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Africa North

Pirates attack Italian ship in Oman Gulf

2010-12-15

That'll give the crewmen some stories to tell their grandkids when they sitting by the fire. Not that their grandkids are gonna believe them...
[Emirates 24/7]Pirates attacked an Italian fat merchantman with a crew of 23 in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday but have so far failed to gain control, Italy's coastguard said.

"Right now, the ship is performing evasive manoeuvres to escape from the pirates who have failed to take control," Ansa news agency quoted the coastguard command as saying.

The captain of the 225-metre-long "Michele Bottiglieri" grain carrier, an Italian, sent a SOS via satellite to the operation center of Italy's coastguard command.

The coastguard immediately alerted naval forces operating in the area, including an Italian navy ship, for a possible rescue, officials said.

Three of the crew of the Michele Bottiglieri, which is registered in Torre del Greco near Naples, are Italian while the others are Filipinos.

Posted by:Fred

#6 Three rounds in the O Club on tu3031. Everyone is welcome! (It's ok, he chose of his own free will to celebrate Christmas early with us all.)

Posted by: trailing wife 2010-12-15 23:47

#5 Dump an F-150 on them from a Q ship.
Then call in an ARCLIGHT...

Posted by: tu3031 2010-12-15 22:12

#4 You've got a 750-foot long ship, weighing several hundred thousand tons. Start doing some very wild maneuvers, turning first toward and then away from the pirate launch, altering speed from full ahead to full astern

Do you have any idea how long it takes to stop a vessel of that size? Or to go from forward to reverse? Especially with a propulsion plant and a hull that's not designed for quick moves?

We're talking 'fat merchantman', not a cruiser. A ship designed to haul grain. As in "a full load of grain". It'd be like trying to do a slalom course in a dump truck loaded with sand.

The maneuvering makes sense, if only to keep the pirates from boarding.

Posted by: Pappy 2010-12-15 22:04

#3 You've got a 750-foot long ship, weighing several hundred thousand tons. Start doing some very wild maneuvers, turning first toward and then away from the pirate launch, altering speed from full ahead to full astern. Sooner or later you're going to hit that da$$$$ skiff the pirates are in, and it's going to dump its crew into shark-infested waters. Most of the pirates will probably NOT be able to swim, and certainly will be in danger of being sucked into the freighter's screws. Pretty soon, it's going to be too expensive in lives and equipment lost for the pirates to continue, or they'll start picking easier targets, like fishing boats. Even there, a gaff hook works equally well on a 150-pound Somali as it does on a 300-pound tuna. The only reason the pirates are succeeding is that the crews of these ships don't have enough gumption to fight back. When they do, the pirates beat feet.

Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-12-15 14:04

#2 alerted naval forces operating in the area, including an Italian navy ship, for a possible rescue

'Rescue' as in 'blow the pirates out of the water' or 'rescue' as in 'fish the Italian crewmen out of the water?'

Posted by: Glenmore 2010-12-15 05:58

#1 Can I guess they don't have any Roccos or Guidos on board then?

Posted by: gorb 2010-12-15 00:29

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