ConsPIRACY?

VS.

Somali pirating is a lucrative business these days. This year has seen a surge of more than 75% hijackings this year, with most of these unconventional transactions ending in a sizable paycheck. Last Saturday or Sunday, the exact day has yet to be established, the pirates captured a Saudi supertanker, the Sirius Star, with a cargo of crude oil in the Indian Ocean. This feat has led to two new personal records with the Sirius Star being the 1)largest vessel aquired and the Indian Ocean being the 2)farthest out-to-sea pursuit for these modern day buccaneers!


Oddly enough, the ship was found today anchored in Harardhere, a pirate stronghold in Somalia.


This morning, Somalis woke to an enormous ship near their shores. "As usual, I woke up at 3 a.m. and headed for the sea to fish, but I saw a very, very large ship anchored less than three miles off the shore," said Abdinur Haji, a fisherman.


The Somali pirates' most contentious plundering to date is the Ukrainian ship, the Faina, with tons of war goodies in the Gulf of Aden.




Who will buy my sweet weaponry, two tanks for a trillion pennies?
Ripe Strawberries! Ripe Strawberries!



Since September, US Naval, NATO, EU and Indian warships have surrounded the captive ship and it's crew so that the pirates can't unload the warfare booty.


I wonder how long this will take? Will they suppress the pirates in battle? Or wait out the heavily armed cargo until the pirates receive their ransom? For conspiracy fun, wouldn't this be a good way to transfer weapons to an unsanctioned country? To pretend that pirates are confiscating weapons?

Update 11.18.08 from MSNBC: Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden — their seventh ship in 12 days. This is freakin' insane!

Update 11.20.08 from MSNBC: The Great Creation, a Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker seized on Sept. 18, was released after a $1.67 million ransom was paid. The Genius, another Hong Kong-flagged chemical tanker which was hijacked Sept. 26, was also returned in exchange for an unknown sum. Earlier this week, pirates released the Stolt Valor, a Japanese chemical tanker after paying hijackers $2.5 million. An associate of the gang holding that ship, the MV Faina(the ship with military arsenal), said they rejected a $2.5 million ransom offer this week. "The pirates and a broker met in the forest(!) between Galkayo and Haradheere ... but the pirates stood by their demand for $8 million," the associate, Hussein Hassan, told Reuters.
Where will all this money go?
Consequently, the British are advising against paying ransom citing that doing so only encourages more hijacking.
For pete's sake, who was the first one to encourage them? Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, said the increasing piracy was being aggravated by the country's feuding politicians and "a clear indication of the further deterioration of the situation with far-reaching consequences for this country, the region and ... international community." (And no, the red does not mean that Jesus is speaking...)


Here they come! There's nothing we can do to stop them!



Pirate jungle gym




Don't mess, man. Really, don't even mess.