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December 1, 2009 The impeccable timing of Somali Pirates By MrArbitrage What a strange and conveniently timed story. Usually the HIGHER a commodity goes, the more it becomes a target for criminals. Instead, these pirates seem to come out whenever oil has a pull back. Are these guys on the Goldman payroll? Speaking of strange, I stumbled upon this photo...

NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Maersk Alabama, the American-flagged ship captured briefly by pirates in April, came under fire again early Tuesday morning off Somalia's coast, but evaded the attackers...

A British man has told how he and his wife were kidnapped by armed pirates while the pair slept aboard their yacht in the Indian Ocean. Paul Chandler, of Kent, speaking by phone to ITV news, said: "I was asleep and men with guns came aboard." Mr Chandler, 59, said he and his wife, Rachel, 55, are currently being held hostage on board a container ship. Their yacht was found during counter-piracy operations after a major multi-national search for the pair began. Mr Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, said the raid had come in the early hours. ... Mr Chandler said...

Wisconsin's "Cheese Lady" says she's marrying a retired Navy commander enamored by her efforts to sculpt an aircraft carrier out of cheddar. Professional cheese sculptor Sarah Kaufmann, 57, first caught the eye of retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bill Parry, 67, as they were aboard a plane and she was poring over the plans for her 6-foot-long sculpture of the USS Ronald Reagan, which was unveiled at the ship's home-porting ceremony, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday. The two were to wed Saturday in Manitowoc, Wis., on the shores of Lake Michigan, dressed in pirate costumes. "(Kaufmann) was looking at a...

Somali pirate in US for Maersk Alabama hijack trial No more smiles as the Somali pirate is arraigned as an adult. Prosecutors say say Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse (pictured) was not shy about making his presence known on the Maersk Alabama, brazenly tearing through the ship in a way that belied his young age and skinny, 5-foot-2 frame. Prosecuters contend that Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse was a brazen ringleader. He was the first to board the ship, he fired a shot at the captain, he helped steal $30,000 in cash from a safe, and he bragged about hijacking ships in the past,...

State rejects request for DNA test on 18th-century remains from Bath A Raleigh author is attempting to reopen the 274-year-old estate of a Beaufort County man he thinks was once a member of Blackbeard's pirate crew -- and whose bones may be stored in a box in Raleigh. Kevin P. Duffus, a writer and filmmaker, says he needs access to the estate of Edward Salter, a landowner and merchant who died in 1735, to help confirm that the state has Salter's remains. With the backing of some of Salter's descendants, Duffus is seeking to have DNA testing done on bones...

Background Joe Miller at Annenberg FactCheck says he was told by the Pentagon that the USS Bainbridge arrived at the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama on Friday February 10th and that authorization to send in the first SEAL team came at 8:00PM that night, rebutting a purported word-of-sailor report of a 36 hour delay. But news reports on the 9th said that the Bainbridge actually arrived before dawn local time on THURSDAY. Since 8:00 P.M. Friday was 4:00AM Saturday in Somalia, that would make the actual delay, local time to local time, about 48 hours. Bill Gertz at the Washington...

(IsraelNN.com) Workers from an Israeli security firm thwarted attempts by Somalian pirates on Saturday night to hijack an Italian pleasure cruiser with its 1,500 passengers, within the Indian Ocean.

The scrawny Somali charged with piracy against a US cargo ship has been surviving on fruit and vegetables because he's afraid to eat the mystery meat served in jail. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse has never before seen the grub inmates are served at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan, and is worried it may contain pork, which is prohibited by Islam. "He's hungry," said his lawyer, Philip Weinstein. "He obviously knows there's certain things he can eat, but he's unfamiliar with some of the protein. It's clearly not fish, which is a primary part of his diet in Somalia." The...

SEEKONK, Mass. -- Shane Murphy, the second-in-command aboard the American merchant ship seized by pirates, lashed out at Rush Limbaugh for the talk show host's racial characterization in discussing the rescue of the ship's captain by the Navy. In commenting on the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips by the Navy Seals who shot and killed the three Somali pirates who were holding him captive, Limbaugh generated controversy when he called the pirates "black teenagers." "There you have it, three teenagers shot on the high seas at the order of President Obama," said Limbaugh according to a transcript of an April...

Stung by the widely circulated “SEAL pals” account of what really happened in Somalia (discussed here last Friday), the Obama administration had National Security Advisor James L. Jones and a number of anonymous Pentagon sources give their side two days ago in a Washington Times exclusive. Their mission, according to reporter Bill Gertz, was: ... to dispel Internet reports that the military was delayed from taking action by indecision inside the White House. Clintonesque parsing of words is evident throughout the Jones-Pentagon account, amounting on more than one occasion to outright dishonesty. Yet the actual information they provide (as opposed...

Montpelier, Vt. (AP) -- A person familiar with the plans says a homecoming party is planned this weekend in Vermont for the ship captain who was taken hostage by pirates. The person was not authorized to release the information and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

THE dread pirate of the high seas shuffled into the court room, standing all of 5-foot-2 and 90 pounds soaking wet. He looked more like an urchin seeking adoption by Madonna than a swashbuckling Somali pirate seeking an American fortune. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, who laughed like a ninny when brought to New York on Monday in handcuffs, sat at the defendant's table, uncuffed. And he proceeded to dig his head into a bandaged hand, sobbing and sniffling like a little girl. SOMALI PIRATE CRIES IN COURT His shoulders trembled and he swatted at his dribbling nose, like a child facing...

NEW YORK – The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain arrived in New York on Monday, smiling for a gaggle of cameras and reporters as federal agents led him into custody to face charges in the attack. Abduhl Wali-i-Musi (AHB'-dul wahl-ih-MOO'-sih) was handcuffed and had a chain wrapped around his waist. His left hand was heavily bandaged from the wound he suffered during the skirmish on the ship two weeks ago. The smiling teenager seemed poised as he entered a federal building in a rainstorm, but he didn't say anything in response to reporters'...

Most of the media discussion about piracy in the Gulf of Aden has drifted understandably towards the sensational part of the story: how are the Pirates able to roam the Ocean? Is paying them ransom a better option than to engage them militarily? Last but not least, will a military intervention against the Pirates worsen the situation; will it lead to a massive escalation in Somalia and a Vietnam like quagmire for many years to come? The armed bands on the waters are still roaming the seas of Aden and the Indian Ocean across from Somalia and Kenya, are not...

A Twin Cities Somali community activist said he is on his way to New York this morning on a mission to ensure that an accused pirate is treated justly in a court appearance this afternoon. Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, said he spoke Monday with the parents of Abdiwali Abduhl Wali-i-Musi, the sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain. Jamal said he intends to be in court today with Wali-i-Musi and carrying a letter from his parents in Somalia explaining that Jamal has permission to arrange for...

(CNN) -- Pirates captured a Belgian ship and said they were taking it to the coast of Somalia after the vessel was reported missing early Saturday, NATO and pirate sources told CNN. The Pompei, a Belgian-registered ship believed to have a mostly Belgian and Croatian crew, was one of two vessels that came under attack near the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles on Saturday, the sources said. The second ship escaped the attack after a brief exchange of gunfire with pirate vessels, the pirate source added. Meanwhile, Dutch naval forces captured seven pirates and freed 20 captive fishermen after...

Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman says it's time the U.S. took more aggressive action on the seas. He recommends arming merchant ships with military personnel. Coffman says the pirating problem is only going to get worse. "They may be less interested in taking hostages when the situation may be somewhat precarious for them to do so," Coffman said. "I think they are going to be more aggressive in their actions." Coffman says arming American merchant vessels with military personnel is also nothing new. "We did that in World War II, we posted military personnel on U.S.-flagged merchant vessels to provide protection....

The solution to the world's pirate problem may be made in Mobile. The dramatic showdown between the U.S. Navy and a group of Somalian pirates ended badly for the buccaneers, but military experts say it also demonstrated that the Navy is ill-equipped to deal with a growing threat to global commerce. That's chiefly because the Navy lacks the sort of fast, flexible vessel that can chase pirates where they roam, the so-called "green" waters within 100 or so miles of shore. Enter Austal USA's littoral combat ship, a swift, agile and lethal vessel that may be a pirate's worst nightmare....

This recent piracy that the MSM is giving all the credit to Obama for creating such a successful outcome reminded me that he is the real pirate. This is my half-assed attempt at Gimping something up to inspire others that are more artistic and better with their tools than I to have some fun.

The high profile of the case suggests a trial in the United States, but the Justice Department might be wary of bringing the young suspect into the American court system. Justice Department officials are examining a trove of evidence against the lone surviving Somali who allegedly helped hold an American captain for ransom off the coast of Somalia. With a host of potential witnesses – the crew who retook the Maersk Alabama after the pirates boarded the ship, the crew of the destroyer USS Bainbridge which shadowed the pirate lifeboat, and Capt. Richard Phillips himself – the evidence against the...

Pirates have hijacked a tanker off the coast of Somalia, maritime officials say, days after several pirates were killed by US and French forces. In the latest in a string of attacks by pirates seeking ransom payments, a freighter named as the MV Irene was taken in the Gulf of Aden..... [snip]

TV show to follow real-life pirate dramaAgence France-Presse First Posted 10:07:00 04/14/2009 NEW YORK—A television reality show will follow US naval units hunting for pirates in the Gulf of Aden, executives said Monday, just a day after navy commandos killed three pirates to free a US captain. The Spike TV show, made in cooperation with the military, will bring "an up-close and behind-the-scenes look at the US Navy operation to end this deadly threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden," a statement from Spike said. "We are thrilled to be front and center with the navy on such an...

TV show to follow real-life pirate dramaAgence France-Presse First Posted 10:07:00 04/14/2009 NEW YORK—A television reality show will follow US naval units hunting for pirates in the Gulf of Aden, executives said Monday, just a day after navy commandos killed three pirates to free a US captain. The Spike TV show, made in cooperation with the military, will bring "an up-close and behind-the-scenes look at the US Navy operation to end this deadly threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden," a statement from Spike said. "We are thrilled to be front and center with the navy on such an...

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials, in deciding how to handle the lone surviving pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain, must weigh the violence of the suspect's actions against his surprisingly young age.

It didn't play out minute by minute on the nation's television screens as so many other crises have, but the dramatic rescue of American hostage Richard Phillips on the high seas yesterday was still a defining moment for President Obama. Obama's decision to authorize he use of military force to free Phillips, captain of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, from a band of pirates demonstrated that the new commander in chief will apply American muscle in a crunch. It also showed that he trusts the military to get the job done and remains cool under pressure. These are significant developments...

Throughout the past four days, White House officials played down Obama's role in the hostage drama. Until yesterday, he made no public statements about the pirates. In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue. "The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update,...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The shipping company whose captain is being held hostage by Somali pirates said the US Navy saw him alive Sunday, as a top senator said the United States is "not going to give in to blackmail." Maersk Line, operators of the Maersk Alabama which was briefly hijacked by armed pirates this week before its captain was taken captive, said the navy told them they "had sight contact of Captain Richard Phillips" Sunday. Intense negotiations are ongoing off the coast of Somalia where the small band of pirates have held Phillips in a lifeboat since Wednesday, closely shadowed...

The Maersk Alabama pulled into its berth in Mombasa port Saturday evening, while U.S. warships tried to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to a lifeboat where the Alabama's captain is being held hostage off Africa's eastern coast. About seven Alabama crewmembers, clad in blue overalls and hardhats, watched from the railings as the ship was pulled into its berth. A few waved and one pumped his fist as the ship approached the dock, which was covered with journalists wielding cameras and notebooks, as a helicopter rented by the Associated Press hovered overhead. [Snip] Navy Coordinates Rescue EffortThe pirates'...

Pirates on a German ship with 24 foreign hostages said Saturday they had returned to the Somali coast after failing to locate the scene of a standoff involving an American captive on a drifting lifeboat, Reuters reported. The pirates hoped to use the hijacked 20,000-ton container vessel, Hansa Stavanger, as a "shield" to reach fellow pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips. "We have come back to Haradheere coast. We could not locate the lifeboat," a pirate on the ship told Reuters. "We almost got lost because we could not find the bearing of the lifeboat." The Hansa Stavanger was...

Defense Department officials said the American sea captain held by Somali pirates made a desperate escape attempt but was recaptured, escalating a dramatic Indian Ocean standoff.

U.S. military commanders have already prepared battle plans for ending the scourge of piracy on the high seas off Somalia if President Obama pulls the trigger, sources told the Daily News Wednesday. The Navy sent a warship to intercept Somali pirates Wednesday who hijacked a U.S.-flagged freighter, as commanders weighed military options for nailing the brigands' bases. Retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Oakley, who was special envoy to Somalia in the 1990s, said U.S. special operations forces have drawn up detailed plans to attack piracy groups where they live on land, but are awaiting orders from the Obama national security team....

Please excuse my accent. Is that just me or did I get the story wrong? How many war ships do you need and FBI terrorist experts do you need to take over a dead in the water dinghy, 2 pirates and a hostage? OK I realize that the pirates could shoot the hostage. Ar we going to send salves or shoot the dinghy with a canon? Sorry..I have a hard time not to laugh with that image but seriously...Or send the whole army, planes etc.. to fly around that dinghy? Or negotiate with these morons, knowing that they have no...

Hillary Clinton Breaks Into Laughter Discussing Pirate Terror Hijacking Attack (Video) Hillary starts out with tough language and then laughs about Pirate attacks! And this is the part of Compassion?????????? They're getting a record of laughing at others misfortune.

The administration was facing a grim international incident in what's believed to be the first pirate attack on an American ship in 200 years as the drama continued to unfold off the coast of Somalia on Wednesday. The majority of the crew of 20 American nationals were able to capture one pirate and negotiate their release, according to calls placed to the Associated Press by the free crew members, but the ship's captain and a crew member reportedly remained in the hands of Somali attackers. The U.S. flagged Maersk Alabama is home-ported in Norfolk, Va., and was carrying emergency food...

Pirates who attacked a ship off the coast of Somalia got more than they bargained for when it turned out to be a naval vessel The pirates apparently mistook the FGS Spessart for a commercial merchant ship when they targeted it in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen. The German supply ship pursued the pirate boat, joined by two other ships, a frigate, a helicopter and a plane. A boarding team discovered several weapons and transferred seven suspected pirates on to another German frigate.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2009 – Pirates today released the Ukrainian ship Faina, which they had held for ransom along with its 21-member crew and cargo since hijacking the vessel off the coast of Somalia in September. The U.S. military is monitoring the situation, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. The ship's crew was unharmed, according to news reports. “I think that it is always a good outcome when there are not lives that are lost,” Whitman said of the hijacking’s peaceful outcome. Seagoing pirates operating off the coasts of Somalia and Yemen have preyed on commercial shipping, often holding captured...

With an alarming number of tankers and cargo ships getting hijacked on the high seas, the nation's maritime academies are offering more training to merchant seamen in how to fend off attacks from pirates armed not with cutlasses and flintlocks but automatic weapons and grenade launchers. Colleges are teaching students to fishtail their vessels at high speed, drive off intruders with high-pressure water hoses and illuminate their decks with floodlights. Anti-piracy training is not new. Nor are the techniques. But the lessons have taken on new urgency—and more courses are planned—because of the record number of attacks worldwide in 2008...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- A new patrol in the U.S. Central Command is working to make it unprofitable to be a pirate, the commander of U.S. Navy Central Command and 5th Fleet said Jan. 15. Acts of piracy have "spiked" off the coast of Somalia with merchant vessels and crews being held for millions in ransom by pirates using AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ladders to take "low and slow" ships traversing one of the world's busiest sea lanes. The pirates come from a clan based on the northern coast of Somalia, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said, and...

January 12, 2009 Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia - The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 in cash, a resident said, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.

A cruise ship will evacuate passengers before sailing past the Somali coast and fly them to the next port of call to protect them from possible pirate attacks, German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday. An official with the European Union's anti-piracy mission said separately that it would station armed guards on vulnerable cargo ships _ the first such deployment of military personnel during the international anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

A luxury cruise ship carrying dozens of British passengers has been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, en route to Oman. The Oceania Nautica was fired at during its 32-day voyage from Rome to Singapore. The ship – carrying 690 passengers and 386 crew – was approached yesterday by two small skiffs which fired several shots. No one on board was hurt and Nautica's captain Jurica Brajcic was able to take evasive action and outrun the two boats. "One of the skiffs did manage to close the range to 300 yards and fired...

Sunken 'pirate ship' was actually Thai trawler, owner says BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Fourteen sailors are still missing from a Thai trawler that was sunk last week by the Indian navy as a suspected pirate ship, the vessel's owner said Tuesday. One crewman was found alive after six days adrift in the Gulf of Aden, and one is confirmed dead, said Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, owner of the Ekawat Nava 5. Last week, India's navy reported that the frigate INS Tabar had battled a pirate "mother vessel" in the gulf November 18, leaving the ship ablaze and likely sunk. Wicharn said that...

The Wars of the Barbary PiratesEssential Histories #66Osprey Introduction Most Americans are unaware that, as a young republic, their nation fought a war with the Barbary pirates, the North African corsairs who plied the waters of the Mediterranean at the turn of the 19th century in search of ships to loot and men to enslave. This is perhaps not surprising, for the wars were conducted on a small scale, over a short period of time, and at a considerable distance from American shores. They were, moreover, the product of one of the most inglorious – even degrading – episodes in...

Blackbeard's sloop Adventure was anchored on the inner side of Ocracoke Island. Maynard's sloops guided by local pilots, arrived in the area at dusk on Thursday, November 21 where they decided to wait for the tide and attack the next morning. At first light the sloops weighed anchor and crept toward the island. Maynard ordered some men to take a small boat and row ahead of the sloop as there was so little wind. As they approached the pirate ship they received a volley of shot. The boat hastily retreated back to the protection of the sloops. The pirate ship...

<p>MOSCOW -- The Russian navy says Russian and British ships have repelled a pirate attack off Somalia in the Gulf of Aden.</p> <p>The navy press service says the Russian frigate Neustrashimy and the British frigate Cumberland foiled pirates who fired automatic weapons toward a Danish ship and twice tried to seize it.</p>

Argghh matey. Ye tanks be in our keeping.

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday it appeared pirates had tried to attack one of its big military oil tankers. A security team aboard the vessel opened fire on two small boats near Somalia after they ignored warnings and pursued the ship, a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman said. "From all appearances it does look like it was a pirate attack and the incident is currently under investigation," he said by telephone from Bahrain. He said the Military Sealift Command (MSC) oil tanker, the John Lenthall, which usually carries a range of fuels for the U.S. armed forces,...

Ahoy, Matey! Did you know that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day? What's sillier than that? Practice up your "pirate-speak" in anticipation of this day. The conversation will be lively, and you don't want to be left behind. Today, everyone will be talking the talk, if not walking the walk. It is not a requirement to dress like a pirate today. Just talk like one.

In this photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, a tiny solid gold combination toothpick and earwax scoop is displayed inside a clam shell Monday, May 19, 2008, in Key West, Fla. A Blue Water Ventures salvage diver recovered the artifact Sunday, May 18, about 40 miles west of Key West during a search for remains of the Spanish galleon Santa Margarita that shipwrecked in a 1622 hurricane. According to archaeologists, the 3-inch-long grooming tool is more than 385 years old and was probably worn on a gold chain. Estimated value could exceed $100,000. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News...