Russian forces storm oil tanker
Russian forces have released the crew of a Russian oil tanker, Moscow University, seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday.
Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov approached the drifting tanker with 23 on board and laid siege to it before forces stormed it, reports say.
The tanker was captured in the Gulf of Aden as it sailed for China.
Owned by the Russian company Novoship, it is carrying some $50m (£33m) worth of crude oil.
The destroyer, with two helicopters and an infantry unit aboard, freed the tanker in a gun-battle with the pirates, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported, citing a high-ranking naval source in the region.
There have been unconfirmed reports that one pirate was killed during the siege.
"Pirates have released the tanker... All crew on board the tanker are alive and well," a spokeswoman for the shipping company told Reuters news agency.
"During more than 20 hours of siege, pirates were not able to take a single member of crew hostage."
Novoship praised the operation as one carried out "in the best traditions of the Russian naval mariners".
The company said the crew were in a safe room that was inaccessible to the hijackers.
The decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything", Novoship added.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Col Alexei Kuznetsov said the pirates were being held aboard the tanker.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov was sent on Wednesday to rescue the hijacked tanker.
Novoship praised the operation as one carried out "in the best traditions of the Russian naval mariners"
That line really sums it all up.
STGOD: Byzantine Empire Your spirit, diseased as it is, refuses to allow you to give up, no matter what threats you face... and whatever wreckage you leave behind you.
Kreia
Tanasinn wrote:"Pirates have released the tanker" implies that there were pirates alive to take such a course of action. That would be disappointingly un-Russian.
It's most likely a euphamism.
Anyway, I'm starting to seriously wonder why they don't just build these ships - or retrofit them - like sailing fortresses. IE, keep everyone in the conning tower at all times they don't absolutely have to be anywhere else, and keep every freaking door like, maglocked.
Make it basically impossible for third-world shithole morons to get into the ship's operating areas without blowing mucking great holes in the thing they hope to capture.
CaptainChewbacca wrote:Dude...
Way to overwork a metaphor Shadow. I feel really creeped out now.
I am an artist, metaphorical mind-fucks are my medium.
Quite honestly, it's cheaper to pay the ransom and let the ship go than to retrofit the ship or change international maritime law to permit people to be armed aboard a ship. Up until the last couple of years, pirates generally weren't really all that hostile. It's relatively recently that they've changed their MO and gotten more violent. As such, you see naval operations being put into place to combat piracy, because it's ridiculously profitable. But honestly, retrofitting an entire fleet with locks like that would itself cost a ridiculous amount of money... which I am in no position to calculate because I don't know how many hatches you'd have to get locked, how you could keep those from engaging in the event that there's an emergency and the ship is sinking, how many ships there are in most fleets, and so on.
Steel, on nBSG's finale: "I'd liken it to having a really great time with these girls, you go back to their place, think its going to get even better- suddenly there are dicks everywhere and you realise you were in a ladyboy bar all evening."
Because operating ships solely in the conning tower would entail the use of automation technology that's expensive or something.
Fingolfin where is the URL?
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Kuroji wrote:Quite honestly, it's cheaper to pay the ransom and let the ship go than to retrofit the ship or change international maritime law to permit people to be armed aboard a ship. Up until the last couple of years, pirates generally weren't really all that hostile. It's relatively recently that they've changed their MO and gotten more violent. As such, you see naval operations being put into place to combat piracy, because it's ridiculously profitable. But honestly, retrofitting an entire fleet with locks like that would itself cost a ridiculous amount of money... which I am in no position to calculate because I don't know how many hatches you'd have to get locked, how you could keep those from engaging in the event that there's an emergency and the ship is sinking, how many ships there are in most fleets, and so on.
Actually, if you read, the crews' locking themselves in the safe room and disabling of their own ship, stopped the pirates from running off outright.
The best part is that the pirates will definitely get a locking in Moscow.
STGOD: Byzantine Empire Your spirit, diseased as it is, refuses to allow you to give up, no matter what threats you face... and whatever wreckage you leave behind you.
Kreia
That's a tactic I'm unfamiliar with. Good thing though, and being out that far, I presume that there's really not much risk in letting the ship drift and getting all the crew to a safe location in the ship so that they can't be used as bargaining chips.
Steel, on nBSG's finale: "I'd liken it to having a really great time with these girls, you go back to their place, think its going to get even better- suddenly there are dicks everywhere and you realise you were in a ladyboy bar all evening."
Russian forces storm oil tanker
Russian forces have freed the crew of a Russian oil tanker seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen, in a dramatic rescue operation.
Forces on the Russian warship Marshal Shaposhnikov approached the tanker with 23 Russian crew on board by helicopter.
As they did so, the pirates opened fire, sparking a shoot-out.
The Russian forces then abseiled onto the Moscow University tanker, freeing the crew who had locked themselves in a safe room after disabling their ship.
Ten pirates have been arrested, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow. They are currently being held aboard the tanker, Russian defence ministry spokesman Col Alexei Kuznetsov said.
They will be transferred to Moscow to face charges, reports say.
There have been unconfirmed reports that one pirate was killed during the siege.
"Pirates have released the tanker... All crew on board the tanker are alive and well," a spokeswoman for the Russian shipping company that owns the tanker, Novoship, told Reuters news agency.
"During more than 20 hours of siege, pirates were not able to take a single member of crew hostage."
Novoship praised the operation as one carried out "in the best traditions of the Russian naval mariners".
The decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything", Novoship added.
Although there are dozens of warships patrolling the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, it is rare for rescue efforts to be launched once pirates have boarded a vessel as it is often felt that intervening would endanger the hostages, says the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi.
But in this case, the crew switched off the engine and locked themselves in a strong room with a reinforced door.
This tactic of retreating to a strong room has thwarted two previous hijacking attempts on other vessels, our correspondent adds.
Busy route
The Moscow University was seized on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, as it sailed for China, carrying more than 80,000 tonnes of crude oil worth some $50m (£33m).
The Gulf of Aden is one of the world busiest shipping routes, and the Russians, Europeans and Americans have all deployed navy forces in the region after a growing number of attacks by pirates on commercial vessels, our correspondent adds.
Even so, pirates are reported to be holding more than 20 foreign ships with almost 400 sailors.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov was sent on Wednesday to rescue the hijacked tanker.
STGOD: Byzantine Empire Your spirit, diseased as it is, refuses to allow you to give up, no matter what threats you face... and whatever wreckage you leave behind you.
Kreia
What are the hopes that the sentance will amount to a "short drop and a sudden stop" - or the more modern equavilent, standing them against a wall - and then air-dropping their corpses on the pirate shanty-town with signs reading "Pirates ye be warned" in the local languages?
Pretty low, I bet. Still, if anyone deserves to get tossed in the gulag, it's pirates.
CaptainChewbacca wrote:Dude...
Way to overwork a metaphor Shadow. I feel really creeped out now.
I am an artist, metaphorical mind-fucks are my medium.
"
- PeZook