Pirates of the Gulf of Aden

The Denver Post has an article about a local satellite company that is helping to locate hijacked vessels off the coast of Somalia.

The Ikonos satellite, which orbits 423 miles above Earth and is operated by GeoEye, snapped a high-resolution picture of oil supertanker MV Sirius Star in November, a few days after it was reported missing by the U.S. Navy, according to GeoEye spokesman Mark Brender.

“We were able to precisely locate the ship about 5 miles off the Somali coast,” said Brender, who directed the satellite to snap images in the area after reading press reports about the ship’s location.

Pirates from Africa attack oil tankers and other ships in the Gulf of Aden and extort money from the captain or the company. They nailed Saudi Arabian oil tankers and also some freighters carrying Russian tanks  and weapon systems.

Tthe US Navy is putting some muscle into the area now and taking a leadership role.

DUBAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy will launch a force to combat piracy in the waters off Somalia as foreign navies try to stem a sharp rise in attacks in the region which threaten key oil shipping lanes, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday.

 

The new anti-piracy force would start in mid-January and be an offshoot of the U.S.-led coalition of naval forces which has been operational in the region since 2001.

I think the pirate days might be numbered, what do you think?  

How serious a problem are these pirates? Well, they took over 40 ships last year and made millions of dollars in ransom fees.

How many of my readers know that the Marine Corps  Hymn words “… to the shores of Tripoli”  are about  pirates?

Here is Wikipedia’s version:

 In the early part of the 19th century, the regency at Tripoli, owing to its piratical practices, was twice involved in war with the United States. In May 1801, the pasha demanded an increase in the tribute ($83,000) which the US government had been paying since 1796 for the protection of their commerce from piracy under the 1796 Treaty with Tripoli. The demand was refused, and a naval force was sent from the United States to blockade Tripoli.

The US paid $1M protection to Algiers for 15  years and then stopped when Algiers  raised their  extortion fee. This led to the Barbary Wars. The US Navy was newly formed and was able to demonstrate its ability to wage war thousands of miles away. The Marines played a  role:

The most colorful incident in the war was the expedition undertaken by William Eaton with the object of replacing the pasha with an elder brother living in exile, who had promised to accede to all the wishes of the United States. Eaton, at the head of a motley crew of 500 US Marines, Greek, Arab and Turkish Mercenaries, marched across the desert from Alexandria, Egypt and with the aid of American ships, succeeded in capturing Derna. Soon afterward, on June 3, 1805, peace was concluded. The pasha ended his demands and received $60,000 as ransom for the Philadelphia prisoners under the 1805 Treaty with Tripoli.

It is good to see the US Navy leading the fight against the pirates.

  Go Navy!