Article

2005-03-14 Southeast Asia

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Posted by Seafarious 2005-03-14 6:03:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 35? Flammable chemicals?

Maybe they'll get serious about protecting the sea lanes. Prolly not. I don't think the Indos and Malays are capable of it. In fact, there are times, very recent times, when I figure they don't differ all that much from the pirates, when you clear away the pretenses.

Posted by .com 2005-03-14 7:15:43 AM|| 2005-03-14 7:15:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Why was Sir Francis Drake knighted by the Queen of England?

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-03-14 8:11:15 AM|| 2005-03-14 8:11:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 A job for the navy of Singapore. The Malays and Indoneisa are useless as udders on a bull.

Posted by Sock Puppet Oâ Doom 2005-03-14 8:17:07 AM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-14 8:17:07 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Oh how I tire of these so-called journalists. "Chemical tanker"? Well, sort of. The cargo is methane. Little environmental risk (aside from the dreaded "global warming"). Wind-dispersion, compartmentalization, and the sheer volume of it all would make it difficult to get it all to explode at once. Just a big, big fire risk.

My source:
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2808394

Excerpts:

"Malaysia said on Friday that it would boost security in the Malacca Strait with a 24-hour radar system to guard against attacks by terrorists and pirates."

"Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency would be operational by the end of the year to improve security in the strait."

Posted by Tom 2005-03-14 8:28:47 AM|| 2005-03-14 8:28:47 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 "...usually only seize softer targets like tug-boats ..."

Tug-boats??? What the hell do you steal from a tug-boat?

Posted by Jackal 2005-03-14 9:02:29 AM|| [http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-03-14 9:02:29 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Anything of value that isn't bolted down to well.
They're ℘irates after all. They're not too picky.

Posted by Sock Puppet Oâ Doom 2005-03-14 9:07:12 AM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-14 9:07:12 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Mrs. D.

Sir Francis Drake was a pirate and scoundrel and an esteemed member of the "sea dogs". To his benefit SFD preyed on the Spanish Galleys in the Carribean. He was conscripted by the crown to help fight against the Spanish Navy as well. he was heroic in battle and was therefore granted his Knighthood as a defender of the crown.

Gives hope to guys like Rodney King.

Posted by Rightwing 2005-03-14 9:36:26 AM|| 2005-03-14 9:36:26 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 And here I thought he'd been apprenticed as a pilot.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-03-14 9:40:15 AM|| 2005-03-14 9:40:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 If ye go back to past weekly piracy reports, you will find that whole tugs and barges have disappeared.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2005-03-14 9:50:46 AM|| 2005-03-14 9:50:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 need to make an example. Find out where they are and negotiate with artillery. Sorry, cap'n

Posted by Frank G 2005-03-14 10:01:10 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:01:10 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 "...Thirty-five pirates boarded the MT Tri Samudra, laden with an unknown flammable chemical, on Saturday, briefly taking control of the ship before making off with the captain and chief engineer who were being held for ransom, the centre said..."

Sounds like a practice run to me...

Posted by Hyper 2005-03-14 10:33:05 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:33:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 Dang, Seafarious beat me to it.

Posted by Pappy 2005-03-14 10:37:37 AM|| 2005-03-14 10:37:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#13 This looks like the sort of reasonably cheap solution the shipping companies should be all over. I mean geez, losing a ship of any size vs something as simple and cheap as this?

Hell, you can put one on your freaking dog, now, heh.

Posted by .com 2005-03-14 11:05:25 AM|| 2005-03-14 11:05:25 AM|| Front Page Top

#14 If they were smart, they'd do what shippers do here in the US with their tractor-trailer rigs. The truck and the trailer both have units. Not only do they track everything to make sure it's on schedule, but they know if it has varied from its route, stopped at some point it shouldn't, etc. To top it off, the unit on the tractor is wired into the electrical system and the tracking company can send a "kill" signal which shuts the tractor down, then and there. The trailer can be moved, but before you could jack it up, switch rigs, and recouple you'd have Highway Patrol units, prolly even a chopper, no matter what state, bearing down on you - and the trailer's still transmitting.

Super Lo-Jack.

For these ships, tugs - anything worth 10x a unit's cost, you'd think they'd want this. A Panic! button could be part of the system, too, so authorities would know there's something up immediately. But hey, that's here in the Real World. Out there, in the Third World, I guess it's too expensive or they're too proud to use our systems. Instead, we get the entertaining Piracy Report which generates the universal head shake at the obvious stupidity of it all, today.

Sheesh.

Posted by .com 2005-03-14 11:46:39 AM|| 2005-03-14 11:46:39 AM|| Front Page Top

#15 .com - Likely they pay the whole crew less then the monthly fee for that gear. (^8

Posted by 3dc 2005-03-14 12:08:05 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:08:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 Sorry, Pappy. I know piracy is your beat. But it was so tasty...

Posted by Seafarious 2005-03-14 12:09:13 PM|| 2005-03-14 12:09:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Ms. D & Rightwing,
Sir Francis was also an 'accidental explorer'... While avoiding Spanish patrols he discovered the 'Drake Passage', (between the Straits of Magellen & Antarctica), explored/mapped the coast of Northern California up thru Alaska, and was the first ship's *captain* to circumnavigate the globe, (Magellen died in the Philippines)...

He was Knighted by Liz I, not so much for his bravery, but more for bringing in so much Spanish gold to Royal Treasury... (Liz I was an investor)...

At one point during his cruise around the world, while raiding Spainish shipping in the Pacific, they had so much gold, they had to throw the silver overboard to make room... ;)

Posted by Showme 2005-03-14 4:24:31 PM|| 2005-03-14 4:24:31 PM|| Front Page Top

17:41 Usagotohell
01:17 phil_b
01:17 phil_b
23:53 DMFD
23:53 trailing wife
23:47 Sobiesky
23:38 Phil Fraering
23:25 Phil Fraering
23:13 Frank G
23:02 Hupomoque Spoluter7949
22:54 Ol_Dirty_American
22:54 Sobiesky
22:52 trailing wife
22:43 Bon Scott
22:42 Bobby
22:36 Bon Scott
22:31 Bomb-a-rama
22:30 Frank G
22:30 Bobby
22:24 Bobby
22:21 Bobby
22:21 Gleaper Cleregum9549
22:20 Eric Jablow
22:17 Frank G