
The ship was on a cruise from South Africa to Italy. It was now headed as scheduled for the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
Somali pirates have hijacked about a dozen ships since the start of April, despite the presence of around 20 foreign naval vessels in the area.
International warships have been patrolling the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden in recent months as part of an effort to counter piracy.
They have freed a number of ships, but attacks have continued.
Somalia 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. . . . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8019084.stm
Lol!! That part about the passengers throwing chairs. . . .I mean, here these attackers have guns, the ship is full of bullet holes but the passengers are hurling chairs at them. It just cracks me up. It's like something out of Monty Python. I wonder if the passengers were Italian. . . .
The captain said the pirates fired some 200 rounds of shots on the vessel.
His said "our security started shooting in the air... and also we started spraying some water" to beat off the attackers.
Capt Pinto said the pirates were forced to give up after about five minutes of shooting and a high-speed chase.
Samantha Hendey from Durban, South Africa, told the BBC that her sister Tabitha Nicholson was on board the ship during the attack and the situation was "pretty dramatic".
"She said that there were lots of passengers on deck watching it unfold and they even took action themselves by throwing chairs overboard, trying to hit the pirates," Samantha said.
"She said there were lots of bullet holes in the ship but that they were not serious enough to force it to return to port."
The head of the Italy's MSC Cruises, which owns the Meloday, credited the captain for his "cool-headed" handling of the incident, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
The ship was on a cruise from South Africa to Italy. It was now headed as scheduled for the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
Somali pirates have hijacked about a dozen ships since the start of April, despite the presence of around 20 foreign naval vessels in the area.
International warships have been patrolling the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden in recent months as part of an effort to counter piracy.
They have freed a number of ships, but attacks have continued.
Somalia 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. . . . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8019084.stm
Lol!! That part about the passengers throwing chairs. . . .I mean, here these attackers have guns, the ship is full of bullet holes but the passengers are hurling chairs at them. It just cracks me up. It's like something out of Monty Python. I wonder if the passengers were Italian. . . .
Last edited:
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Beware the space herpes...Indeed, with my MC being a space pirate, this has boundless story potential for me.
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From aol:
In a new twist to the increasing scourge of Somali pirate hijackings, the private Israeli security forces aboard the MSC Cruises ocean liner fired on the pirates Saturday with pistols and water hoses, preventing them from clambering aboard, the company's director Domenico Pellegrino said.
In a new twist to the increasing scourge of Somali pirate hijackings, the private Israeli security forces aboard the MSC Cruises ocean liner fired on the pirates Saturday with pistols and water hoses, preventing them from clambering aboard, the company's director Domenico Pellegrino said.
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