Crew Take Back Ship from Pirates

[Laidback]

3rd May 10

Crew of hijacked ship takes vessel back from pirates
Group held hostage for three months

THE crew of a hijacked cargo ship today snatched their vessel back from Somali pirates who had held them captive for three months, officials said.

Hostages aboard the Libyan-owned MV Rim ship pounced on their sleeping captors today, disarming them and killing five before regaining control of their vessel.

It was reported a sixth pirate survived the attack by the ship’s crew and was taken hostage.

A crew member was seriously injured during the struggle, the European Union’s anti-piracy naval force said in a statement.

The MV Rim, owned by White Sea Shipping of Libya, was seized by Somali pirates on February 3 in the Gulf of Aden.

Read more: Crew of hijacked ship takes vessel back from pirates - Evening Express

[RayW]

[Zanshin]

Kudos to that crew!

[stevensc]

Good for them! I hope they are not prosecuted for killing those poor pirates when they get home.
Steve

[GordMay]

This could turn into a very interesting story, as more details become public.

[jkd]

Any word on where the vessel was being held?

[SabreKai]

Yeh, They probably got honked off after 3 months of waiting on their tight wad company to cough up some sort of ransom and get them out of there.

Good for them, I hope the one fellow who was injured makes it out OK.

Sabre

[suwanee62]

Originally Posted by stevensc

Good for them! I hope they are not prosecuted for killing those poor pirates when they get home.
Steve

Please tell me you were being facetious about the "poor pirates." Given the problems they cause good folk, I would be very happy if they were to be blown out of the water on sight.

[capn_billl]

Fact is a lot of countries don't believe in the right to self defense. Being prosecuted or more likely fired is a real possibility. Most shipping companies do not allow merchant mariners to carry firearms because of the risk of damaging ship or cargo. They would rather pay the ransom...for the ship, ...and cargo.

[speakeasy]

Well, if the crew are Libyan, the old pirate himself, Kadafi, will probably parade them as heroes when the get back to Libya.

I didn't see a thread here, but the US Marines took a ship from pirates just the other day. Now where did I see that?

[barnakiel]

Well done.

If we get attacked by pirates we have the right to fight back. What a pity so few crews have the skills and means.

barnie

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by speakeasy

... the US Marines took a ship from pirates just the other day. Now where did I see that?

U.S. Marines recapture ship hijacked by Somali pirates

Twenty-four U.S. Marines, from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force, which was aboard the USS Dubuque and operating under the multinational anti-piracy combined task force, boarded the German-owned, Panamanian-Flagged m/v “Magellan Star” at about 5 a.m. local time on Thursday, September 9/10, the Fifth Fleet said. The pirates were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, but "there were no shots fired" on either side. Nine suspected pirates were taken into custody. No injuries were reported among the vessel's crew or the Marine team.

➥ US Marines take back pirate-held ship off Somalia - World news - Africa - Somalia - msnbc.com

➥ US Marines take back pirate-held ship off Somalia

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Well done.

If we get attacked by pirates we have the right to fight back. What a pity so few crews have the skills and means.

barnie

You would think it would make economic sense to buy a few thousand dollars of guns, and pay a couple of extra crew who's job it would be to "guard" the ship. Than to pay millions in ransom if it gets captured.

But the reasons stated in the press by the shipping companies spokeman was, "they are seamen not marines, they don't know how to fight", "we don't want then to fight back it may cause the pirates to escalate the violence", "a rocket launcher might damage machinery or cause the ship to sink, better to surrender and pay to get the ship back intact", "if the crew were armed, the pirates would bring more/bigger weapons", "regulations for bringing weapons into different countries are complicated", and number one, "if we change our policy the cost of insurance will go up".

So there you have it why a ragtag group of Somalian fishermen can take an entire container ship hostage for a multi millionn dollar ransom, (more than the entire operating budget of their government).