Piracy on the high seas...an update.

Aaarh, me mateys! Will the Pirates ruin Christmas this year? There's talk of that in the UK:

Pirates Threaten Christmas Shopping

The rate at which ships are being taken has led the British Chamber of Shipping to warn customers that all supplies that come to the UK and other western European countries from Asia could be put at risk.

Gavin Simmonds, head of international policy at the chamber, says: "Car carriers with vehicles for the UK, foodstuffs from Asia, textiles and clothing, dare I say it in time for the Christmas market, will not be arriving on time if they have to [go round South Africa]. We could begin to see shortages within the next few weeks." Of the ships pirated this year, most attention has focussed on MV Faina, the Ukrainian vessel carrying tanks and heavy weaponry. But the majority of ships sailing through the Gulf carry supplies vital to the running of the global economy. Goods as diverse as oil, gas, cars, textiles and electronics travel past Somalia on their way to Britain.

The alternative route, going round the Cape of Good Hope, would add up to three weeks to the average journey. However, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says that two companies have already given their captains the permission to go the long way round and others are considering following suit.

You don't even see the MV Faina even talked about in the news anymore. And I can't believe that absolutely no progress has been made with regards to freeing the crew since I've been gone. Hell's Bells! They haven't even gotten the Captain's dead body off the ship yet! The latest? Ship's owner in talks with the scurvy Islamodogs and the talks are expected to be completed within several days. I smell a ransom negotiation, possums and if that happens it will truly be open season off the coast of Somalia. The only way we are going to beat these SOBs if we go all "shores of Tripoli" on them and start kicking some butt.

The moonbats are all in a dither because Blackwater has sent a ship in to help with the situation. I say privateers have worked in the past, let's see what they can do today.

But it's going to take more than that. It's going to take a concerted effort to get the men behind the 'foot soldiers'. And that's going to require cooperation between international law enforcement agencies. Good luck with that.

Read this account, "Pirates making big money" which quotes our old friend, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Association, (you remember him. He was recently busted in Kenya for his suspected connections to the pirates and possession of marijuana. Those charges appear to be in response for his blowing the lid off the story that the weaponry on the MV Faina was intended for Kenya in violation of arms control restrictions - but he will still face trial this week.)

"There really isn't a military solution. The boys on the boats are just the foot-soldiers," said Andrew Mwangura, whose East African Seafarers' Association monitors piracy. "The commanders and generals - the financiers and the organisers behind it all - are in Dubai, Nairobi, Mombasa, and even Canada and London, sitting in their hotels, communicating via laptops, and making big money."

Andrew goes on to make the point that often goes unnoticed in discussions about Somalia:

"Many people are making good money from instability in Somalia,"... and he believes "a network of Somali businessmen abroad and corrupt accomplices are the driving force for piracy.

The government is complicit:

Mwangura said authorities in the region were turning a blind eye to illegal fishing, toxic dumping, drug- and gun-running, illegal charcoal shipments, and human trafficking in Somali waters that were all indirectly fuelling piracy.


I have a feeling this type of action - going after the Pirate Emirs and Imams will be a low priority in the upcoming Obama administration. There's not a peep about piracy in his African foreign policy. Nothing under Homeland Security, either. I'm thinking about joining his African Policy Group just for grins. The Obamanoids over there at his website are killing me - do they actually think that their "proposing and debating issues to benefit our relations with the continent of Africa" will result in ANYONE taking them seriously? I honestly think they do. What do they think they are? A lowly blogger like moi!

Meanwhile, a Danish dry cargo vessel, the Cec Future has been seized. Contact has not been made with the ship or it's hijackers yet.

And the beat goes on. Without direct action on the part of the Obama administration the situation will continue to fester, money will continue to be paid to Islamofascist thugs, radical Islam will lap up the cash and continue to grow stronger around the world. Maybe I should throw that little verbal hand grenade into the discussion over at the Obama African Policy Group and see what they have to say about that. Ha-ha!