PLAN Anti-Piracy Deployments

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

plawolf said:

Hell, even if you got men in scuba gear within touching range of the ship by some miracle, how those men are supposed to get aboard would be a huge problem. You could easily have most of the men not even make it onboard, and can even loose some to the props!

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Yeah, Like I said, it sound like Hollywood movies...

However, about climbing onto ships, I think people do this all the time. My impression: in ancient naval battles, people silently climb on enemy ships in ambushes all the time.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

plawolf said:

Even if some have given up the trade, the majority of shipping coming out of Somalia (which is NOT an island btw) are simple fishing boats.

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I thought there were some isolated islands that are pirate strongholds.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

vesicles said:

I thought there were some isolated islands that are pirate strongholds.

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Umm, where did you get that from?

Haradheere and Hobyo, where the BBC article states the freighter is suspected of being taken to, are both coastal cities/towns on the African mainland.

Pirates holing themselves up on isolated islands are begging to be bombed to oblivion. Thats why they stopped doing that before steam engines were used on ships.
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Edit, double post

Yeah, Like I said, it sound like Hollywood movies...

However, about climbing onto ships, I think people do this all the time. My impression: in ancient naval battles, people silently climb on enemy ships in ambushes all the time.

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I think the important words there are 'movies' and 'ancient'.

Even in the days of the sail, trying to latch onto a ship going at speed is a very silly idea if you are in the water. The only boarding that took place was when two ships were locked together or when people were sneaking onto ships at anchor.

Trying to board a moving ship when you are in the water is like someone in a wheelchair trying to get on a lorry while its driving at 30mph. Highly dangerous and highly unlikely to work.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

The PLAN task force in the Indian Ocean probably isn't equipped for it, but I could imagine a heli-borne assault on the hijacked freighter using canisters of gas to keep the decks clear. The helicopter/s would make lots of passes before the actual assault, at all hours of the day and night, so they wouldn't know which one was real. The French rescued the crew and owners of a small yacht by sending commandos on board via a small boat, so a rescue could be done, but a hostage died in that operation and really there are no good options.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

The helo gas attack is out as soon as the pirates say they will execute hostages unless the helos go away.

Speedboats are too noisy and the pirates will hear them coming, and there is also the matter of getting onto the freighter once you reach it. Not nearly as easy as a pleasure yacht. Especially if the pirates hear you coming and start shooting.

Taking the ship is easy. How to do it without getting the hostages killed is the really tricky part.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

plawolf said:

The helo gas attack is out as soon as the pirates say they will execute hostages unless the helos go away.

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They're pirates not terrorists who are prepared to die for some cause, so why not call them out on that one. However executing the hostages raises the stakes for all the pirates, not just the ones involved, in this present situation.To date most have been sorted out with the minimal loss of life to both sides, so lets try to keep it that way.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

Besides, if they kill the hostages the pirates lives are absolutely forfeit in that case, so it's going to be a matter of positioning and maneuver for the most part.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

plawolf said:

Taking the ship is easy. How to do it without getting the hostages killed is the really tricky part.

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What about boarding the ship from multiple location at night, and use silenced submachine guns to take out patrolling pirates?

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

They could also pay the ransom, get the hostages clear, then swoop in and arrest the pirates on land or sea. France did this on land about a year ago.

Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy

Agree. The battle was already 90% lost when the pirates managed to get hold of the hostages. Unfortunately, prevention is the only option that is viable, and, in this case, everything else may be already too late and too risky. For some reason, I thought of sleeping gas, but then it reminds me of the russian hostage incident. If only people can come out with more workable methods with the help of some sophiscated technology in the future.

For now, unless somehow the rescuers get lucky and manage to siege on some rare golden oppurtunity, the best option now is probably to pay the ransom, and then to chase after the pirates when everything is clear.