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Southeast Asia
Indonesia chemical tanker hijacked
2005-03-14
Gunmen armed with rocket launchers stormed a chemical tanker in the Strait of Malacca at the weekend in an unusually daring attack, raising initial fears of a terrorist attack, an anti-piracy centre said on Monday.
Cutlass, rocket launcher...either way, run up the Jolly Roger! Arrrrgggh!
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.
"Y'r coming with us!"
At the time of the attack, the Indonesian-owned ship was sailing for the Indonesian port of Belawan in the strait, one of the world's busiest sea lanes. More than a quarter of global trade and almost all of Japan and China's oil imports pass through the strait. "It's the first time they have taken control of a ship like this for a long time... a couple of years maybe," said Noel Choong, regional manager of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur. "The initial fear was of a pirate or terrorist attack."
Or severe indigestion. Chow's terrible on those chemical tankers.
He pointed out that pirates in the strait usually only seize softer targets like tug-boats that were slower and lower in the water, making them easy to board, Choong said. After the pirates left with the captain and chief engineer, the ship sailed for the nearer Indonesian port of Dumai, southeast of Belawan along the coast of Sumatra island, he said. No one was injured in the attack. "The (ransom) negotiations are underway," Choong said. He declined to give any details of the ransom demand. One of the nightmare scenarios envisioned by security experts is where militants seize a tanker carrying highly flammable liquid, such as the Tri Samudra, and ram it into a port.
Happy Monday, all.
Posted by:Seafarious

#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  

#16  Sorry, Pappy. I know piracy is your beat. But it was so tasty...
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-03-14 12:09:13 PM  

#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  

#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  

#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  

#12  Dang, Seafarious beat me to it.
Posted by: Pappy   2005-03-14 10:37:37 AM  

#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  

#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  

#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  

#8  And here I thought he'd been apprenticed as a pilot.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-03-14 9:40:15 AM  

#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  

#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 O’ Doom   2005-03-14 9:07:12 AM  

#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  

#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  

#3  A job for the navy of Singapore. The Malays and Indoneisa are useless as udders on a bull.
Posted by: Sock Puppet O’ Doom   2005-03-14 8:17:07 AM  

#2  Why was Sir Francis Drake knighted by the Queen of England?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-03-14 8:11:15 AM  

#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  

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