In August, we posted about an experimental unmanned “roboship” being developed as a coastal patrol craft. Recently there have been proposals to use USVs (unmanned surface vehicles) to fight pirates. USVs also known as autonomous surface vehicles (ASV), are any surface … Continue reading
Tag Archives: pirates
Marie Didieu, a disabled 66-year-old French woman, was kidnapped yesterday from her vacation home on Manda Island, part of the Lamu archipelago, not far from where a British tourist was killed and his wife abducted three weeks ago. The kidnappers arrived and departed by … Continue reading
Updates on three previous posts: On Monday, Able Seaman Ryan Donovan was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to murdering a senior officer on board the HMS Astute last April. Submariner’s grudge turned proud day into tragedy British tourist Judith Tebbutt, … Continue reading
Earlier this week the 45,000 DWT tanker, Mattheos I, with a crew of 23, was hijacked off Benin in the Gulf of Guinea. According to the IMB Piracy Center, this year there have been 19 pirate attacks on ships in the Gulf of Guinea … Continue reading
Last February we posted that Somali pirates had hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard. Yesterday, the Danish Foreign Ministry announced seven Danish citizens, including a family with three children had been released. It has been reported that the pirates were … Continue reading
In February, the sailing vessel Quest was hijacked by pirates 240 nautical miles off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean. The yacht’s crew of four Americans were taken hostage. The pirates were finally captured by US forces but not before they killed … Continue reading
It has long been predicted and now it has happened – a pirate attack has set fire to a loaded oil tanker. On Wednesday morning, pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Suezmax tanker, Brillante Virtuoso, firing a rocket propelled grenade into the deck … Continue reading
Recently we posted about joint-operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard which since last Novemeber have succeeded in capturing 120 pirates in the Indian Ocean as well as taking several pirate “mother ships” and freeing the hostage held aboard. On reader commented: Good on … Continue reading
We have been posting a lot about piracy and kidnapping recently. Today is a reminder about how little things change over the centuries. Somewhere around the year 400 AD, a lad of 16, named Maewyn Succat, was kidnapped by pirates from his home in Britain … Continue reading
Last Friday, the Indian Navy picked up as distress call from the container ship MV Vancouver Bridge, which was under attack by pirates in the Indian Ocean, about 600 nautical miles off the Indian coast. When spotted by an Indian patrol … Continue reading
This week the Maersk Alabama was attacked by pirates for the third time in the last two years. In April of 2009, pirates boarded the Maersk containership and took her captain, Richard Phillips, hostage. He was later rescued when Navy sharpshooters … Continue reading
Piracy in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean can be wildly profitable and is relatively risk free. If a pirate is caught by any of the multinational naval task force, chances are that they will simply let the … Continue reading
Commandos from the USS Bulkeley boarded the Japanese owned tanker MV Guanabara on Sunday after the crew reported that the ship was under attack by pirates. The commandos captured four pirates aboard the ship without firing a shot. The crew had withdrawn … Continue reading
Danish authorities are reporting that Somali pirates have hijacked a Danish sailboat with four adults and three children aboard. Danish family’s sailboat hijacked in Indian Ocean The Danish Foreign Ministry said the ship sent a distress signal on Thursday. On board was a … Continue reading
Why did the pirates kill their for American hostages aboard the sailing yacht Quest? We may never know. Naval officers are speculating that the close approach of the destroyer USS Sterett may have panicked some of the pirates. The Sterett reportedly drew closer … Continue reading