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Weekly Piracy Report - 1 to 7 February 2005
2005-02-09
Busy week for the buccaneers:

07.02.2005 at 0400 LT at Buenaventura inner anchorage 3, Colombia. Two robbers boarded a bulk carrier at forecastle and broke padlocks on store rooms. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers jumped overboard and escaped empty handed. Master informed coast guard and a coast guard boat arrived promptly within nine minutes for investigation.

06.02.2005 at 1936 UTC in posn: 01:21.6S-116:58.3E, Balikpapan anchorage, Indonesia. Robbers boarded a tanker during STS operations. Police on board opened fire at robbers but they managed to cut ropes of two liferafts and throw them overboard. They jumped overboard and escaped in their boat taking liferafts. Police searched the area but could not apprehend robbers.

03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 19:43N - 119:20E, off Luzon strait, South China Sea. A craft doing 20 kts approached a bulk carrier underway at stbd side. D/O raised alarm and took evasive manoeuvres. Crew switched on deck lights, directed searchlights and activated fire hoses. Attempt was aborted and craft moved away.

03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 03:12S - 116:21E, Kota Baru anchorage, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier. They hit a duty A/B on his head and tied him up. D/O sent a cadet to look for A/B but robbers held a knife at his throat and tied him up. Robbers opened forward locker and tried to steal ship's stores. D/O raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers stole ships equipment and escaped in an unlit boat. Master called port control but received no response.

02.02.2005 at 0245 LT in posn: 01:16N - 104:10E, Singapore straits. Ten masked pirates armed with guns and long knives boarded a chemical tanker underway. They tried to break bridge window glass but did not succeed and escaped empty handed. Master raised alarm, sounded ship's whistle and reported to VTIS Singapore. Marine police came and searched the area.

02.02.2005 at 0130 LT at Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh. Seven robbers armed with long knives boarded a chemical tanker. They stole ship's stores and escaped in an unlit boat.

02.02.2005 at 0350 LT at Kandla anchorage, India. Two robbers armed with long knives boarded a bulk carrier at forecastle. D/O raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped in an unlit boat with ship's equipment. Authorities informed.

01.02.2005 at 0030 LT at Tan Thuan port off Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Two robbers boarded a bulk carrier at berth during discharging operations. They broke into storeroom and tried to steal ship's stores. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers escaped empty handed.
Posted by:Pappy

#12  Dar, remember the case of the pizza guy who defended himself with a gun and was fired. That's essentially what it is on a grander scale. Imagine if he had tried to defend himself without a gun. He might well have ended up dead.

If the owners were willing to provide some actual weaponry (say, some AK-47s), or even allowing the crews to arm themselves, then fighting might be a good choice. But, if you have perhaps one pistol, is it worth even trying to fight them that way? Now, if the pirates tended to kill everyone, whether they defended themselves or not, then, sure, the crew would fight with everything they had in hand-to-hand combat if necessary so that at least some of them might survive.

Oh, and it's not really like home defense. Steve's analogy is closer; they don't have any stake in the cargo or ship.
Posted by: jackal   2005-02-09 4:00:14 PM  

#11  Couldn't the crew at least be afforded SwissTex Army knives?
Posted by: Shipman   2005-02-09 3:54:36 PM  

#10  Well, gents, I'd rather not rely on the mercy of criminals, but then it's a world I'm not terribly familiar with. Perhaps I shouldn't equate self- or home-defense with the piracy scenarios, but being helpless and passive when confronted just isn't in my nature. Fortunately most of these pirates seem more than ready to run when confronted.
Posted by: Dar   2005-02-09 2:03:58 PM  

#9  Add this little twist to it: generally each ship is chartered as its own corporation. Meaning, if the ship is lost, collides with another ship, the crew stages a mutiny because they haven't been paid in six months, etc., the damage is limited.

I could tell stories about ships with hulls in places less than a quarter-inch thick, ships sailing on "Iron Mike" because the entire crew was dead drunk, ships renamed and re-flagged half a dozen times in a year. Maritime shipping is a strange world.
Posted by: Pappy   2005-02-09 1:00:00 PM  

#8  Are you saying it's better to put yourself at the mercy of the pirates and hope they're "only" there to steal rather than defend yourself and risk violence?

In most of these cases, they are just thieves. Hell, the ship owners don't even pay attention to maintenance for the ship and the crews are not much better off than serfs. Many ships, even huge bulk carriers just disappear at sea with no one knowing why they sunk. The owners just collect the insurance money and buy another rusting hulk.
It's like working the night shift in a Stop & Rob store where the owners don't let you carry a gun, don't have a safe or a video camera. Somebody comes in to stick the place up, you just say "Take the damm money, it ain't mine."
Posted by: Steve   2005-02-09 11:06:09 AM  

#7  jackal--Are you saying it's better to put yourself at the mercy of the pirates and hope they're "only" there to steal rather than defend yourself and risk violence?
Posted by: Dar   2005-02-09 9:42:12 AM  

#6  SEA TRANSPORT: Pirates Attacks Plummet

February 9, 2005: Incidents of piracy, which has been a growing problem over the past few years, fell sharply (by about a third) in 2004. There were 445 attacks on merchant ships in 2003, but only 325 last year. The dramatic drop came from more energetic policing in the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, the Caribbean, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Meanwhile, attacks were up in the Malacca Straits, Nigeria, Balikpapan, Malaysia, the Singapore Straits, South China Sea and Haiti.

More at Strategy Page. I just hope it doesn't plummet so far that the Weekly Piracy Report is discontinued.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-02-09 9:21:44 AM  

#5  Mr. Ambassador:
The only problem with the crew using weapons is that they have to make sure they win. If you don't shoot them, they will rob the ship, but not kill the crew. If you do shoot at them and they win...
Posted by: jackal   2005-02-09 8:52:29 AM  

#4  03.02.2005 at 1530 UTC in posn: 19:43N - 119:20E, off Luzon strait, South China Sea. A craft doing 20 kts approached a bulk carrier underway at stbd side. D/O raised alarm and took evasive manoeuvres. Crew switched on deck lights, directed searchlights and activated fire hoses.

"Repel Boarders -- Starboard!"
Posted by: Mike   2005-02-09 8:35:03 AM  

#3  Ever worked in ocean shipping? The ship owners Do. Not. Spend. Money. They'd rather be robbed than spend money on security.
Posted by: gromky   2005-02-09 8:17:43 AM  

#2  I enjoy and always read the weekly Piracy Report.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-02-09 7:03:38 AM  

#1  Is it just me or do these guys get away an awful lot? Unscathed?

We need to hear more about these pirates getting what all pirates deserve . . . a short drop with a sudden stop. Are people going about unarmed on the high seas these days?
Posted by: Jame Retief   2005-02-09 6:49:44 AM  

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