Pirates of the Canberraneans (the short version storyboarded or keelhauled — Port side)
explained for sore eyes

A young girl
named Electorate
finds a strange medallion
and keeps it for 10 years.

Bastard Boy Combbow
of the Pirate’s Union
arrives in Truevalue
on his sinking ship.

On a full moon,
the “Black Potogold”
attacks Truevalue, the
Harbour of Fair Island.

Its Captain, Howardossa,
seeks Young Ruddner’s
Blood and the medallion
to rule the Never-everland.

Young Kev Ruddner
is a gifted swordsmith
His father was
Keating theMusical.

Second line

Lt Bostello wants to
marry Electorate
who’s secretly in love with
Ruddner, the swordsmith.

Several predictable
adventures and battles.
in which Howardossa
appears to win the day.

But Boy Combbow
of the Pirate’s Union
helps Young Ruddner
defeat Howardossa.

Despite this, Lt Bostello
wants to hang Combbow
but, Chivalresquedly, Kev
Ruddner saves the day.

Electorate, at age of
reason, refuses Lt Bostello
in favor of Young Kev Ruddner.
THE END

PM warns Coalition of electoral annihilation

The Prime Minister has warned his colleagues that current opinion polls mean the Coalition would not just lose a federal election, it would be annihilated.

John Howard has told a meeting of Liberal and National MPs the polls show Labor would win emphatically.

He has warned if they are expecting him to pull a rabbit out of a hat, he does not have a rabbit.

Mr Howard says one of the reasons the Government is in this position is that the economy is so good, so it is important for the Government to remind people of the consequences of change.

He says it is both a strength and a weakness for the Government that its three most visible members - himself, Peter Costello and Alexander Downer - have held the same jobs since 1996.

'Desperate Government'

The ALP's national secretary, Tim Gartrell, says he expects this year's election campaign to be the most negative Australia has experienced.

Mr Gartrell says the Government will run a dirty campaign against the Labor leader Kevin Rudd because the Government is desperate.

"I think the negative attacks in the last campaign will be nothing compared to this campaign," he said.

"I think this will be a very negative campaign by a desperate and dated Government that will do anything to cling onto power, whether it's the waste of millions of dollars of taxpayers' funds or whether it's unfounded negative attacks on people."

----------------------

Gus: Long time before the elections and Johnnee's rattus guise is not buried yet... Rabbits? He says he's not got any left... A few hedgehogs? Flee-ed-cats? A dog, a kangaroo?... but no rabbits? Watch out for the APEC bizo... Napoleon might pull a dirty rat out of his bag... 

I didn't know where to place this article... Thus under this "pirate" concept might do... See the cartoon at top anyway, even if irrelevant to what's below...

Somalia's pirates seize 33 tanks

A Ukrainian ship seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia was carrying 33 tanks and other weapons, the Ukrainian defence minister has confirmed.

Earlier, the country's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombassa.

There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Russia announced on Friday it would start carrying out regular anti-piracy patrols in the waters off Somalia.

A navy spokesman said a warship had been sent to the area earlier this week to protect Russian citizens and ships.

Somalia has not had an effective national government for 17 years, leading to a collapse of law and order both on land and at sea.

Somali pirates are currently holding more than a dozen hijacked ships in Eyl, a town in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.
---------------------

Gus: Something's fishy...
Due to my bad habit of putting my nose where I shouldn't and knowing the good fortune of having surveyed coastal waters, including most of Australia's coastline, in one of my previous incarnations as well as having been a small ship's captain, I went and took the Google Earth flight to Eyl, Somalia...  I visited the whole coastline, north and south, like a beachcomber with a metal detector... at low and mid-low altitude...

How in hell can "pirates" hide a dozen big ships in a dried-up rivulet-bed, a desert and several dozen shacks?... The closest I could see ships of the magnitude suggested was in Chismaio (Kismayu) — one big ship on the rocks there — in Al Mukalla (demolition dockyard) in Yemen and in Mombassa (dry docks), Kenya. And of course, Djibouti.

So, I have the strange feeling that the CIA (with the latest spy satellite pictures and possibly logs of the ships transponders) would know where those ships really are, but it won't tell. There could be some diplomatic repercussions. Who knows...

How can ships sailing the area be doing so without ANY protection when one has known for more than a century that "pirates" operate in this vicinity? And knowing that the problem has escalated for the past 30 years?

How can a ship carrying armament be without military support, even if it's a "private" commercial transaction?

How can ransom be paid to anyone in "Eyl" without attracting attention to the local banker?

Oh!... the mysteries of highjacked ships! How many captains have been fooled by the "pirates" and where do these ships resurface eventually?

How can the government of Ukraine delegate a Belize cargo-ship to carry weapons to Kenya? Or is it a private sale?

Who in hell is trafficking in these waters where there are very very few deep water harbour, except those mentioned above, and where there's not a single space able to hide a dinghy without rowlocks...?

I may be wrong... but something 's very fishy and the media is short of doing it's job, presently regurgitating the official versions of these incidents...

Do we need to know?...

Pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the coast of Somalia have warned against any attempt to rescue the vessel's crew or cargo.

One of the pirates said they would speak to Kenyan authorities about a ransom for the ship, which is carrying 33 battle tanks destined for Kenya.

Pirates have seized dozens of ships near Somalia's coast in recent months.

A Russian Navy vessel is heading to the region and the US says it is monitoring developments in the area.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Yury Yekhanurov earlier confirmed 33 Russian T-72 tanks and "a substantial quantity of ammunition" were aboard the captured cargo ship, called the Faina.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing towards the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

The ship's captain had reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men on Thursday afternoon, it said.

Following the pirates affair in Somalia, after a lengthy re-investigation of the coastline there, the other port where vanishing ships could be held is Bosaso (Boosaaso). It has the deep water and infrastructure that could harbor a mothership to the pirates...  But... who knows. We're not told the full story... The CIA and European spying agencies would know exactly what's what... but they're not telling....

The coastline at Hobyo could not "hide" big ships although the "harbour"  — a small bay barely protected by a small rocky outcrop harbours small fishing vessels... There is no pontoon or jetty where cargo could be unloaded...Boats on the beach have to wait for high tide to be dragged by hand to water...

How can a "small" pirate outfit operate in these waters for so many years? Is this a case of the fishnet mesh being too big?... Sumpthin' fishy...

Whenever word comes out that pirates have taken yet another ship in the Somali region of Puntland, extraordinary things start to happen.

There is a great rush to the port of Eyl, where most of the hijacked vessels are kept by the well-armed pirate gangs.

People put on ties and smart clothes. They arrive in land cruisers with their laptops, one saying he is the pirates' accountant, another that he is their chief negotiator.

-----------------------------

Gus: This report could be true to a point, say that's where the "negotiations take place if"... but, according to Google Earth pictures, Eyl is not a harbour but a dried up silted sand-river... There is no infrastructure to unload anything, nor to keep big ships, or anything bigger than 10 metres and light enough so they can be dragged by hand or four wheel drive onto the sandy beach... and this for miles and miles from the tip of the horn to Mogadishu... Hobyo is the same as Eyl... dried up river, no harbour...

Find the "mother-ship"! See comments above...

 

 

From the Guardian

'In Bosaso you do see new buildings paid for with crime,' says Fazzina. 'There are smugglers I met who can earn up to $5,000 a month.' The big money, however, is in the ransom payments delivered to the pirate organisations, estimated by security firm AKE, which handles hijackings for a number of shipowners, to number about 15 large gangs.

...

The increasingly aggressive international response to the problems of Somalia's pirates is threatening to make the pirates themselves more dangerous. Where once crews could be expected to be treated relatively well - despite the death by heart attack of the Faina's master - the commando raid launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in April in which six pirates were captured has resulted in instructions from some pirate leaders to kill any Europeans caught if their comrades are not released. In a telephone interview with the Voice of America radio station at the end of September, a man identified as Bileh, the spokesman of the pirate group in Eyl, warned that if other European Union nations refused to negotiate the release of his compatriots, his group would behead any European hostages. However the current confrontation off Eyl is resolved, the battle with the pirates of Puntland is only just beginning...

 -----------------

Slowly the picture emerges that more or less the centre of gravity in Piratoland is in Boosaaro. Eyl is a small place in the sand where some of the pirate boats work from but one of the "motherships" would be in Boosaaro... and some others possibly in Mogadishu. Seen the movie Black Hawk Down?

 

One barely mentions the black hawks down (see above) that this happens just after:

Two Black Hawks down in Baghdad

An Iraqi soldier was killed when two US helicopters collided while landing at a base in northern Baghdad, the American military says.

A military spokesman said two American troops and two other Iraqi soldiers were wounded when the Black Hawks crashed on Saturday evening.

He said the crash did not appear to have been caused by hostile fire.

But Baghdad police said a US helicopter was downed by gunfire and there was fighting in the area after it crashed.

The police said the fighting was between local militias and American and Iraqi forces.

The ransom demand for a hijacked Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and weapons has been cut to $8m, according to one of the Somali pirates on board.

The pirate, who identified himself as Jama Aden, is not the usual spokesman for the gang but answered the satellite phone of the spokesman, Sugule Ali.

"There are high hopes we will release the ship within hours if they pay us $8 million," Aden said. "The negotiations with the ship owners are going well."

The Faina, which was hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden off the Horn of Africa, was being blockaded by six US warships amid fears its weapons cargo might fall into the hands of insurgents linked to al-Qaida. A Russian frigate was on its way towards the standoff.

The pirates originally demanded $20 million for the release of the ship and its 20-strong Ukrainian, Latvian and Russian crew.

-----------------

The pirates must be aware of the world financial crisis...

The BBC has seen evidence suggesting that the Ukrainian ship being held by pirates off Somalia is carrying weapons and tanks destined for South Sudan.

A copy of the freight manifest appears to show contracts were made by Kenya on behalf of South Sudan's government.

Kenya has repeatedly said the weapons on board the MV Faina are for its army. A South Sudanese official said South Sudan had nothing to do with the tanks.

The MV Faina is currently surrounded by warships monitoring the situation.

--------------------

Gus: we all know how documents can be forged, especially in the days of photo-retouching programs. Even in my days of slate, pen and ink I could have been the best forger of stuff... So we've still got to wait and see, especially since the "contract papers" are at least a year and a half old (15/02/07)... We need lots more: the whole truth and nothing less.

The Nato military alliance says it will send warships to help combat piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Nato defence ministers meeting in Hungary agreed to despatch a joint task force by the end of the year.

The force will also escort UN ships delivering aid to Somalia, where more than 3m people - almost half of the population - are in need of food aid.

Pressure for action against the pirates has intensified since a ship carrying 33 tanks was seized last month.

Warships from several countries are already patrolling the waters because of the rise in piracy attacks.

Meanwhile, a Japanese chemical tanker seized in August in the Gulf of Aden has been freed.

There are reports that a $1.6m (£931,000) ransom was paid.

--------------------

Just for the record: "The status of buccaneers as pirates or privateers was ambiguous. As a rule, the buccaneers called themselves pirates, but few [many] sailed under the protection of a letter of marque [some fake, some abused] granted by British or French authorities. For example, Henry Morgan had some form of legal cover for all of his attacks."

This was a way to have little wars between countries, without having declared war... and at the same time, steal from your opposition and your "friends" as well.

Now, where was this Japanese ship held for two and a half months? off the coast? In a harbour? In Treasure Island?

It would have been simpler to set a good trap... For example three decoy-cargo ships (differently looking form each others — boy, do I have to spell every bloody details?) specially equipped to deal with a piracy assault — fully armed and hull reinforced, with a deck like dungeon traps. At least one of these "buccaneer" ships could be targeted by the pirates... These ships would have official "consignment notes" of a juicy cargo, attractive notes that would "leak" from head office, leading to more chance of a pirate attack...

Pirates come on board, they get caught. Pirates in their little boats get hit with "pin-pointed" rockets if they don't surrender... Other disguised ships take care of the "Mothership", if it exists...

Then you send the battleships to show you meant business, but in reality the big battleships may prove inefficient against little flies, thus the need to set a trap — or even let know, via "double cross" the existence of these entrapping ships, even if they do not exist... The uncertainty/certainty would soon kill of the pirating business. As well one could send fully assault ships to go and destroy the flotillas of the pirates — the CIA would know where they are...

The idea of setting traps to catch prey at sea is not new.  One has to think laterally, even today, if you mean business.

Amateurs with big warships might reduce pirating for a while but...

Pirates seize another ship off Somalia: minister

A ship laden with cement has been hijacked in the pirate-ridden waters between Somalia and Yemen, a government official said.

The panama-flagged Wail was en route to Bosasso from Oman and was attacked between the Yemeni island of Socotra and Bosasso just hours after Somali pirates received a $US1.6 million ransom to release the MT Irene, a Japanese chemical tanker.

"A Panama-flagged ship, Wail, was hijacked on Thursday night between Socotra Island and Bosasso," state minister for northern Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, Ali Abdi Aware, said.

He told Reuters the crew of 11 consisted of nine Syrians and two Somalis.

"We held a consultative meeting for more than three hours today and decided to blow up the ship and its cargo - us included - if the ship owners did not meet our ransom demand," Sugule Ali told the Associated Press from aboard the vessel.

Gus: Idiots...

[UK] Navy to tackle Gulf pirates

Another tanker hijacked as Britain takes lead role in EU mission to keep shipping lanes open for trade

• Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
• The Observer,
• Sunday October 12 2008

Britain is to send a warship to combat piracy off the East African coast amid concerns that a spate of violent attacks on shipping could drive up oil prices.

The increasingly treacherous waters off the Horn of Africa are regularly used by Shell Oil, as well as by aid agencies shipping food. John Hutton, the new Defence Secretary, has agreed to deploy the frigate Northumberland [not the old one] which will provide an operational headquarters for a European Union mission to pursue and disrupt piracy in the region.

Yesterday the International Maritime Bureau reported that another tanker had been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. The Greek chemical tanker, with 20 crew on board, is thought to have been taken late on Friday night. Eleven ships and around 200 crew in total are now being held captive. Pirates holding another tanker laden with a cargo of heavy weapons off the Somali coast have threatened to blow it up by tomorrow if their ransom demands are not met.

treasure island...

A young woman recently stoned to death in Somalia first pleaded for her life, a witness has told the BBC.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me," she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones.

Human rights group Amnesty International says the victim was a 13-year-old girl who had been raped.

Initial reports had said she was a 23-year-old woman who had confessed to adultery before a Sharia court.

Numerous eye-witnesses say she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck then pelted with stones until she died in front of more than 1,000 people last week.

-------------------------

 

The Royal Navy has repelled a pirate attack on a Danish cargo ship off the coast of Yemen, shooting dead two men believed to be Somali pirates.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the incident took place on Tuesday, when HMS Cumberland crew members tried to board a traditional wooden dhow.

The Yemeni-flagged vessel was identified as having been involved in an earlier attack on the Danish ship

An MoD spokesman said the pirates were shot in self-defence.

After initial attempts to stop the dhow failed, the Royal Navy launched sea boats to encircle the vessel.

The British seamen were fired on and shot back before the dhow was boarded and its crew surrendered.

Pirates who seized control of a supertanker in the Indian Ocean with British crew on board were tonight said to be holding it near a Somali port.

The attack on the Sirius Star, three times the mass of a US aircraft carrier and capable of carrying 2m barrels of crude oil, is the most audacious in recent times.

It took place 520 miles south-east of Mombasa, Kenya, more than twice as far out to sea as other recent attacks on shipping, the US navy said. The International Chamber of Shipping said it believed the ship was 800 miles east of Mombasa when attacked.

---------------------

Gus: it seems that the US, the British, Russian and French Navies are not well informed despite the amazing amount of data they must be collecting on whatever. If this is the best they can do against a tiny enemy, may Jupiter and Mars forgive... It seems the Navies do not think laterally... If you make it impossible for pirates to operate somewhere they will move somewhere else...

Hey! When I was a kid, that's the way our gangs operated... As well, we used to split into small groups too. Often one in front, one way back... Should a rival gang of twerps swoop on our first group, we would fall on them like a ton of bricks, from behind. See them fly...

Admiral Michael Mullen, head of the US military as chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates.

The pirates are "very good at what they do. They're very well armed. Tactically, they are very good," he said.

Pirates are well organised in the area where Somalia's north-eastern tip juts into the Indian Ocean, preying on a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal through which an estimated 30 per cent of the world's oil transits.

They operate high-powered speedboats and are heavily armed, sometimes holding ships for weeks until large ransoms are paid.

-------------------

Gus: obviously, the Admiral has never heard of street gang warfare...  See comment above. Meanwhile another ship has been hijacked off the coast of Yemen... A Hong Kong Chinese ship full of wheat on its way to Iran... This time the pirates may have taken on more than they can chew, should the Chinese Navy come into play...

Strangely enough, the CIA mapping division would have updated position of pirates at all times should the boffins at the CIA start to look at their satellite imaging. The Europeans would have updated hourly versions from their own network, unless they could not be bothered... Ships radars would also pick up the pirates well in advance, so are the radar boffins playing gin rummy or poker while the radars are on automatic alert, only for big stuff? At least the knowledge of being about to be attacked could be transmitted to the navies. Send in the choppers and the bombers... This is why my iffy solution in one of the comments above should work to stop pirating forthwith. No kidding.

An international shipping expert has warned against US calls for armed guards to be posted on merchant ships threatened by pirate attacks in waters off the Horn of Africa.

Somali-based pirates have hijacked the giant Sirius Star supertanker, which is carrying $US100 million of oil, and are understood to be negotiating a ransom with the ship's Saudi owners.

This morning came reports that a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat had also been hijacked off the coast of Yemen.

Peter Hinchcliffe is marine director with the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents ship owners worldwide, including in Australia.

Speaking to Radio National this morning, he cautioned against calls by the US military to arm crews on international freighters.

"We have very a serious concern about that proposal, there are problems to arming the crew," he said.

"First of all we think that to put arms on board, even with trained armed guards, is not a good thing to do, because that is going to increase the potential heat and damage out of a firefight.

"So we're not in favour for that reason, but there are more fundamental reasons.

"Firstly that some flag states do not allow ships flying their flag to carry small arms on board.

---------------------

Gus: said it before... see comments above. And the expert is right, armed guards would only embolden the pirates, and endanger cargo and crews. And imagine a spill of 3 million barrels of oil in these waters! The effect would be felt for more than 100 years. The"pirates" need to be entrapped, beaten at their own game. Psychology of the rogues need to be counteracted by smarter moves at their level. see pictures at the Guardian

Somali Islamist insurgents have begun searching for the pirates who hijacked a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker last Saturday, reports say.

A spokesman for the al-Shabab group, Abdelghafar Musa, said hijacking a Muslim-owned ship was a major crime and they would pursue those responsible.

The pirates are thought to be trying to obtain a multi-million dollar ransom.

The ship, the Sirius Star, is believed to be be anchored off the Somali port of Haradheere.

--------------

whatever...

It has an international crew of 25 people and is carrying $100m (£67m) worth of crude oil.

Sunk pirate 'mother ship' actually Thai fishing trawler: watchdog

The Somali pirate "mother ship" that the Indian Navy sank in the Gulf of Aden last week was actually a Thai ship carrying fishing equipment that was being hijacked, an anti-piracy watchdog says.

"This mistaken identity may have caused the incident," said Noel Choong, head of the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau's anti-piracy reporting centre, adding that the "tragic" incident should not hamper the fight against piracy.

Mr Choong said the ship had been taken over by armed pirates when it was fired upon.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest sea routes, has surged this year and recently pirates captured a Saudi supertanker carrying $US100 million worth of oil, the largest seizure ever.

In the November 18 incident, one crew member of the Thai ship, Ekawat Nava 5, was killed, one was rescued, and 14 remain missing.

December 16, 2008

Pirates in Skiffs Still Outmaneuvering Warships Off Somalia

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

ON THE ARABIAN SEA — Rear Adm. Giovanni Gumiero is going on a pirate hunt.

From the deck of an Italian destroyer cruising the pirate-infested waters off Somalia’s coast, he has all the modern tools at his fingertips — radar, sonar, infrared cameras, helicopters, a cannon that can sink a ship 10 miles away — to take on a centuries-old problem that harks back to the days of schooners and eye patches.

“Our presence will deter them,” the admiral said confidently.

But the wily buccaneers of Somalia’s seas do not seem especially deterred — instead, they seem to be getting only wilier. More than a dozen warships from Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States have joined the hunt.

And yet, in the past two months alone, the pirates have attacked more than 30 vessels, eluding the naval patrols, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including an American cruise ship and a 1,000-foot Saudi oil tanker.

The pirates are recalibrating their tactics, attacking ships in beelike swarms of 20 to 30 skiffs, and threatening to choke off one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world, at the mouth of the Red Sea.

-------------------

see comments above...

from the BBC

Negotiations are continuing for the release of an American captain held by Somali pirates in a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa.

He was taken from cargo ship Maersk Alabama after it was briefly seized by pirates a day earlier.

A US warship on anti-pirate patrol in the high-risk area sailed to the ship.

It remains unclear what the pirates want, but maritime sources say it could be a ransom or compensation for their boat which sank during the attack.

They may also be demanding that the warship retreat beyond the horizon as negotiations continue, says BBC East Africa correspondent Peter Greste in Nairobi.

--------------

Read a few comments above, down...