Pirates take oil tanker in 5th Fleet’s AO
According to Fox News, about 20 pirates boarded the Aris 13 which was transporting oil from Djibouti to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. It happened in the US Navy 5th Fleet’s area of operations;
An official said no ransom demand had been made.
“The vessel’s captain reported to the company they were approached by two skiffs and that one of them they could see armed personnel on board,” the official said. “The ship changed course quite soon after that report and is now anchored.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity as no one was authorized to speak publicly about the incident.
It was not immediately clear who owned the ship or there it was flagged. Steed said it was UAE-owned and Sri Lankan-flagged, but the Middle East-based official said it was Greek-owned and Comoros-flagged with plans to re-flag it to Sri Lanka.
The Fox article speculates on whether this is a test for the Trump Administration. If the US Navy gets involved, it won’t end well for the pirates – I don’t think there will be much discussion about that.
Thanks to Mick for the link.
Category: Terror War
I’d be more inclined to think it a matter of piss poor planning on the part of the pirates.
But then again, maybe they read the Art of the Deal…
Perhaps his book should be renamed, “The Art of the Death!”
Roast in hell, scumbags!
You got that right…..blow them out of the water and then strafe the bodies! fish need to eat too!!
That was the book written by the SecDef, not Trump.
Have Jonny Depp’s whereabouts been confirmed?
One of the primary missions (if not the primary) of the US Navy used to be to keep the sea lanes open. Well, at least that’s what the Red Ropes told me in Boot Camp.
Time for the Navy to do some nautical ass kicking.
Definitely time. But they shouldn’t just shoot them this time. I’m thinking hang some from the side of their own ship and make others walk a plank into shark infested waters type stuff.
Commit 17th Century crimes, receive 17th Century punishments.
ARRR
Time for the SEALs to turn some heads into canoes again.
Some folks you just can’t reach.
“Some folks you just can’t reach”
Great, now you’ve got me going through that speech, followed by the G&R song “Civil War” which ticks me off at the end when Axl asks, “What’s so ‘civil’ about war anyway?” as if he were the first person to ever notice the obvious oxymoron.
I think my blood sugar must be low…
Just one more reason among many I dislike G&R.
Talk about overrated.
If you can’t reach them, you’re using the wrong rifle.
Aarrrhhh. Cocksuckers.
Shiver me timbers! Time for thee US Navy to kick some aft.
Since there’s some confusion about who is who and what is what, I’ll wait to see who asks the USNAV for a little help.
Djibouti (Ethiopia) to Somalia? What’s the origin of the pirates? That whole area is so war-torn that it’s nearly impossible to know anything more than some warlord there decided to try to scam some cash for guns from someone.
Perfect mission for the Seals. And their press has not been up to snuff recently, as evidenced by the resurgence of Army Special Forces lately in the poser ranks.
Hopefully they board and kill them all. Nothing says time to rethink career fields for young Somali men like dead pirates.
More like a training mission. “Hey , guys! Some pirates just captured a ship. Who needs to BZO their weapons, and once we get done with this distraction, we can grab some lunch. You stay fast, Johnson. According to my training records, you did not complete your annual training on LBTGQ Accomplishments PowerPoint.”
“And if any of you assholes fly a Trump flag on that ship, I’ll have your asses. Now go get some pirate ass.”
Hack, you mean like this:
http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-03-13
and here’s the follow-up from today for the dilbert strip above:
http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-03-14
I am the captain now. And we know how that ended.
Son #2 is in the Merchant Marine, and has worked on Maersk ships. Small community; the consensus is Captain Phillips was an idiot by ignoring several warnings of pirate activity along his route, and doing nothing proactive to avoid them. Self inflicted wounds. That and Tom Hanks makes this the “Top Gun” of Merchant Marine movies.
To clarify, if “Top Gun” is on the screen, my family will leave the room due to my finger pointing and howls of derisive laughter. Worst. Aviation. Movie. Ever.
Back to your regularly scheduled posts.
You mean There isn’t a smoking Hot Blonde Civilian that teaches at Top Gun?,,,and the ciricullum doesn’t have several hours of beach volley ball and how to apply suntan lotion and wear shades?
And an aileron roll is a viable tactic against a machine gun? Like a ballerina in front of a shotgun.
Tomcats are like western six-guns and simply don’t run out of missiles.
Full afterburner, all the time.
The list goes on…
Going full military and pulling up-stick while claiming to ‘Hit the brakes’
The whole notion that the FWS was, and is a competition where only the best pilots go…
Holding briefings in a hangar…you know so nobody can hear
Riding POV’s on taxi ways or frontage roads parallel to the active runway
Only one or two active Cats on Big E? (there’s four two on the Bow and two on the waist)
I could go on…
I’ll let ’em slide with no reflective vest while riding a motorcycle (DoD wide requirement at the time) due to artistic license, but no way in hell would they let someone ride a motorcycle on base without a helmet.
Adding to AW1’s list:
– Ignoring the Air Boss and Paddles during the recovery cycle. Everyone knows that that’s the key to being ‘shit hot’ when flying around the ship. ‘OK 3-wire’ every time.
– Flying around and conducting ACM with helmet visors up and oxygen masks unhooked and dangling from helmets. Hypoxia? Naaaah…
– Wearing cowboy hats and sunglasses during preflight mission briefings. Yeah, that happens.
– Wearing sunglasses inside the O’Club bar in the evening while chatting up the local lovelies. One might as well just shout ‘hey, look at me! I’m a complete asshole!’.
And the list could still go on…
That greenie board in the Ready Room will make or break a pilot in peace time.
As an Army Aviator, I have to say you are close, but wrong. “Firebirds” was the absolute worst.
I admit to being service-centric, and I haven’t seen “Fire Birds.” But thanks for the head’s up. Maybe I’ll rent is as a joke the next time my buddy comes over and tries to kill me with expensive bourbon.
Agreed. Not even Tommy Lee Jones could save that train wreck.
I’m no Aviator, Ive never even come close, but IMHO “Iron Eagle II” has GOT to be in the top five worst ever.
Ditto. I actually watched that piece of celluloid trash. An hour and a half I can never get back.
think there are a couple more sequels, too… Lou Gossett must have really been broke around then
You think you’ve suffered? Son, lemme tell ya, with VERY rare exception, ain’t no genre worse, more inaccurate, more full of shit than submarine movies.
You know it’s bad when Down Periscope is the best one to come out since Das Boot, and only because the humor is dead on balls accurate.
That’s a boat term.
Believe me, I could nitpick Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, and every other celluloid POS to come down the pike for days. And that’s hard to do when you don’t give a shit.
I believe Harrison Ford won an Oscar for Worst Russian Accent in “K-19: The Widow Maker” and “U-571” was just insulting.
Worse than Sean Connery’s? “Aye, laddie, that’s how we do it in the Rrrooshian Navy, d’ye see”
Grey Lady Down was one of Christopher Reeve’s first movies.
Now, now. Grey Lady Down was not THAT bad a movie. It hit some really tacky stuff, but had a few good moments.
I thought “Gray Lady Down” was about the NY Slime going bankrupt.
What do you expect with little tommy cruise starring….he is a punk, a deceived scientology punk….what kind of freak worships at a science fiction writers religion? LOL
There is a Facebook group for those of us that worked the Flight Deck…you should hear some of the stories they have about Tom Cruise…what a dink.
There was a rumor going around in the Naval Aviation community back in the ’80s while ‘Top Gun’ was being filmed that he tried to go into the actual Miramar O’Club bar for Happy Hour on a Friday evening in his khaki uniform ‘costume’ (complete with Naval Aviator wings and assorted ribbons), and the real Naval Aviators who were in there drinking immediately ran him out of the place. The story was that they, too, had had more than enough of him and his antics by that time.
I hate to ruin your afternoon, but apparently a sequel is being looked at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1745960/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5
Heard of this, can’t wait. Seems I know folks on the UCAV program.
Val Kilmer can get his fat butt back in shape that fast? Hah! I’d like to see that. Well, maybe not.
What? A bunch of fat old retirees sitting around drinking, making “zooming hands”, and telling lies?
Top Gun: Over the Top at the VA.
I’m still waiting for the sequel to Terror In Beverly Hills. That character portrayed by Frank Stallone really kicked ass. In fact, that character was so inspirational, it made me the man that I am today.
I watched a good video on YouTube about the floating armory’s that security contractor’s work out of in internatial waters.
I sure hope for the Oil Tanker Crews sake they’re not Butt-Pirates
Reminds me of Cartman’s classic episode of South Park where he tells his buddies not to call gheys “fags,” because that is a derogatory word. Instead, he says they should be called something more politically correct: “Butt-Pirate.” Also, if you haven’t seen it, watch the episode on the net where Cartman decides to have his crew become pirates off the coast of Somalia. It is classic, and now again very topical.
That episode was a pisser. Especially when Cartman captured that French ship.
Fly our flag or fuck off? Yeah I know, that’s never been how it goes when oil is involved, so I suppose this is a test. A ‘foreign bosses’ test.
Reports say they are just common fishermen upset about furriners overfishing their waters. Funny how they pick a big oil tanker doing no fishing to attack instead of , you know, fishing boats.
The Aris 13 is a 300-foot-long transporter of fuel oil, it’s not a large crude carrier. It’s apparently crewed by eight Sri Lankans, owned by a Panamanian company, and based out of the UAE. Since the situation now has naval assets of the EU involved, it’s probably not something the U.S. Navy needs to get involved in. It’s also now anchored off the Somali port of Alula which makes any high seas operation a dog that won’t hunt.
The Somalis involved in taking the Aris 13 were likely wrong according to maritime law, but could have, a least from their perspective, a legitimate beef. For example, if the ship was not in international waters, and the Sri Lankans have shown ongoing violations of Somali fishing rights, it might have had an impact. It’s not like pirates tend to be members of Mensa.
Foreign owned and flagged.
Not our problem.
Paging Dux Carrera, your live fire range has become available.
What if Trump were to auction Letters of Marque for specific nuisances? Set limits of time and area, etc.