Live Piracy Map 2008
This map shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre during 2008. If exact coordinates are not provided, estimated positions are shown based on information provided. Zoom-in and click on the pointers to view more information of an individual attack. Pointers may be superimposed on each other.
I got a chance to read through this book at Barnes and Noble the other day. I am not a Revolutionary War history buff or anything, but as a security contractor, I was certainly intrigued. If Max Weber was to read this book, he would have ‘crapped nickels’. LOL
Bottom line, thanks to these privateers or private naval companies, we were able to fight the British on the high seas. And guess what, we made fighting the British a profitable venture for these PNC’s through ‘legalized piracy’. Crazy. Can you imagine if the US gave a company like Blackwater a ‘letter of marque‘ and said ‘we can’t pay you, but if you attack Somali pirates for us, you can keep all the plundered goods’?
The one thing this book brings up, that has some parallels to today’s private contractors, is the concept of profitable patriotism. Patriotism in itself is a good thing, but who says you cannot be a patriot, and make some good money in the process? It’s the American way, as this book has so blatantly pointed out. Although I think privateering might not be that popular of an idea in today’s politically correct world. But combining patriotism and profitability can and should be a concept we should not frown upon, and it is a combination that can be incredibly effective if regulated by the state properly. World War 2 and the military industry, pulled us out of the depths of despair after the Great Depression–don’t tell me some factories did not make some profit off of that war? Or the massive reconstruction contracts after that war? KBR eat your heart out.
And by regulation, I mean making sure that the laws are followed, as well as the contracts, yet still allowing for the free market to dictate the ebb and flow of the industry. And with globalization, regulation amongst the companies for this war, is increasingly difficult. As America puts more regulation on it’s own industry, and yet is unable to impact the global industry with the same regulations, then that is where we hinder our free market efficiency for this war. It is a problem that impacts most industry out there, and ours is not immune to this. –Head Jundi
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From Publishers Weekly
Patton (The Pattons: A Personal History of an American Family) turns his attention to an often overlooked aspect of the Revolutionary War: maritime privateering, or legalized piracy. Patton is careful to distinguish the mixed motives of these patriot pirates, for often there was less patriotism than simple greed. Nevertheless, their work fulfilled George Washington’s strategic aim to win the war by exhausting Britain into giving up the struggle. In what Patton terms a massive seaborne insurgency that dwarfed the efforts of the colonists’ small navy, thousands of privateers nettled British shipping, sometimes gaining vast fortunes. Privateering also turned into a handy political issue when Benjamin Franklin, the American representative in France, succeeded in persuading his hosts to allow Yankee skippers to sell their booty in French ports—a breach of the country’s neutrality that aggravated diplomatic tensions, as Franklin knew it would, and helped cement Paris’s commitment to American independence. Patton gives an absorbing exhumation of an undersung subject that will be of particular interest to Revolution buffs. (May 20)
Buy the Book Here
How the Royal Navy Dealt with the Pirate Blackbeard..
In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint.
Thanks to Jeff for sending me this article. This is significant. These pirates took down a ‘super tanker’, at 450 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia! Those are two records–the biggest ever ship taken, and the furthest out to sea hijacking. They must be using a mother ship out there in order to do an operation like this.
The other interesting angle to this, is the shift of attacks further out to sea, mean a larger patrol area. A herculean task, and I think this will change the thinking about the way piracy will be dealt with. That security forces will have to escort each ship, or post a robust force on the ship itself in order to properly protect it. To just post a security ship in the general area is not going to work, if pirates are willing to go so far out to sea.
And with this subject, if you have been watching the show on History Channel called Shadow Force, the first two episodes have dealt with maritime operations. Although what they are doing is busting illegal fishing operations off the coast of Liberia. The cool thing about the operation, are the obstacles and challenges that they had to over come just to get up and running over there. They used a RIB, with a FLIR camera and an LRAD non-lethal sound weapon system. Cool show. –Head Jundi
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The MV Sirius Star super tanker.
Tanker taken to Somali pirate stronghold
U.S. and other naval forces decide — for now — against intervention
The Associated Press
updated 6:16 a.m. PT, Tues., Nov. 18, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million in crude oil anchored the ship within sight of impoverished Somali fishing villages Tuesday, while the U.S. and other naval forces decided — for now — against intervention.
One of my readers sent me this story, and I thought it was pretty interesting. This article gives a little hint as to the thought process that these pirates have out there and how they are profitting from their take downs. -Head Jundi
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Somali pirates find booming business
Draft U.N. resolution to give countries legal arsenal to nab high-seas thugs
The Associated Press
Wed., April. 23, 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya – The spoils of a career as a pirate off Somalia’s high seas were simply too good for Abdi Muse to pass up. He bought two Land Cruisers and a new home, then married two women in one passionate week.
“I was giving away money to everyone I met,” said Muse, 38, who said he made $90,000 hijacking ships. “After two months, I had no money left. Can you believe it?”
For years, Somali pirates like Muse have found lucrative work stalking the country’s lawless coast, seizing boats and negotiating ransoms. But these brazen assailants could soon face more force as the United States and France muster international support for taking them on.
“This is a very important and serious signal that the nations of the world take (piracy) seriously,” said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy.
The United States has been leading international patrols to combat piracy along Somalia’s unruly 1,880-mile coast, the longest in Africa and near key shipping routes. Now, the U.S. and France are drafting a U.N. resolution that would allow countries to chase and arrest pirates after a spate of recent attacks, including a Spanish tuna boat hijacked this week by pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and a Dubai-flagged cargo ship seized while carrying food to the desperately poor country. (more…)
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