THE PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD IS FOR YOU TO LEARN HOW CHINA IS CONTRIBUTING TO WORLD PEACE AND PROTECTION OF CHINESE PEOPLE GLOBALLY. YOU SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF CHINA!
PIRATES
When you hear the word “pirates” you either think of Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Johnny Depp or China. Blackbeard was a notorious pirate back in the 1500’s and Johnny Depp is a famous Hollywood movie star who plays Captain Jack, a pirate, in several famous movies. China is the most famous music and film pirate, stealing more than US$1 billion annually from the USA. (In fact India is the most notorious modern day pirate stealing US$2 billion in new pharmaceuticals from China annually.)
But there is a much more modern PIRATE story unfolding off the coast of Africa. Somali pirates in small skiffs, armed with surface to surface missiles and grenade launchers, attack and capture hugh bulk cargo ships including loaded oil tankers. They take the crews captive and hold the package for ransom. When an agreed release price is reached, the cash is air dropped onto the deck of the ship. The pirates then free the ship and crew.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_attacked_by_Somali_pirates
These pirates are so well armed they dared to attack a US Navy ship.
They also fired on a French Navy ship.
http://www.aolnews.com/story/somali-pirates-attack-french-navy-ship/446496
Open sea piracy has become very big business.
Now, at this point, many are wondering why this thread, why this topic. You are thinking this has nothing to do with your life or your Country. You are the same people who responded to the thread “Can Asians Think” with a flippant “Of course we can.” Then you posted on many threads quoting what others have said on various web sites or simply restated the official Chinese Government propoganda, but did little or no creative thinking of your own, thus proving Asians can’t think.
Answer the following questions after researching the issue. Do your own thinking.
- How many Chinese ships have been hijacked?
- How many Chinese citizens have been held for ransom?
- How many Chinese Navy ships joined the 15 Country multi-national task force to patrol waters off the Somali coast?
- How many Chinese Navy personnel have put their lives at risk to stop the piracy?
- What is the root cause of the piracy?
- How can the piracy be stopped?
- Should the pirates be killed on sight and their boats sunk?
- Should preemptive strikes be made against the on-shore villages known to provide a safe harbor for the pirates?
- Should all commercial ships be armed to fight off the pirates?
Pirate attacks on the ‘rise’ since March
By Wang Chenyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-15 08:12
BEIJING – Attacks by pirates and the number of ship seizures have been on the rise since March, a senior Chinese naval commander has said.
In March alone, 20 ships were hijacked in as many as 51 pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, Zhang Wendan, senior colonel and deputy chief of staff of the South Sea Fleet, said.
Zhang, who is also the commander of China’s fifth escort flotilla sent to the Gulf of Aden, said pirates are using new tactics, as international organizations are making more efforts to ward off the threat from piracy, and commercial shippers have strengthened defenses.
The pirates’ reach has also increased, and their operations have extended to areas far from Somali waters.
Earlier, pirate activity was mainly contained to within 50 to 60 nautical miles.
However, the attackers have now expanded their reach to as far as southeastern Tanzania, the waters near Madagascar and almost the whole northwestern Indian Ocean.
The pirates have also diversified their targets. Most of their traditional targets were low-speed commercial ships. But now, they are choosing to attack small sailboats and fishing vessels, which are being seen as easy prey.
Large oil tankers, as well as bulk carriers, are also becoming more favored targets due to the high ransoms that they fetch, Zhang said.
The pirates have also got better at concealing their intentions.
Tripwires are used to trap the target ship’s propellers, giving the pirates a chance to get onboard.
Pirates also submerge their weapons, ladders and tools into the water to avoid detection by escort vessels, or use common fishing and smuggler boats as cover.
The pirates have also resorted to more violent tactics, Zhang said, adding China’s escort fleet is working hard to stay one step ahead of the pirates.
Zhang also proposed that counter-piracy information be shared with other countries’ escort fleets to help improve commercial ships’ defensive capability. CHINA DAILY
NEW YORK TIMES
Enriched by Record Ransom, Somali Pirates Free Tanker
By MOHAMMED IBRAHIM
Published: January 18, 2010
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali pirates off the eastern coast of Africa released a Greek oil tanker and its 28-member crew on Monday after receiving what they said was a $5.5 million ransom, believed to be the largest sum paid to free a hijacked ship.
The crew members — 16 Filipinos, 9 Greeks, 2 Ukrainians and a Romanian — were all unharmed, European naval officials said in a statement.
But disputes over the delivery of the ransom and how to divide it touched off fighting among pirates, according to the European Union Naval Force and spokesmen for the pirates. Skiffs carrying rival bands of marauders traded fire on Sunday, even prompting one of the pirate groups to radio naval ships for help.
“Of course, the European Union Naval Force would never intervene in a pirate fight,” said Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the naval force, which watched the gun battle from a safe distance. At least one pirate was reported killed in the exchange, but Commander Harbour said he could not confirm any deaths.
A pirate spokesman, Abdi Elmi, said that one pirate was shot dead Monday in the Xarardheere, a pirate haven, during a dispute over how to share the money, but he said that “it was friendly fire and accidental, and we buried him today.” Another pirate, who identified himself as Ahmed, said some of the hijackers had quarreled because they had been expecting a larger ransom than the sum that had been delivered by the owners of the tanker, the Maran Centaurus.
The owners, Maran Tankers Management, said in a statement quoted by The Associated Press that they were “delighted” that the ship had been released, but declined to provide any details about the negotiations that led to the ship and crew’s release.
The ship, carrying an estimated two million barrels of crude oil, was hijacked on Nov. 29 as it navigated past the coast of Somalia, a notorious hunting ground for pirates.
Enticed by the promise of lucrative ransoms from shipping companies, pirates have kept up their attacks on ships off the Horn of Africa, venturing hundreds of miles into the Indian Ocean in search of their quarry, despite an international deployment of warships and heightened security aboard cargo vessels.
Last year, pirates staged a record number of hijackings and attacks, according to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau. The bureau said 214 vessels were attacked and 47 hijacked by Somalis, who have turned to piracy as a relatively lucrative way to make money in a country whose government barely functions and whose economy is in a shambles.
In February, the owners of a Ukrainian arms freighter that had been held for more than four months paid $3.2 million to free their ship.
As far as I know, there are three Chinese ships hijacked in 2008. What is worse, more ships were hijacked in 2009. More than 30 Chinese citizens have been held for ransom. There are three Chinese Navy ships which have been joined the 15 Country multi-national task force to patrol waters off the Somali coast. About 800 Chinese Navy personnel have put their lives at risk to stop the piracy. I think the root of the problem is poverty, and as to pirates, the cost of inputs is low, while the yield is very high. The international community should work together to help the country develop their economy, and resolutely crack down on piracy ineffective.
It is reasonable for the pirates to be killed on sight and their boats sunk. And preemptive strikes should be made against the on-shore villages known to provide a safe harbor for the pirates. What is more, all commercial ships should be armed to fight off the pirates.
As I know there are five Chinese ships (including Hong Kong) have been hijacked since 2005. And more than 90 people have been held for ransom in total. And more than 3 Chinese Navy ships joined to task force to patrol waters off the Somali coast. There were 30 crew members fought for four hours to stop the piracy. What’s more, the crew of Hong Kong ship BW Lion managed to evade the attack on November 17, 2009. To the root cause of the piracy, I think maybe they consider pirate as their career. They don’t want to change and even don’t know how to change. If we want to stop the piracy, we should solve the problem of these pirates at first. Where should they do and go if they are not pirates any more? I don’t think the pirates should be killed on sight. Because I think it will aggravate contradictions. But the preemptive strikes should be made against the on-shore villages known to provide a safe harbor for the pirates. And it’s a good solution for all commercial ships to arm to fight off the pirates.
With the help of the GOOGLE Search Engine, I learn that there was 7cases of Somali pirate hijackings involving Chinese ships and crews in 2008. After that, China deployed 3 ships to battle the pirates around the Gulf of Aden. Yet the merchant vessel De Xin Hai with a crew of 25 was hijacked the following October. During just two years, there were more than 30 persons held for ransom. So far, 5 batches of waterway-escorting marine force have been dispatched to join the patrol.
In my opinion, the root cause of piracy is the global rich-poor polarization which triggers regional outrage and even leads to ultimate extremism and activism. To settle the regional inequality they resort to violence at the risk of their lives. As to crackdown of piracy, I think the UN should play a crucial role. While economic globalization becomes an inevitable trend, it also edges out those backward countries which are not on the equal terms during the process. So it is the job of UN to balance the global wealth distribution and secure the interest of the developing countries. In the regard, any preemptive strikes against the village or pirate killing is not the right way but the reverse to fight against piracy; and it is also not adoptable to arm a merchant ship since it is unworthy due to the high cost of equipment fixing and crew training. Coalition patrol is only a temporary measure.
Now, the somali pirates is a big problem for nearly every country. We always think that we can not solve this problem if we just send the army to this area. Instead, we should find out the deep reasons why the piracy activity is so rampant. In my opinion, the poverty and the domestic upheaval are two main reasons. The international society should take measures to promote the development of somali, and let the native to elect their government. If they can live in a harmonious society, and who want to do the criminal things?
I’ve heard about piracies in Somali. They are horrible! On November 28 2009, more than one hundred Chinese hostages were rescued from the Somali piracy with a cost of $4 million. Somali has become a danger places for ships to go. We can’t say that the piracy of Somali has nothing to do with us because they have affected our life, though not so obviously. It is a problem of the whole world. China has sent navies to Somali to beat against the piracies.
As we all known, Somalia has one of the most dangerous coast in the world where numerous international maritime forces are deployed to fight against piracy. According to the news, I find that in 2008, Nov 14, Chinese fishing ship has been hijacked by pirates off southern Somalia with 24 crewmembers on board, 15 are Chinese, four Vietnamese, three Philippine, one Japanese and one Taiwanese. The pirate leader has claimed that the Chinese fishing ship was fishing in Somali territorial waters and they are protecting Somali national resources from illegal fishing and waste dumping by asking for ransom. At least 30 ships have been hijacked this year in the region which is one of the world’s main shipping routes.
I think the UN and international organizations should work together to sanction against Somalia over the country’s failure to prevent a surge in sea piracy and take actions to protect the right of hijacked people after they have been severely hurt. And what’s more rich countries should unit together to solve the poverty of local fishermen’s lives in Somalia and reduce the threat posed by the pirates as quickly as possible.
To fight against pirates with tough ways are not enough. Only appease the political instability, make Somali government has the ability to bind pirates of the country, that can make pirates problems be fundamentally solved. To restore Somalia government, firstly American and the Ethiopian government have to restrict themselves, can’t let their selfish interest overrides the people’s. Secondly, the organization should actively do something, organize the democracy and justice for free elections and help the new government consolidate Somalia. Again, the international community should actively rescue, help Somali pirates to develop economic, and make the man return to his new life.
If Chinese navy want to complete support tasks without ocean carriers, must establish naval base at near. Somalia is besides Kenya and Tanzania, we might as well negotiate with both countries, and establish supply base as their home, rest, supplies base. Once Chinese ship passed near by ,our naval can immediately follow, and closely take care of convoy. Since our warship go out to fight with piracy, our convoy submarine also should go together. So, under the ocean where piracy cannot see, we will haunt to attack pirate.
When I search something about “How many Chinese ships have been hijacked “by the Google English searching engine, I saw a list of ships attacked by Somali pirates from 2005 to 2010 . After reading the list, I was very sorry to see that so many ships had been hijacked by Somali pirates. Not only ships of China’s, but also other countries’.On the list ,it shows that the Chinese fishing vessel Tianyu No. 8 or Tanyo 8 was seized by Somali pirates while fishing off the coast of Kenya. The ship was released on 8 February 2009 with 24 crew members safely on board. Besides,According to the news provided by the Xinhua net, Somalia pirates had hijacked a St. Vincent and Grenadines flagged cargo ship in the Indian Ocean waters near Seychelles with 23 Chinese crew members aboard, a regional maritime official confirmed on April 11,2010.
Seeing the events，it is clearly that the piracy phenomenon is serious in the modern world and can’t be ingored. In my opinion, the root cause of the piracy is the low cost and the high profit. However, the ineffective government protection of the local countries should take some responsibilty for the piracy.
In the October 21,2009, Chinese ship pirated by Somali pirates ,it was the first time a Chinese ship had fallen into the hands of pirates in the Indian Ocean. China said it happened about 1000natutical miles away from a fleet of Chinese warships escorting merchant vessels through the waters. Chinese government make every effort to rescue to crew and carrier. And many other country governments also help us . As known, the Somali pirates is becoming a key problem for nearly every country. We will ask a question why the Somali piracy activity is so rampant? How to solve the problem? In my opinion ,we should find the most fundamental reason, and set the strength of every country to solve the problem.
In my childhood memories, pirates are all legendary guys, they are very brave, and lead a Robin hood-style life. In the modern day movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, Captain Jack is resilient, diligent, humorous and funny. But in the Somali, the pirates there are absolutely nothing. They are ignorant, greed, and cruel. In my opinion, they constitute the ocean part of the world terrorist forces.
In fact, I don’t understand why the world community cannot handle this challenge swiftly and thoroughly. We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, equipped with radars, battle ships and warplanes, while they are only a group of gangsters armed with small boats and light weapons. Maybe, we still don’t fully understand their working mechanism. And once we did, we will cut off their life line completely, and show no mercy to these notorious robbers.
Just a few days ago, I saw the news coverage about the horrible fact that Chinese ships pirated by Somali pirates again. According to the report, there are about twenty Chinese crews on the ship. The similar things are prevailing at present. And the number of terrible event is about two hundred times so far. I think some reasons for the widespread things. Firstly, our world is always not peace because of unequal development .But anyone in the world wants to live better and has his own business. Then a lot of counties neglect the responsibility for the serious unequal welfare. Secondly, our international institutions may burden the responsibility for the poor and undeveloped countries and people. Last but not the least, Somali pirates become more rampant than ever before, largely due to lack of cooperation each other. We should make more common efforts to deal with the things in different ways such as joint military actions humanitarian intervention and so on.
Should we pay the Somali pirate random? It’s really hard to answer. My opinion, random is only a temporary rescue. In urgent condition, the safety of the crew and property is more important. After of all, we always pay less than we get if the hijacked ships were freed. However, we can’t count on the random. The more you pay, the more the pirate is encouraged. And then the more hijack happens. What is the root cause of piracy? My answer is the poverty. No one, living in decent life, would choose to become pirate. If we put the discussion further, it roots at the history of colonial government in Somali. When the western left, they also give Somalis a hopeless mess which they can’t well deal with. International aid is needed in future. We can’t just discuss how to punish the pirate, and we can punish all criminals.
AT 2005,an HONGKONG ship named MV FEISTY GAS was hijacked,being free finally by paying 315000 dollors ransom.
AT 2007,a TAIWAN SHIP named FV CHING FONG HWA 168 was hijacked,beding free finally by paying 1500,000 dollors ransom.
2008,a Chinese ship named FV TIANYU NO.8 was hijacked,being free finally ,the ransom is unclear.
2008,a Chinese cargo ship named MV ZHENHUA 4 was hijacked;2009,the ship DEXINHAI,MV BW LION,hijacked.
Since the year 2005,there are probably 6 ships hijacked by Somali pirates.It is badly in need of international attention.
It is reported that many ships from all over the world have been hijacked by pirates in somali pirates.Somalia has been the most dangerous place in the world for the ship going pass.There are so many pirates in the area that no government could regulate them.So why ?what is the root cause of rampant piracy in Somalia. Does anybody have thought these questions?I think the root cause of this phenomenon is that the economy of Somalia is stagnant, political is unstable,and separatist forces is powerful.What ‘s more somali is very poor, great benefits drive the people to take this risk.So there are more and more pirates in somalia.
So what is the solution. The most important solution is that Somalia must have a strong government, which can develop the Somali economy so that people live a prosperous life.Then people will not need to take the risk to become pirates
If everyone can have a nice job,I think nobody wants to be a pirate.Somali pirates is very rampant. None of country takes the responsiblity to the accidents,so when the crews are captived, the victims can not slove the problem with the negotiation between countries.Paying the ransom to pirates can not be completed once for all.If the Internation does not get to the heart of the problems, meet the pirates’ basic need of living,and help them own some skills to live,the robbery like these will appear once and once again.
China has do a lot to protect our Chinese ships across the sea coast of Somalia,and also help other countries,it’s common that every big country will do it,though their are about ten countrise navy are escort ships there,and the government of Somalia has also told the world to solve the problem together,but for solve the problem,I think for why the pirates want to be the pirates is that it’s hard to make a living in their country,and their government seldom care about them,the only way to survive is to be a pirate,so I think the world should provide help to help the country and improve their living conditon,only in this way can we really solve the probelm.
Somali pirates has become a severe problem in the open sea. I think the root cause of this is that the pirates just using small skiffs can get a lot of ransom, which convinces more and more Somali people that this is a fast way to get rich, and encourages more Somali people to become pirates. All the countries never want their people to be killed by the pirates. So they would rather pay the ransom than think of other actions needs to be taken to avoid this to happen again. Besides, Somali is under war, the education system and the social system has broken down for many years. I think the United Nations should take more actions to stop the Somali pirates except for the multi-national patrol, such as to end the war in Somali and provide more food to the country.
I have learned some general situation about Somali pirates and the fact that the Chinese navy have escorted some commercial ships across the Somali area from TV news.But I didn’t pay a further and deeper attention to this since I am not very interested in military.So after reading this thread and the comments, I began to know some details and root causes about this. Besides,I learned some new words about marine and pirates. I think this is helpful.
Piracy is really a worldwide problem and I think it is a kind of terrorisim. It is existed not only off the African coast line but also on the southeastern seas of China. China has been sending escort flotillas to African coasts while our country itself is facing with the danger of pirates exactly in the southeast of our territorial waters and I think it has proved that China is a responsible country.
Speaking of how well-armed the pirates are, I can’t help wondering that where do they get these advanced weapons? There must be arms dealers providing the pirates with weapons to make a huge fortune and some governments might even be involved in it, of course it is just my guess. So in my view, it requires political cooperation among countries as well as military deterrence to solve the piracy problem.
The issue can only be settled on the land, not in the sea. The multi-national task force’s patrolling waters off the Somali coast may be helpful and imperative but it’s not enough to solve the problem.
Somali is in the state of anarchy, which is worse than the predicament that China met in 1920s. There are four separatist regimes of warlords ruling different parts of the country. Without a powerful and united regime, public order can’t even be established, not to speak of the economy, education, etc. What the Somali know is to survive chaos, civil wars, and poverty.
I’ve seen a vid shot in Somali telling the daily life of the “Pirate”. They are more like poor fishermen who’re struggling to survive than greedy pirates. Some Somali even think they are heroes. Due to the exhaustion of the fishery resources in the sea and chaos on the land, they more or less do this to earn a living.
Whatever, their behavior is illicit and should be inhibited. But the pirate is not the only group to blame, what about the warlords in Somali? What about some mysterious group behind the warlords? I think they are actually the real pirates. And Somali is not the only battlefield to fight the pirates, there’s a hidden one created by the real pirates.
The multi-national task force’s patrolling waters off the Somali coast isn’t the most effective way to solve the problem. A powerful and united regime which can end the chaos on land and fight the related illegal activities such as gun running and drug trafficking is the key to solve the problem. Once they achieve a peaceful domestic situation, few of they will continue that dangerous behavior.
Some people criticize the piracy in Somali only because it threatens the sea route. And they think the pirates should be killed on sight, preemptive strikes should be made against the on-shore villages known to provide a safe harbor for the pirates. I don’t think it’s a proper choice. As we know, similar methods have been carrying out in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but it didn’t work out, on the contrary, many civilian were killed by the UAVs. Many countries’ Navies have the ability to kill the pirates in skiffs. But the best way is to create a promising and peaceful land to settle the skiffs. Because the problem roots in the land and Somali is not the only country involved in.
I’m not very familiar with the problem of piracy.The only common sense I know is from films.This article widens my knowledge about piracy.I believe this is a big problem to the maritime economic.In my opinion,not every pirate does not have the ability to find an appropriate job.The reason why then become pirates may be that they love this kind of exciting life and they think it is cool in comparation with a stable job.They just enjoy this feeling of freedom,although this will harm others.
As far as I know, 12 Chinese(Hong Kong included) ships have been hijacked since 2005.34 Chinese Navy ships joined the 15 Country multi-national task force to patrol waters off the Somali coast. About 8850 personnel have been sent to the area. The piracy is rooted from Somali civil war and poverty. There are about 1.1 million refugees in Somalia now, and the number is still growing every day. Meanwhile, there are many warlords in Somalia against each other, and they have the ability to do this job. What’s more important is that the profit of piracy is so tempting that it’s really worth a risk. To deal with this problem, we have to solve Somali politic problems first. Stop the civil war and poverty. Once there is peace and no more refugees in Somalia, there will be no more pirates in Gulf of Aden. People should be careful about fighting against pirates. Neither should the pirates be killed on sight and their boats sunk nor preemptive strikes be made against the on-shore villages known to provide a safe harbor for the pirates. They are lives just as us, and after all, they are only coming for the money. But I’m not saying that we can’t even defend ourselves, I’m just saying that we should not attack them first. I think it’s not appropriate for all the commercial ships to be armed, because it will only make the sea more chaotic.
Pirates appear again in 21 century… this is hard to believe , we should pay attention to the place where those pirates are active which is so sensitive area .And all of them came from poor country ..may be we shouldn’t blame them ! .maybe they just work for some other politics and economics authorities. Or small group of Special Forces with missions on specific targets.
The piracy in Indian Ocean has escalated in the recent past. The cost of transporting cargo and even tourist has skyrocketed in that region. The cost of living in the hinterland served by the pirate invaded coast has risen. The Somali Government collapsed in early 1990’s. The Somali’s coast territory lost control over their territorial waters. Most inhabitants in the vast Somali coastal regions relied on fishing and sea related business. During that time trailers from far lands mostly well-established countries roamed the Somali coast depleting the sea resources. Some mafia groups were also hired to dump harmful waste and located the Somali as a cheap location, the Somali having the second longest coast in Africa which was not well monitored. Life was terrible for the inhabitants. The devastated fishermen vowed to defend their territory and it was bearing fruits at, the helped guard the waters far beyond their country. They also realized that they could get ransom money and a ‘resourceful business’ which has bloomed over the years.
Without establishment of a stable government in Somalia, fighting piracy in the region will be retrogressive. The investment in coast guard and armed escort and associated revenues loss can help establish a stable government. In the long run, the region and the merchants will benefit.
I always try not to spoil my mood with bad news from the TV or newspapers. That is why I had no idea that there is such a serious situation with Piracy around the world. That is crazy! We live in the 21st century and still can’t deal with this problem. It is sad.