http://www.qando.net/ - Piracy and Sharia law

Somali pirates have hijacked a Japanese-owned chemical tanker in the latest such seizure in the Horn of Africa nation's notoriously lawless waters, a regional maritime official and a piracy watchdog said on Monday.

Andrew Mwangura, head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said shipping sources in both Somalia and Japan had confirmed the vessel was seized eight nautical miles offshore on Sunday morning.

How bad is it?

"Things are not good. We advise ships that are not going to Somalia to stay 200 nautical miles off the coast," he said.

But here is the interesting bit irony (if actually the reason):

Piracy off Somalia dropped briefly last year during the six month period in which most of the south was ruled by a hardline Islamist movement. But incidents have risen again since the sharia courts movement was toppled from Mogadishu at New Year.

As an aside - want a perfect opportunity for international cooperation? A mixed armada of navy vessels from various nations could, most likely, very quickly quash this problem.

I vote for everyone other than the US taking this on.

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I vote for all the nations who cheaply flag merchant ships to take this on... since the US is too expensive for these companies, I agree the US should not become involved.
At such point as these pirates are interfering with US flag vessels I’d like to see one of our cruisers head over and teach the pirates not to mess with the US flagged vessels.

Written By: BIllS
URL: http://bills-opinions.blogspot.com

At such point as these pirates are interfering with US flag vessels I’d like to see one of our cruisers head over and teach the pirates not to mess with the US flagged vessels.

As I recall, and it is in our archives somewhere, an incident similar to that happened last year when a Somali pirate ended his short life by firing on one of our guided missile cruisers. All I can figure is bad eyesight or a lot of rum. Or both.

Written By: McQ
URL: http://www.qando.net/blog

We just signed a deal with Mongolia giving us the right to search their merchant vessels on the high seas. Yeah, they are landlocked, but they have several ships that fly their flag of convenience. LOL.

Written By: Harun
URL: http://

We have had an international navy task force in the area in the recent past. I haven’t read anything recently about it, but since the media hasn’t been interested in that area for some time, why would we. And typically the Bush Administration doesn’t play the propaganda game well by publicizing incidents where we engage the pirates. See http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-02/Horn-of-Africa-2nd-to-Strait-of-Malacca-as-World-Most-Dangerous-Place-for-Ships.cfm?CFID=225610037&CFTOKEN=26429239

Written By: AMR
URL: http://

I vote for everyone other than the US taking this on.

Well since the US installed the government that allows this piracy, toppling the one that prevented it, you should get your wish of the US not taking this on.

Written By: Retief
URL: http://

I’m pretty sure that it was effective government, and not sharia, that was responsible for the lull in piracy. Sharia and piracy are pretty well compatible. Doubtless you remember just who and why we were fighting "on the shores of Tripoli"

Written By: kishnevi
URL: http://

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